Burger King Angus Diet

It's one of the slickest ads on TV today... a compelling message that's based on an outright lie. No, Mr. Bad Food is not talking about the anti-Kerry "swift boat" ads. I am talking about Burger King's "Angus Diet" campaign!

OK, so I know the vast majority of you know the heavily publicized Angus Diet isn't really a diet. No, it's a crafty come-on that works rather well.

I don't know about you, but since seeing those clever TV ads -- and the Angus Steak Burger message board outside the local BK -- I've been super-tempted to hit the drive-thru for the beefy burger.

But before I gave in, I gave the Burger King website a look. Here's what I found.

The basic Angus Steak Burger (tomatoes, lettuce, bun, sauce and onions) has 570 calories (200 from fat), 22 grams of fat (8 saturated, 1 trans fat), 180mg cholesterol, 1,270mg sodium, 62 grams of carbs (3 fibers, 13 sugars), 33 grams of protein.

The Angus Bacon and Cheese Steak Burger will pump you up with 710 calories, 33 grams of fat (15 saturated and 1.5 grams trans fat), 215mg cholesterol, 1,990mg sodium, 64 grams of carbs (3 grams fiber, 14 grams sugars), and 41 grams of protein.

Would you like fries with that?

Splurge for a medium size of BK fries and you'll crown your Angus burger with another 360 calories, 18 grams of fat (5 saturated), 640mg sodium and 46 grams of carbs.

Wash it down with a medium Coke and you get yet another 230 calories, most of which come from the 56 grams of carbs/sugars.

Calculator please. Better bring a pail too -- these numbers may come back to haunt you.

Your Angus burger, fries and soft drink lunch have cost you and your diet 1,160 calories, 40 grams of fat and 164 grams of carbs. If you opted for the bacon and cheese version, you packed in 1,300 calories, 51 grams of fat and 166 grams of carbs.

Before you click open an email and fire off a nasty note to Mr. Bad Food, please keep in mind: I know the Angus Diet is a figment of a fertile marketing mind. I also know the promotion will send packs of people to BK to sample this -- I have to admit it -- awesome-looking sandwich.

If you really need to have it your way, go for it... enjoy it... forget about it and move on. Life is too short to spend your days overweight and under-energized. I have a wife and two young children to keep up with. What's your inspiration for getting in shape? Don't have one? Maybe this will help.

While waiting for my local cable company to complete their off-and-on system repair work yesterday so I could write this column, I picked up the local paper and began to browse. A pair of Associated Press articles not only caught my eye... they also drove home the point that far too many of us are losing the war on weight.

The headlines read...

Study: Hypertension among adults rising

and...

Obesity hikes risk for nine types of cancers

The first story indicated that as Americans grow older and fatter they suffer higher blood pressure and a greater risk of stroke, heart attack or kidney failure. Ouch!

The second even-more-depressing piece warned that "expanding waistlines increase the risk for at least nine types of cancer."

READER FEEDBACK

Messy, Unshaved and Slobby!
My question to you: Why in your picture are you looking messy, unshaved and slobby? Your picture implies that overweight people don't care about their appearance. You are only feeding into our country's obsession with thinness by shoving food into your mouth and looking like a pig. I understand the health concerns regarding obesity. Come on clean up your picture. I doubt you dress like that otherwise. I will not be reading anything you write.
Susan P.

Hall of Shame Nominee: Planet of the Abe's!
My fiancé and I lived in Ypsilanti, Michigan for a short time, and with it being a college town we tried our hand at the college lifestyle, staying up until dawn, hanging out at the local Coney Island and just living life! The Abes Coney Island off of Michigan Avenue is home to a very good, but very bad concoction of eggs, grease and spicy goodness. Their Mexican Omelet at only $4.95 is not only a slice of heaven for your taste buds, but a slice of hell for your gut. Three giant eggs which you can watch from your seat are cracked open onto a pool of grease where it is stuffed with a bowl of Coney Island chili then just before being folded over is met with ooey gooey, oh-so-naughty cheddar cheese. Topped with tomatoes, onions, salsa and sour cream, accompanied by a whole half a platter of hash browns and 2 slices of toast, this monstrous portion of food is too good to pass up. Washing it down with one of their huge 32-ounce Cokes is just a topper for a disgustingly delightful end to a healthy diet.
Lindsay L.

Complaints Department
I am sick and tired of people complaining about portion sizes when they go out to eat. Honestly, restaurants know that today, despite a portion-conscious society, people WANT to eat those types of portions. I don't go out to eat very often. When I do, I want something big, something indulgent, because I like to eat out and I enjoy the food. Sometimes, shockingly enough, if I'm hungry, I'll finish the meal. I won't eat anything because I'll be stuffed for the rest of the day or night, but if I'm hungry, I don't feel guilty or feel I've fallen off any wagon... Don't expect restaurants to cater to you. They're catering to the thousands of people who want to EAT when they go out to eat. Order a healthy thing, DON'T eat the appetizer that comes along, and eat however much of your meal as you want, and take it home. It's really that simple. I just don't think that all people of all diets should expect restaurants to change their portion sizes just because a few don't like them. I do like them and I've kept 45 pounds off for 5 years.
Tiffany V.

Hall of Shame 2: Doing the Can Can!
I think we both know that both Dinty Moore Beef Stew and Dennison's Chili are a healthy body's worst nightmare. So let's mix the two together! My mother was a single gal on the go trying to feed a growing girl. So her version of a good home-cooked meal was to mix Dinty & Dennison's, throw in some shredded cheddar and whip up some good ol' Jiffy cornbread. YUM! (And she wonders why at 26 my diet is so out of whack... hmmmmm.)
Kitten Bubbles

Hall of Shame 3: Thick Man, Poor Man
My favorite and most disgusting bad food with empty calories: I call this Poor Mans Sweet 'n Sour Pork. In order to make this properly you must have white bread... the really squishy kind like Wonder or Webers. You also need strawberry jam, mayonnaise and nice, fatty bacon. Take two slices Wonder Bread, slather both sides with a layer of mayonnaise topped by a thick layer of strawberry jam. Make sure your bacon has enough fat. You want it to get nice and crumbly when you cook it. Crumble all the bacon you want onto the bread. Slice sandwich into four quarters and eat! Sounds disgusting -- and it is disgusting -- but it's pretty tasty too! I think Elvis would have loved it. It's more empty calories per capita than any food... dead or alive!
Bobby F.

LEAVE 'EM LAUGHING

Thomas Maxey, Mr. Bad Food's emailer extraordinaire, is back with another ready-for-prime time piece of humor. We bet you can't make it through this series of jokes without cracking a smile. We also bet you'll be forwarding of few of the funnier ones before too long.

How do you catch a unique rabbit?
Unique up on it!

How do you catch a tame rabbit?
Tame way... unique up on it.

What do fish say when they hit a concrete wall?
Dam!

What do you call a boomerang that doesn't work?
A stick.

What do you call Santa's helpers?
Subordinate Clauses.

What do you get from a pampered cow?
Spoiled milk.

Why don't blind people like to sky dive?
Because it scares the dog.

What's the difference between a bad golfer and a bad skydiver?
A bad golfer goes, Whack! "Dang!" A bad skydiver goes, "Dang!" Whack!