8 easy ways to reduce your fast food intake

A steady diet of double cheeseburgers and fries often leads to a bigger waistline and other related health problems. Thanks to the type of fats used until recently at fast food restaurants, frequent diners may also have raised their heart attack risk. Trans fats raise "bad" LDL cholesterol, lower "good" HDLs, raise blood fats called triglycerides that contribute to hardening of the arteries, and fire up inflammation — an immune-system response that's involved in the build-up of fatty plaque in artery walls. Here are some ways to reduce your visits to fast food restaurants.

In addition to losing extra weight, slimming your waistline and protecting yourself from heart disease and diabetes, you'll save several dollars a day if you make your own meal instead of buying fast food.

• The worst health sin is to spot a drive-thru window, and impulsively turn in for a quickie hamburger, even if you aren't all that hungry or it's not mealtime.
• Put a firm halt to these kinds of mad meals and noshes.

• Soda consumption really hurts your health.
• Fast-food restaurants love to serve up monster-size cups of soda.
• Switch to milk, coffee or bottled water to save hundreds of unneeded calories.

• Switch to grilled chicken sandwiches.
• Grilled chicken sandwiches are usually one of the healthiest choices on a fast-food menu.
• Get dressing on the side and use just a tiny bit.

• Fast food fries are cooked in pure fat and are covered in salt.
• Fast-food salads may not have the crunch of a French fry, but they are more satisfying than you might realize, and they are considerably more healthy.

• On the road and need a fast meal? Go to a grocery store and get some fruit, a cup of yogurt, a prepared salad, and maybe a six-pack of sushi.
• Every major grocery chain has responded to the need for fast meals with lots of healthy choices.
• You likely can eat a greater volume of food and consume fewer calories by visiting the grocery store.

• Wherever you go, privately owned sandwich shops are around.
• Walk in, order a turkey on whole-wheat and a salad on the side, chat it up with the owner, and leave with a much healthier meal — and the good feeling of supporting an entrepreneur.

• You can cut calories with confidence in your own kitchen.
• Try leftover roast beef on a crusty roll, a handful of plump cherry tomatoes, crunchy carrots and a fresh orange.
• Wash down your meal with unsweetened iced tea.

• Eating frequent fast-food restaurant meals is indicative of a generally unhealthy lifestyle.
• If you want to switch to the healthy side, get to a doctor soon for a full battery of health screenings.
• Finding out the damage that has been done can be strong motivation for ending your fast-food restaurant visits.
• Likely your doctor will test your cholesterol, triglyceride and blood sugar levels, as well as other vitals.