Hidden calories and other enemies

AlexB6216

Question - do you check nutrition facts before heading out to a restaurant or placing a food order?

I just ordered a grilled chicken Caesar salad from D'Angelos and it contains 770 calories, 30 grams of carbs, 2040mg of sodium, and 55 grams of total fat. I'm feeling very disappointed in myself for not checking the nutrition facts online before ordering. My other mistake was not asking for the salad dressing to be on the side

diannethegeek

But you learned from it, and that's the important thing in the long run. Right?

I try to check nutrition information before I go out and if I can't find the restaurant I want then I find something similar and guess high. If I know I'm going out then I eat light through the day to leave some more calories for my meal out.

quiksylver296

Sometimes I do, and sometimes I don't. It depends on the situation. If I'm going somewhere unfamiliar, I'll usually try to check. If it's somewhere I've been a lot, I have a good idea of what I can eat there. The ones that are more frustrating are the mom & pop places that do not have nutrition info available anywhere. I just make the best choice I can at those places and don't sweat it too much.

And I ALWAYS ask for my dressing on the side. They drown my salad if I don't.

janejellyroll

I virtually always check information before I go out and have a plan for what to order.

RodaRose

Do not sweat it. Log it and move on.
Salads can have a crap-ton of calories, especially if they come with salad dressing and croutons and cheese.
After a while you have a repertoire of salads and other foods that you can work from.

AlexB6216

RodaRose wrote: »

Do not sweat it. Log it and move on.
Salads can have a crap-ton of calories, especially if they come with salad dressing and croutons and cheese.
After a while you have a repertoire of salads and other foods that you can work from.

I did remove all the croutons and the cheese and you are right, it's logged

zyxst

Yes.

cwolfman13

Most restaurants I go to do not have nutritional information...but I'm well aware that a salad with a ton of dressing is going to be a calorie bomb which is why I rarely order one...I could have a lot of things for the same calories that I'd enjoy much more for the calorie hit.

Restaurant food in general tends to be calorie rich unless you;re ordering off a special menu...I ultimately determined for myself that eating out is just something that is an occasional activity, not a regular occurrence.

arditarose

Kind of. But I'm at a point where I understand food well enough to know that a ceasar salad at a restaurant will have at least 750 calories, possibly more. Which is why I just order a cheeseburger.

kwtilbury

Caesar salad = calorie bomb. Sure you could order without the dressing, cheese and croutons, but then it's not a Caesar salad any more.

I try to order smart - whole proteins (chicken breast, salmon, steak, etc.), avoid anything creamy and fried foods, get cheese and dressing on the side.

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

arditarose wrote: »

Kind of. But I'm at a point where I understand food well enough to know that a ceasar salad at a restaurant will have at least 750 calories, possibly more. Which is why I just order a cheeseburger.

Agreed, salad is my normal food so I wouldn't order it out.

Log it and move on, try not to sweat the small stuff.

Hornsby

I rarely go to restaurants where nutritional info is posted. Not a lot of chains around me other than fast food. I do check when I can though.

arditarose

I never actually check calories because if I'm going to go out I really don't want to go to a chain. But sometimes I'll look at the menu online before hand and kind of see what I want and pre-log it so I can work my day around that meal.

lemurcat12

If it's a restaurant with calorie information I check it in advance. I almost never go to those kinds of restaurants in the evening, though, so have to make an educated guess. (If I buy lunch there are lots of good chain options and those all have calorie information.)

Francl27

I do on the rare occasion that we're going to a chain restaurant.

It's what actually stopped me from going to Texas Roadhouse the other day... 180 calories for a side of veggies. Yikes.

jennypapage

you're lucky.our restaurants don't have to say how many calories are in their foods so i have to guess every time.if i had the option i'd look up the calories before going, but i would only go if there was something that looked interesting enough to eat. i'm not going to a restaurant to waste any calories on a simple salad. i can make one at home .