Quiz: Test Your Fast Food Smarts

A 12'' turkey sub with bacon, cheese, guacamole, and ranch dressing may go down easy, but it packs a wallop -- 1,260 calories.  A better option: an 8 '' turkey ranch & swiss sub at 670 calories. 

The ultimate in empty calories, most of us don't realize the diet damage we're doing when we grab that extra large cola or fruit drink. A 40-ounce root beer, orange drink, or cola can weigh in at 400 calories or more -- as much as some fast food sandwiches. Switch to smaller drinks, diet drinks, water, or unsweetened tea to help tame the calorie count in your next fast food meal.

About a third of your daily calories -- that's about 675 calories for a 150-pound woman -- should come from good-for-you unsaturated fats -- like those in salmon, tuna, walnuts and avocados. 

Consider this: A sack of White Castle onion rings clocks in at 640 calories and 41 grams of fat. 

As Americans, we've let fast food chains turn into our home kitchen, and our fondness for french fries, giant subs, and supersized drinks isn't doing our waistlines any good. Nearly one in every two Americans is overweight or obese, and if the trend continues, we could be spending as much as $957 billion on obesity-related issues by 2030.

It may be called a salad, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's good for you. With 49 grams of fat and 1,600 mg of sodium, these grande fast food greens aren't so great. A well-balanced 2,000-calorie-a-day diet should include about 65 grams of good-for-you fats, and 2,300 mg of sodium (1,500 mg for people over 50).

Think small and you could more than halve the calorie count of your next fast food feed. Savoring a combo meal at McDonald's - a Quarter Pounder with cheese, small fries and coke -- can set you back nearly 900 calories.  You can cut that in half by ordering a small beverage, fries, and a regular burger instead for a slimmer 470 calorie count -- not exactly healthy, but a lot better than before. Get a diet drink or water and you'll shave off 150 more.

Breakfast pastries aren’t always the healthiest choice. Of these three, the bacon, egg & gouda sandwich is the low-cal star of this lineup at 370 calories. The almond croissant has 420 calories. The sausage, egg & cheddar sandwich has 480 calories. No matter which you choose, all three should be seen as a once-in-a-while indulgence, not a diet staple.

Grabbed an order of fries on your way home from work? Well, to kick those 400 deep-fried calories to the curb when you get home, you'll need to ride a stationary bike hard for about 30 minutes. That will burn about 391 calories. Thirty minutes of aerobics will burn 260 calories, while strength training will take care of 224 calories.

Fast food desserts pack a serious sodium punch, too. A sugar cookie from Wendy's has 360 mg, not too far from the 400 mg of sodium in a large order of McDonald's fries. A Double Cheeseburger from Burger King is king of them all, with 592 mg of sodium.

We've grown so sweet on corn sweeteners that between 1950 and 2000 our consumption grew from 11 pounds per person to more than 85 pounds! Part of that boost may be stealth sweeteners turning up in everything from pizza, hot dogs, and bread to canned vegetables, peanut butter, soup, and rice mixes.

If you're topping your Subway sandwich with something indulgent but still want to keep calories in check, the surprise here is the bacon. Two strips have 75 calories, while two rectangles of Swiss cheese have 165 calories, and a tablespoon of mayo has 94 calories.

And that could be nearly half a day's calories, depending on age and activity level. Teenagers -- those 13 to 17 -- tend to indulge in calorie-dense meals when they grab fast food, which can lead to unhealthy weight gain.

We love our burgers and subs so much we spend about $117 billion annually on them. That's more than our yearly spending on movies, books, music, and newspapers combined.

Americans like their meat. In 50 years we've gone from eating about 138 pounds per person per year to more than 195 pounds each, with most of the meaty boost coming from a spike in chicken and turkey consumption.

Actually, all of these breakfast items are pretty trim in calories -- all are 300 or below. The yogurt parfait with cookie crumbs packs the most protein and the least fat, and comes in at 240 calories. But it's really high in sugar, with 36 grams. 

We haven't quite doubled our consumption of fats since 1950, but we're not far off either. Our average consumption then was nearly 45 pounds, while 50 years later we were consuming 75 pounds. The biggest change has been a more than tripling of our use of salad and cooking oils.