Having it your way more than twice a week puts a lot of strain on your heart.

It's pretty well known that a Supersize Me–style, fast-food diet of Big Macs and Extra Value Meals, three meals a day, every day, is not healthy. But you don't have to gorge yourself on fast-food to do serious damage to your heart and your waistline. According to new research from Australia, indulging in a little drive-thru convenience just twice a week can drastically up a woman's risk of heart disease and diabetes.

The study, which was published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, compared fast-food consumption of 26- to 36-year olds with blood samples, blood pressure measurements, and waist circumference (that measurement indicates levels of abdominal fat that, when high, mean you're at a greater risk for type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart disease). They also asked the adults how much physical activity they got. Women, but not men, who ate fast-food twice per week had significantly higher blood sugar levels and greater instances of insulin resistance, two conditions that would put them at risk for type 2 diabetes. Higher blood sugar levels also increase the risk of heart attack and stroke, previous research has found.

As women in this age group suffer the ill effects of fast food more than most, they're also eating more of it. A recent study from the University of California-Davis found that it's really middle-class adults, pushed for time and trying to find a cheap meal, who visit fast-food restaurants most often. And people who work long hours, like young professionals focused on their careers, make up a good chunk of those visitors.

It takes some planning and prep work to avoid the unhealthy trap of drive-thru convenience, but it isn't very difficult. Here are a few tips:

• Spend a few hours on the weekend cooking staples, such as beans and rice, which you can freeze for later in the week or store in your fridge for a few days.

• Cook casseroles or pasta dishes that freeze well, and freeze them in individual portion sizes so you can grab one for lunch or eat it for dinner.

• Pre-cook vegetables, either by blanching or roasting them, and store them in the refrigerator, so chopping and prep work won't keep you from cooking.

• Utilize leftovers to eliminate waste and save money. You can get two to three meals out of one cooking session just by varying a single ingredient.

• Make lunch fun. Bento boxes, artistically designed meals that originated in Japan, are easy to create for yourself. Here are a few ideas for making your own eye-catching bento.

• Recreate fancy, but fat-laden, deli creations with your own homemade sandwiches, using grown-up twists, such as apple and cashew butter, spicy olive and turkey pitas, or ham, pineapple and cheese. Here are a few more recipes and ideas for cold-sandwich masterpieces.