She smacks her gum, clears her throat, and sighs. We've encountered this impatience in a female plenty of times (11th grade, for starters), but it's especially stressful coming from a waitress. Why can't we answer her simple question: Soup or salad? If nutrition information would stop advancing, it'd be easy. A couple of years ago, you'd have picked the salad (fat-free ranch on the side, please).

Now we know that some vegetables are more nutritious cooked in soup than served raw in salad. And others won't do you much good unless you deliberately pour a fatty dressing on top of them. So . . . soup it is. Unless it's cream-based; too fatty. And this is just the start of the meal. "Chips or fries?" and "Swiss or Cheddar?" haven't even come up yet. Oh, and "would you like to see the wine list?" Time to simplify. We sat down and listed all the pesky mealtime puzzlers we could think of. And then we solved them. No quacks, no product-pushing flacks. Just sensible, easy-to-follow advice that's not likely to change for quite a while—if ever.

At Breakfast
Eat This... Bacon
Per slice: 42 calories, 3 grams (g) protein, 0 g carbohydrates, 3 g fat (1 g saturated), 0 g fiber, 192 milligrams (mg) sodium
Not That... Sausage
Per link: 82 calories, 4 g protein, 0 g carbohydrates, 7 g fat (2.6 g saturated), 0 g fiber, 201 mg sodium
The food police were dead wrong when they busted bacon. A crisp slice has about the same amount of protein as a typical pork-sausage link, but half the fat and calories. "For every single sausage link, you could have two pieces of bacon," says Dawn Jackson Blatner, R.D., a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. Oh, all right—twist our arm.
Eat This... English Muffin
Per muffin: 133 calories, 4 g protein, 26 g carbohydrates, 1 g fat (0 g saturated), 1.5 g fiber, 262 mg sodium
Not That... Bagel
Per bagel: 245 calories, 9 g protein, 48 g carbohydrates, 1 g fat (0 g saturated), 2 g fiber, 476 mg sodium
If you're faced with only refined-flour options (as you usually are unless you're breakfasting in Berkeley, California), you can't narrow down these two breads by fiber. So fall back on calories, Blatner advises. "Half a bagel has nearly as many calories as a whole English muffin," she says. "I know it doesn't look any bigger, but it's more dense. All those air pockets in the English muffin are saving you some calories." Enough to justify some jelly.
Eat This... French Toast
Per 2 slices: 298 calories, 10 g protein, 33 g carbohydrates, 14 g fat (3.5 g saturated), 0 g fiber, 623 mg sodium
Not That... Belgian Waffle
Per waffle: 390 calories, 8 g protein, 48 g carbohydrates, 19 g fat (12 g saturated), 1 g fiber, 850 mg sodium
Even though the French toast is dipped in sugary egg batter and lightly fried, the Belgian waffle still outweighs it. "A true Belgian waffle contains a lot of butter and eggs," says Linda McDonald, R.D., editor of Supermarketsavvy.com, a food-shopping Web site. "The size is different, too—the waffle is heavier than the French toast." Eat it too often and you'll be heavier, too.
Eat This... Poached egg
Per egg: 74 calories, 6 g protein, 0 g carbohydrates, 5 g fat (1.5 g saturated), 0 g fiber, 147 mg sodium
Not That... Scrambled egg
Per egg: 101 calories, 7 g protein, 1 g carbohydrates, 7 g fat (2 g saturated), 0 g fiber, 171 mg sodium
"Usually, when you order scrambled eggs, the cook uses butter, oil, or cream to make them," says Blatner. That adds fat and calories. "A poached egg is cooked in water." That adds nothing.

At Lunch
Eat This... Turkey-and-ham wrap
Per wrap: 390 calories, 32 g protein, 19 g carbohydrates, 23 g fat (8 g saturated), 9 g fiber, 1,890 mg sodium
Not That... 6-inch turkey-and-ham sub
Per sandwich: 476 calories, 30 g protein, 52 g carbohydrates, 16 g fat (7 g saturated), 3 g fiber, 1,690 mg sodium
"Typically, with a sub sandwich, you're going to get a colossal roll that might be the equivalent of four to eight pieces of bread but has little fiber," says Dave Grotto, R.D., director of nutrition education at the Block Center for Integrative Cancer Care in Evanston, Illinois. Most wraps have 3 to 6 g fiber—and that's before you factor in the vegetables, which will help cover nearly a third of your daily recommended allowance.
Eat This... Baked Beans
Per serving: (about 6 ounces): 230 calories, 8 g protein, 46 g carbohydrates, 1 g fat (1 g saturated), 7 g fiber, 720 mg sodium
Not That... ColeSlaw
Per serving: (about 6 ounces): 190 calories, 1 g protein, 22 g carbohydrates, 11 g fat (2 g saturated), 3 g fiber, 300 mg sodium
"Beans reign supreme in many nutrition categories," especially protein, says Grotto. "Plus, there's no comparison for fiber; beans blow away—sorry for the bad word choice—the coleslaw."
Eat This... Beef Burrito
Per serving: 440 calories, 17 g protein, 52 g carbohydrates, 18 g fat (8 g saturated), 5 g fiber, 1,330 mg sodium
Not That... Beef Quesadilla
Per serving: 470 calories, 26 g protein, 38 g carbohydrates, 24 g fat (13 g saturated), 3 g fiber, 1,270 mg sodium
Much like its culinary cousin the wrap sandwich, the burrito leaves more room for good stuff—vegetables that add fiber but not fat. The quesadilla is just meat and cheese—and lots of both.
Eat This... Chips
Per 1-ounce bag: 152 calories, 2 g protein, 15 g carbohydrates, 10 g fat (3 g saturated), 1 g fiber, 168 mg sodium
Not That... Fries
Per 3-ounce serving: 270 calories, 3 g protein, 34 g carbohydrates, 13 g fat (3 g saturated), 4 g fiber, 115 mg sodium
First, there's the serving-size issue. The bag of chips that usually comes with a sandwich has a net weight of 1 ounce. The fries that come with your burger start at 3 ounces. Then there's the fat. Fries, especially crinkle-cut ones, have more surface area, so they soak up more saturated fat from cooking oil. Plus, many processed fries are sprayed with partially hydrogenated fat before they leave the factory. "So it doesn't make a difference what they're fried in; they already contain trans fat," Grotto says.
Eat This... Ground-beef pizza topping
Per ounce: 54 calories, 8 g protein, 0 g carbohydrates, 2 g fat (1 g saturated), 0 g fiber, 24 mg sodium
Not That... Pepperoni pizza topping
Per ounce: 130 calories, 6 g protein, 1 g carbohydrates, 11 g fat (4.5 g saturated), 0 g fiber, 501 mg sodium
The highest-quality beef doesn't end life as a pizza topping. But ground beef is still a leaner leftover than pepperoni, which is a combination of meat scraps made palatable by the addition of fat and sodium, says McDonald.
At Snack Time
Eat This... Popcorn
Per 10-cup serving: 550 calories, 10 g protein, 63 g carbohydrates, 31 g fat (5 g saturated), 11 g fiber, 972 mgsodium
Not That Nachos
Per serving (6 to 8 nachos): 608 calories, 17 g protein, 60 g carbohydrates, 34 g fat (14 g saturated), 2 g fiber, 1,736 mg sodium
Ballpark or movie-theater popcorn—even when it's popped in oil and sprayed with "butter"—outranks the Mexican fare. "The popcorn is not a low-cal food by any means," says Blatner, "but it does give you 11 g fiber." But nachos have cheese, which is good, right? Uh, not if it's poured on from a dispenser. "That stuff isn't cheese," she says. It's just trans fatty orange goo.
Eat This... Salsa
Per 2 tablespoons: 9 calories, 1 g protein, 2 g carbohydrates, 0 g fat, 1 g fiber, 198 mg sodium
Not That Guacamole
Per 2 tablespoons: 55 calories, 0 g protein, 2 g carbohydrates, 5 g fat (0 g saturated), 0 g fiber, 126 mg sodium
"Guys ask me this one all the time," says Blatner. "They'll say, 'I just read that guacamole has good fat.' It is. But, for your prostate, you should probably have the salsa. It has lycopene" (1,700 micrograms, or 10 percent of the amount you need daily).
Eat This... Swiss
Per ounce: 108 calories, 8 g protein, 2 g carbohydrates, 8 g fat (5 g saturated), 0 g fiber, 54 mg sodium
Not That Cheddar
Per ounce: 114 calories, 7 g protein, 0 g carbohydrates, 9 g fat (6 g saturated), 0 g fiber, 176 mg sodium
When it comes to sodium, ounce for ounce, Cheddar has three times more of the salty stuff than Swiss. No, one slice won't cause you to have a stroke on the spot. But when you're faced with the burger-topping choice, it's good to know.

At Dinner
Eat This... Minestrone
Per 1 1/2-cup serving: 184 calories, 7 g protein, 31 g carbohydrates, 4 g fat (1 g saturated), 2 g fiber, 705 mg sodium
Not That... Salad (with 2 tablespoons Blue Cheese dressing)
Per 1 1/2-cup serving: 184 calories, 4 g protein, 9 g carbohydrates, 16 g fat (3 g saturated), 1 g fiber, 328 mg sodium
"Most side salads are just iceberg lettuce, which is mostly water and no nutrients," says McDonald. "If the soup has lots of vegetables and a clear broth, it would be the better choice." The vegetables are cooked, releasing nutrients and making them easier for your body to absorb. (Cheddar-broccoli soup doesn't count.)
Eat This... Balsamic Vinaigrette
Per 2 tablespoons: 60 calories, 0 g protein, 3 g carbohydrates, 5 g fat (0.5 g saturated), 0 g fiber, 280 mg sodium
Not That... Blue Cheese dressing
Per 2 tablespoons: 160 calories, 0 g protein, 2 g carbohydrates, 17 g fat (2.5 g saturated), 0 g fiber, 260 mg sodium
Still want a salad instead of soup? That's okay. Dress yours with vinaigrette. Why? All the flavor (courtesy of the tangy vinegar), for a fraction of the fat and calories. You'll also avoid a gram or two of trans fats, which most creamy packaged dressings contain.
Eat This... Baked potato
Per medium potato: 161 calories, 4 g protein, 37 g carbohydrates, 0 g fat, 4 g fiber, 17 mg sodium
Not That... Rice pilaf
Per 1-cup serving: 220 calories, 5 g protein, 44 g carbohydrates, 4 g fat (2 g saturated), 1 g fiber, 820 mg sodium
You can't keep a good carb down. Since the rice could have anything in it—a tub of butter or salty stock—opt for the much-maligned tuber. "Just make sure you eat the skin—that's where the fiber is," Blatner says.
Eat This... Grilled Salmon
Per 3-ounce serving: 175 calories, 19 g protein, 0 g carbohydrates, 11 g fat (2 g saturated), 0 g fiber, 52 mg sodium
Not That... Grilled Skinless Chicken breast
Per 3-ounce serving: 142 calories, 27 g protein, 0 g carbohydrates, 3 g fat (1 g saturated), 0 g fiber, 64 mg sodium
The salmon has more calories, more fat, less protein, and a slightly cloudy environmental reputation. So why pick it? "What salmon brings to the table in the way of omega-3 fats far outweighs the concern about added fat and calories," says Grotto. Omega-3s fight the number-one killer of men: heart disease. "Even the debate about whether to choose wild or farm-raised, or avoid salmon altogether because of PCB concerns, is still overshadowed by the positive health attributes of this fish," he says.
Eat This... Hot-Fudge Sundae
Per serving: 284 calories, 6 g protein, 48 g carbohydrates, 9 g fat (5 g saturated), 0 g fiber, 182 mg sodium, 207 mg calcium
Not That... Cheesecake
Per piece: 257 calories, 4 g protein, 20 g carbohydrates, 18 g fat (8 g saturated), 0 g fiber, 166 mg sodium, 41 mg calcium Two dairy desserts. But only one gives you nuts, chocolate sauce, and an impressive amount of fat-burning calcium.

Drink This, Not That...
Drink This... Tomato Juice Per 8 ounces low-sodium juice:
53 calories, 1 g protein, 11 g carbohydrates, 0 g fat, 2 g fiber, 169 mg sodium
Not That... Orange juice
Per 8 ounces: 109 calories, 2 g protein, 25 g carbohydrates, 1 g fat, 1 g fiber, 2 mg sodium
This isn't a matter of the lesser of two evils; it's the greater of two goods. "Both are high in vitamin C, which may fight cardiovascular disease. But the tomato juice is high in lycopene," says Grotto. "I would lean toward tomato juice." The two nutrients address the biggest health concerns for men—prostate cancer and heart disease.
Drink This... Red wine
Per 3.5-ounce glass: 74 calories, 0 g protein, 2 g carbohydrates, 0 g fat, 0 g fiber, 5 mg sodium
Not That... White wine
Per 3.5-ounce glass: 70 calories, 0 g protein, 1 g carbohydrates, 0 g fat, 0 g fiber, 5 mg sodium
"Red wine is better than white on the antioxidant front," says Karen MacNeil, author of the encyclopedic reference The Wine Bible. According to a recent study at the University of Barcelona in Spain, red wine can reduce the markers of inflammation by 21 percent. Credit grape skins, which contain the antioxidants that give red wine both its color and its health benefits.