Healthy restaurant= HIGH calories
SpringLean
Posts: 3 Member
I need help with choosing meals at places like Panera and Freshiii. I hate restaurants that seem healthy but really aren't. This particular place didn't have the cals listed on the menu. I ordered a "healthy" wrap/burrito today with quinoa, lots of greens, chx breast and other vegetables but turns out it was over 600 calories!!! I could've just went to freakin' SHAKE SHACK and enjoyed my lunch. Smh. Lesson learned.
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Replies
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at Panera I get the pick two. Either the black bean soup or garden vegetable, and the chicken thai salad.. calories aren't high at all12
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"Healthy" isn't a synonym for "low calorie," although certain companies would love for you to think that it is. You have to be just as discerning at a "healthy" places as you would anywhere else.
If you think Shake Shack would be a better way for you to use your calories, go for it.
That said, all those places should have websites you can visit prior to eating to help you figure out what fits your needs.19 -
SpringLean wrote: »I need help with choosing meals at places like Panera and Freshiii. I hate restaurants that seem healthy but really aren't. This particular place didn't have the cals listed on the menu. I ordered a "healthy" wrap/burrito today with quinoa, lots of greens, chx breast and other vegetables but turns out it was over 600 calories!!! I could've just went to freakin' SHAKE SHACK and enjoyed my lunch. Smh. Lesson learned.
Healthy...as in good nutrition has nothing to do with caloric density. There are many highly nutritional foods that are also calorie bombs...conversely, there are many low/no calorie food goods that provide little to no actual nutrition.
One has jack to do with the other. A calorie is simply a unit of energy...doesn't have anything to do with nutritional value.13 -
"Healthy" means nothing calorie wise.8
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Panera is the easiest to find low cal foods. Get a bowl of soup or a salad. I always check their website before going and plan out their nutrition... of any chain really.4
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But. 600 calories is a sort of normal sized lunch - right? How many calories a day are you eating? That would fit into one of my two meals. I don't know if it would fill me up, but it would fit!11
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Panera is the easiest to find low cal foods. Get a bowl of soup or a salad. I always check their website before going and plan out their nutrition... of any chain really.
I agree, I eat there a lot when I am travelling. You just have to know what to pick.
OP, a burrito *anywhere* (especially one filled with grain) is going to tend to be higher calorie. Part of the learning process with counting calories is getting better at guessing what menu items are going to be higher calorie, so I would just embrace this as a learning experience that will make your future trips more successful.11 -
What is wrong with 600 calories? Do that for three meals and you are still only at 1,800 calories.15
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snowflake954 wrote: »"Healthy" means nothing calorie wise.
Technically, "healthy" doesn't mean anything at all when it comes to food. It has no definition. So you can't say what qualifies as healthy and what doesn't. I can claim that McDonald's fries are healthy, and you can make an argument that I'm daft, but you can't prove me wrong. So ... being told that something is "healthy" isn't the full story.8 -
TimothyFish wrote: »What is wrong with 600 calories? Do that for three meals and you are still only at 1,800 calories.
Perhaps OP is short like me, or has an aggressive weight loss goal. 1800 cals is over my maintenance even now that I'm lifting again.11 -
A rule of thumb a very fit pediatrician I work with shared with me - if the menu does not have nutrition information posted, she doesn't eat there. She figures in this day and age, if they aren't posting their nutrition information, they must be ashamed of it. I ran with it. So I look things up before going places to make my decision. It hasn't failed me yet.
If you're going by the seat of your pants, the wraps, the grains, the dressings, and just pack with veggies and lean meat if you want it to be low calorie. Nothing wrong with the grains or wraps, they just add the number up.4 -
Quinoa is actually quite high in calories. But I'd still rather have those calories than calories from fries or other fried foods.
I have a similar challenge with respect to eating out. I travel every second week for work and eat out 2-3 meals a day with clients etc for 5 days in a row. It doesn't matter how healthy the place is, it's still always way more calories than id normally eat. I guess the easiest way to deal with that is portion control and only eat half or whatever makes sense.5 -
Putting grain inside another grain is always going to make it more caloric, even if the grains themselves are healthy. IT's like rice in burritos (why do we put carbs inside carbs? Rice in burritos is like a french fry sandwich?).
Healthy and low-calorie aren't the same. Heck, you can have a really unhealthy meal that's low-calorie.6 -
ashliedelgado wrote: »A rule of thumb a very fit pediatrician I work with shared with me - if the menu does not have nutrition information posted, she doesn't eat there. She figures in this day and age, if they aren't posting their nutrition information, they must be ashamed of it. I ran with it. So I look things up before going places to make my decision. It hasn't failed me yet.
If you're going by the seat of your pants, the wraps, the grains, the dressings, and just pack with veggies and lean meat if you want it to be low calorie. Nothing wrong with the grains or wraps, they just add the number up.
I guess she's not a fan of fine dining?12 -
Putting grain inside another grain is always going to make it more caloric, even if the grains themselves are healthy. IT's like rice in burritos (why do we put carbs inside carbs? Rice in burritos is like a french fry sandwich?).
Healthy and low-calorie aren't the same. Heck, you can have a really unhealthy meal that's low-calorie.
Not gonna lie, I've had french fries on a sandwich and it was great. I wouldn't do it daily, but it was tasty.10 -
janejellyroll wrote: »ashliedelgado wrote: »A rule of thumb a very fit pediatrician I work with shared with me - if the menu does not have nutrition information posted, she doesn't eat there. She figures in this day and age, if they aren't posting their nutrition information, they must be ashamed of it. I ran with it. So I look things up before going places to make my decision. It hasn't failed me yet.
If you're going by the seat of your pants, the wraps, the grains, the dressings, and just pack with veggies and lean meat if you want it to be low calorie. Nothing wrong with the grains or wraps, they just add the number up.
I guess she's not a fan of fine dining?
Or small, family-run places?8 -
janejellyroll wrote: »ashliedelgado wrote: »A rule of thumb a very fit pediatrician I work with shared with me - if the menu does not have nutrition information posted, she doesn't eat there. She figures in this day and age, if they aren't posting their nutrition information, they must be ashamed of it. I ran with it. So I look things up before going places to make my decision. It hasn't failed me yet.
If you're going by the seat of your pants, the wraps, the grains, the dressings, and just pack with veggies and lean meat if you want it to be low calorie. Nothing wrong with the grains or wraps, they just add the number up.
I guess she's not a fan of fine dining?
Or small, family-run places?
They've got young kids, so at this point, when they eat out it's more fast stuff. I never asked her about the fine dining. I'm sure it happens. There are always exceptions to rules. That's her rule of thumb, and it seems smart to me. If there is a quick joint to go to that doesn't post, there is going to be one down the street that does.
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ashliedelgado wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »ashliedelgado wrote: »A rule of thumb a very fit pediatrician I work with shared with me - if the menu does not have nutrition information posted, she doesn't eat there. She figures in this day and age, if they aren't posting their nutrition information, they must be ashamed of it. I ran with it. So I look things up before going places to make my decision. It hasn't failed me yet.
If you're going by the seat of your pants, the wraps, the grains, the dressings, and just pack with veggies and lean meat if you want it to be low calorie. Nothing wrong with the grains or wraps, they just add the number up.
I guess she's not a fan of fine dining?
Or small, family-run places?
They've got young kids, so at this point, when they eat out it's more fast stuff. I never asked her about the fine dining. I'm sure it happens. There are always exceptions to rules. That's her rule of thumb, and it seems smart to me. If there is a quick joint to go to that doesn't post, there is going to be one down the street that does.
I suppose for someone that eats out frequently, this might be decent advice. At least that way you can control your calories. I don't mean to knock it.
We only go out on rare occasions, and it's almost always a treat. On those occasions I'd rather get something good, and special. Calories be damned.2 -
ashliedelgado wrote: »A rule of thumb a very fit pediatrician I work with shared with me - if the menu does not have nutrition information posted, she doesn't eat there. She figures in this day and age, if they aren't posting their nutrition information, they must be ashamed of it. I ran with it. So I look things up before going places to make my decision. It hasn't failed me yet.
If you're going by the seat of your pants, the wraps, the grains, the dressings, and just pack with veggies and lean meat if you want it to be low calorie. Nothing wrong with the grains or wraps, they just add the number up.
Nah, I can't agree with this. My favorite places are mostly independently-owned and thus don't publish nutritional information. That doesn't mean that they're ashamed of their nutritional content. (I mean, shoot, Carls Jr. publishes their nutritional content, and they should be ashamed!)
I thought Panera DID publish theirs, though, was I mistaken? I don't eat there a ton, but I know there's a salad with chicken and apples and some sort of vinaigrette dressing that I love, and I'm sure the content there is pretty reasonable.
Generally, I think you can do a decent job of estimating the content of a lot of restaurant meals when the ingredients are simple and identifiable - avoid heavy, creamy sauces and dressings (since you've got no idea what's in there) and soups are probably similarly challenging (I'm not a big soup person, so I don't know what to say, there) but salads, sandwiches, grilled meats, simple vegetables, you can probably make a good enough estimate to log with some specificity. And I usually try to avoid doubling up on the empty carbs - substitute whatever chips/fries are offered with your sandwich for the salad or fruit cup. Your estimate won't be perfect, but if you're not doing it too terribly often, it won't make a difference.8 -
janejellyroll wrote: »"Healthy" isn't a synonym for "low calorie," although certain companies would love for you to think that it is. You have to be just as discerning at a "healthy" places as you would anywhere else.
This is so true.
My favorite salad I make is around 600+ calories that includes a veggie based protein, beans, seeds, avocado and my dressing is pretty low calorie.1 -
ashliedelgado wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »ashliedelgado wrote: »A rule of thumb a very fit pediatrician I work with shared with me - if the menu does not have nutrition information posted, she doesn't eat there. She figures in this day and age, if they aren't posting their nutrition information, they must be ashamed of it. I ran with it. So I look things up before going places to make my decision. It hasn't failed me yet.
If you're going by the seat of your pants, the wraps, the grains, the dressings, and just pack with veggies and lean meat if you want it to be low calorie. Nothing wrong with the grains or wraps, they just add the number up.
I guess she's not a fan of fine dining?
Or small, family-run places?
They've got young kids, so at this point, when they eat out it's more fast stuff. I never asked her about the fine dining. I'm sure it happens. There are always exceptions to rules. That's her rule of thumb, and it seems smart to me. If there is a quick joint to go to that doesn't post, there is going to be one down the street that does.
I suppose for someone that eats out frequently, this might be decent advice. At least that way you can control your calories. I don't mean to knock it.
We only go out on rare occasions, and it's almost always a treat. On those occasions I'd rather get something good, and special. Calories be damned.
Well, I'll knock it, just a little. I don't have a ton of faith in the personal rules of a "very fit" health-care professional who eats out at a lot of fast food places on the assumption that it's somehow better because the nutrition information is publicly available.
And that's not to knock fast food. I get to craving Whataburger from time to time. But I'm not going to have a "chain restaurant only" rule for myself in the interest of promoting sound choices.5 -
ashliedelgado wrote: »A rule of thumb a very fit pediatrician I work with shared with me - if the menu does not have nutrition information posted, she doesn't eat there. She figures in this day and age, if they aren't posting their nutrition information, they must be ashamed of it. I ran with it. So I look things up before going places to make my decision. It hasn't failed me yet.
If you're going by the seat of your pants, the wraps, the grains, the dressings, and just pack with veggies and lean meat if you want it to be low calorie. Nothing wrong with the grains or wraps, they just add the number up.
So much for local eating then. Or does she imagine local, family-owned restaurants can afford to pay a lab to evaluate calorie content every time they put a new dish on the menu?5 -
SpringLean wrote: »I need help with choosing meals at places like Panera and Freshiii. I hate restaurants that seem healthy but really aren't. This particular place didn't have the cals listed on the menu. I ordered a "healthy" wrap/burrito today with quinoa, lots of greens, chx breast and other vegetables but turns out it was over 600 calories!!! I could've just went to freakin' SHAKE SHACK and enjoyed my lunch. Smh. Lesson learned.
That's why I rarely eat out.
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SpringLean wrote: »I need help with choosing meals at places like Panera and Freshiii. I hate restaurants that seem healthy but really aren't. This particular place didn't have the cals listed on the menu. I ordered a "healthy" wrap/burrito today with quinoa, lots of greens, chx breast and other vegetables but turns out it was over 600 calories!!! I could've just went to freakin' SHAKE SHACK and enjoyed my lunch. Smh. Lesson learned.
I think the most bothersome part of your post is what I bolded. Did you not enjoy your lunch that you ordered? Why did you order it then? I don't eat things I don't enjoy, simply because I think they are "healthy". Life is too short to eat foods you don't enjoy - and as others have said, the calorie count is not an indication of whether something is healthy or unhealthy.9 -
Thank you everyone! I guess I assumed that healthy, largely meant low cal. Learned a lot from your responses. Thanks again
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snowflake954 wrote: »"Healthy" means nothing calorie wise.
Whoa, are you trying to say that Whole Foods products aren't low cal?
OP - Take a good look at the ingredients that it has, or ask. Drenched in sauce, added cheese, flour wrap, etc. etc. If anything it sounds like you had a very nutrient filled lunch that should leave you full till dinner.1 -
After looking up nutritional information at places like Modern Market, Snappy Salads, Panera, Cornery Bakery, etc. An easy way to guesstimate calories is this:
Go for Pick Two: Salad, Sandwich, Soup
Be ready for somewhere between 500-700 calories unless you eat soup and basic salad.
Whole Sandwiches are generally around 600 calories
Soups are between 200-400, vegetarian ones are lower like Tomato Basil
Full Salads are somewhere between 500-800
If you know you're eating out, try to look up the nutritional information before you go and plan your meal. I'm on the lower end of calories (because of my height) so 600 can be a lot unless I exercise or take away a snack.1 -
ashliedelgado wrote: »A rule of thumb a very fit pediatrician I work with shared with me - if the menu does not have nutrition information posted, she doesn't eat there. She figures in this day and age, if they aren't posting their nutrition information, they must be ashamed of it. I ran with it. So I look things up before going places to make my decision. It hasn't failed me yet.
If you're going by the seat of your pants, the wraps, the grains, the dressings, and just pack with veggies and lean meat if you want it to be low calorie. Nothing wrong with the grains or wraps, they just add the number up.
At least in the state where I live (California), restaurants are required to make nutritional information available only if they have a certain number of locations. It's a way to avoid placing an undue burden on smaller companies or people who only own one or two restaurants. It's fine to prefer to eat at chains that make it easier to control your calorie counts, but it's not okay to ascribe negative intentions to restaurants that aren't required to post their calorie counts. They're not hiding their information because they're ashamed of it; it's far more likely that they're a smaller company and can't afford to pay for nutritional analysis.8 -
SpringLean wrote: »Thank you everyone! I guess I assumed that healthy, largely meant low cal. Learned a lot from your responses. Thanks again
Just remember that calories are just a unit of energy...it's how much energy the food provides...nutrition is a whole other matter. Avocados for example are highly nutritious...but one avocado (not particularly voluminous food) is a whopping 230 calories or so. 1 ounce of almonds (very nutritious) which is basically a tiny handful is around 160 calories. A small 100g cooked serving of quinoa (nice healthy seed) is around 145 calories....and the list goes on.6 -
I'm eating for strength and go for the most nourishment/least junk vice low calories. I plan what I was going to eat for Easter dinner so that I knew what my calorie budget was. That means some some coleslaw, some deviled eggs, some ham, and ONLY ONE piece of pecan pie and no others because they don't taste good enough to "spend" my calories there. You can do the same and research what calories, sodium, food/junk are in "shrimp scampi" at Olive Garden and apply it to Joe's corner Italian restaurant to determine if you want to invest your calories there. Don't wait to do this until friends are asking where you want to go or when you are hungry. Do the research. My Easter dinner is already recorded in MFP. FYI: we spend half as much calories and money eating at home, and don't include ingredients that our grandmothers wouldn't recognize.0
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