Yesterday, my wife, Melissa, visited Barnes & Noble to pick up some training books as she prepares herself to run a marathon in Disney World. Like many families, we often struggle with eating healthy consistently and diet will obviously play an essential role in Melissa’s training.

While sifting through books, she came across an information-packed book concerning the nutritional values of numerous restaurants, fast food chains, flavored drinks, frozen foods and more. The book, Eat This, Not That! 2012, basically helps you choose alternatives for what you already eat.

If you visit McDonalds every day for breakfast, the book offers healthier choices on THAT menu. If you eat at Olive Garden two or three times a week like me, and have no intention of stopping, then the book offers healthier alternatives. It also gives tips how to eat better on food-centric holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas. Each two page section has a high-calorie, fat trap food on the right, and a healthier alternative on the left.

There are some surprises in the book too. For instance, each restaurant’s menu is given a rating based on overall choices. McDonald’s menu is rated a B+ compared to Olive Garden’s D. I was stunned how many fast food restaurants offer decent alternative food choices. Sure, it’s probably better to eliminate fast food restaurants altogether, but it seems those places are not any worse than dine-ins. Eating healthy is more about educating yourself to make better choices.

A few things in this book that surprised me.

1. A Carl’s Jr Guacamole Turkey Burger is 490 calores compares to Ruby Tuesday’s Avocado Turkey Burger of 886 calories. By switching places to eat an identical food item, you can save 396 calories and 33g of fat.

2. Do you like coffee flavored ice cream? You’re better off with Edy’s than Starbucks. Starbuck’s coffee flavored ice cream has 70 more calories per 1/2 cup. Simply switching brands could be considered dieting.

3. Sonic’s tots is fast food’s best bet for a potato side. A small order has 100 less calories than a small fries from McDonalds.

I found this book greatly fascinating and would love to hear what you think about it. I’m learning more each reading session and if the book helps my waistline even a tad bit, the $15 is well worth it.