Her diet plan has room for fast food

If your weight loss journey has taken you from South Beach, to Sonoma, to Nantucket, and back to your favorite fast food hangout, maybe it's time to take your diet down the closer-to-home path suggested by Quincy nutritionist Kathleen Aicardi.

''The Revere Beach Diet" is a guide for those with a yen for the likes of double cheeseburgers and fried clams.

Aicardi, who grew up in the Revere Beach area and teaches nutrition at Quincy College, visited about a dozen fast food chains, gathered menus and nutritional information, and came up with a color-coded system that categorizes certain fast foods by percentage of calories from fat. Foods fall into the ''green" category if less than 20 percent of their calories come from fat, ''yellow" if 20 to 29 percent come from fat, and ''red" if 30 to 35 percent come from fat. Anything with more than 35 percent of its calories coming from fat should be avoided.

A McDonald's grilled chicken Caesar salad, for instance, falls into the ''yellow" category, with 27 percent of its calories coming from fat, unlike its crispy chicken counterpart, which at 40 percent is banned, she says. But beware: the grilled chicken's ''yellow" seal of approval quickly disappears if you drizzle it with creamy Caesar dressing, which pushes the fat calorie content up to 89 percent. A quarter-pounder with cheese fares a bit better (43 percent), but it still should be avoided, according to Aicardi.

Eating the right combination of green, yellow, and red foods and adding exercise to their routine can help fast food consumers adopt a healthy diet and possibly shed some pounds, although Aicardi says her goal is better nutrition, not necessarily weight loss. The diet allows women 2,000 calories a day and men 2,500, with only 20 to 30 percent coming from fat. Red foods should be eaten only once a day, while green foods can be eaten at all meals.

A daily meal plan could include a Dunkin' Donuts egg and cheese bagel sandwich for breakfast (green), a Burger King fish filet sandwich without tartar sauce for lunch (red), and Papa Gino's spaghetti (green) for dinner. The typical sample menu also includes two snacks and salads to accompany meals.

Skeptics of the diet say that people should avoid fast foods completely. Eating fast food once a week is ''no big deal," said Kathy McManus, director of nutrition at Brigham and Women's Hospital. ''But three or four times a week, it will affect their overall diet."

Aicardi argues that a fast food ban is simply not realistic. Whether people choose to admit it or not, Aicardi said, fast food is not just a way of life, but has also quickly become America's new comfort food. The Revere Beach Diet, she said, is for those whose fast-paced lifestyles lead them to fast food several times a week.

''The fast food industry is a $110 billion industry. People are scrambling to find a way to go there and not feel guilty about going there," Aicardi said. ''Nutritionists want to point the finger at the fast food industry, 'You're to blame,' but it's not the case. People eat too much. People can take in an adequate amount of calories and fat and maintain some type of health, instead of going overboard."

Because most people don't have nutritional information at hand to make healthy decisions while standing in line, the Revere Beach Diet serves as a one-stop guide, with nutritional information from places such as Dunkin' Donuts, Subway, and Burger King.

''It's creating a healthy fast food diet," said Aicardi, who also works as a meeting facilitator for American Eagle at Logan International Airport, where she was inspired to write the book. ''My colleagues, pilots and flight attendants, live on fast food. So I started looking at airport food and doing nutrition calculations."

Aicardi's Revere roots were part of the reason she chose the book's title, but she said the main reason is Revere Beach's history as one of the early amusement park destinations. ''Fast food was born out of amusement parks, like Revere Beach and Wonderland," said Aicardi.

Aicardi's book was released late last year by BookSurge LLC, a small publishing company that has required her to do most of her own publicity. The book is not in wide release and can only be found online.

The Revere Beach Diet, Aicardi is quick to point out, is not the latest in fad weight-loss books. In addition to decoding the secret to eating fast food healthily, Aicardi includes information on nutrition and exercise. As well as ''Major Do's" (choose most meals from the green and yellow groups daily) and ''Major Don'ts" (Eat while driving or watching TV).

''Mine is different; it's not a weight-loss program. Diet is simply what we're taking in for our nutritional needs, not to lose weight," Aicardi said. ''People have a fast food diet because that's what they eat. But people need to look at portions."

McManus said the Revere Beach Diet concept may be difficult to follow.

''People don't go to fast food restaurants to eat healthy. That's not what they're looking for," McManus said. ''Fast foods in general are high in calories, fat, sodium, trans fat, and cholesterol. People really should make alternative choices to eat at fast food restaurants. Consider eating at home more, or bringing something with them to the beach."

At the beach, McManus said, if you're doing a one-time treat, enjoy it, but if you're hitting the clam shack regularly, you should be concerned.

''The big concern in those places is the type of oil they use in frying. They use partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, and they are very high in trans fat, the worst fats in the diet," McManus said. ''They will not only raise LDL, the bad cholesterol, but lower HDL, the good cholesterol."

Lori Baker, a manager at Curves gym in Danvers, said eating fast foods could lead to losing weight if people make smart choices, as The Revere Beach Diet suggests, but it would be tough.

''If I went to McDonald's, I'd get the fries," Baker said. ''Smelling the fries would drive me over the edge. People don't know how to eat smartly."

Lillian M. Sonnenberg, senior manager for ambulatory nutrition services at Massachusetts General Hospital, said that people have more healthy choices at fast food restaurants than ever before, but that the response to those choices has been slow.

''I think it's appropriate that people try to make smart choices at fast food joints," Sonnenberg said. ''When we tell people to build a meal, we tell them to have at least three food group sources, like a protein, a grain, and a vegetable. A lot of the fast food places now are offering salad, so try building a meal on that concept."

Aicardi said she hopes the fast food industry is more mindful and embraces the opportunity to increase their offering of healthy and tasty food. But in the meantime, she said, she hopes the book helps people make better choices now.

''People won't admit they eat fast food. They say if they do, it's once in a while," she said. ''Of course, you don't want the Big Mac and the french fries."

Kathleen Aicardi is scheduled to hold a book signing at the Quincy Public Library Monday at 7 p.m. Katheleen Conti can be reached at kconti@globe.com.