Healthy restaurant= HIGH calories
Replies
-
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?
Exactly. I get the theory and will sometimes go for the convenience option that has calorie counts over the one that doesn't, but her justification that "if they don't have them, they must be ashamed" is mindbogglingly ignorant of the industry.
It is wildly expensive to compile and update calorie counts. Smaller places change suppliers week to week depending on costs, ingredients depending on availability and freshness, and rejigging a kitchen so that every meal goes out close enough to identical like it's a production line is impractical, and I'm not even going to go into how disrespectful of chefs it is to imply that they should each operate their kitchens like a production line.
Furthermore, there is no legal requirement to have them for smaller or independent places, but if they choose to do so, they open themselves up to being sued by some jerk who comes in and eats their burger for 500 calories 5 times a week, gains weight, finds out it's actually 650 calories and blames them. Why would a business voluntarily open themselves to that?
The sense of entitlement which goes with "if they don't have the calories for my convenience, they must be ashamed" is palatable.
I really despair of the "all restaurants need calorie counts" movement that's going on. Way to ruin food as an experience, and crap all over chef's as creators and not just assembly line workers.
[/irked former small business and restaurant cook rant]10 -
janejellyroll wrote: »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.
Real arab shawerma sandwiches have fries stuffed in them. Absolute heaven.
2 -
janejellyroll wrote: »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.
Real arab shawerma sandwiches have fries stuffed in them. Absolute heaven.
White bread sandwich with plain potato crisps and sauce was a hangover staple for my mid-20s...3 -
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?).
This is in the vein of serving breadsticks with pizza. Why do? Not like I'm opposed, but I'd rather just have more pizza.
1 -
Alatariel75 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.
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?
Exactly. I get the theory and will sometimes go for the convenience option that has calorie counts over the one that doesn't, but her justification that "if they don't have them, they must be ashamed" is mindbogglingly ignorant of the industry.
It is wildly expensive to compile and update calorie counts. Smaller places change suppliers week to week depending on costs, ingredients depending on availability and freshness, and rejigging a kitchen so that every meal goes out close enough to identical like it's a production line is impractical, and simply not going to happen.
Furthermore, there is no legal requirement to have them for smaller or independent places, but if they choose to do so, they open themselves up to being sued by some jerk who comes in and eats their burger for 500 calories 5 times a week, gains weight, finds out it's actually 650 calories and blames them. Why would a business open themselves to that?
The sense of entitlement which goes with "if they don't have the calories for my convenience, they must be ashamed" is palatable.
[/irked former small business and restaurant cook rant]
Right there with you. A friend of mine runs a food truck/catering business, and his food is amazing - made with fresh ingredients and unique flavors. And he's not at all "ashamed" of what's in his food. He's quite proud of what's in his food, because he's using fresh, local ingredients and he's coming up with all of these recipes. If you ask him, he'll talk your EAR off about where he gets his produce and how he makes this or that and what's in it (he, uh, might not be the greatest at keeping his own trade secrets).
But no. He can't do a nutritional breakdown for you.4 -
JeepHair77 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.
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.
They do..0 -
go online, look up nutrition count and plan - some places let you do a build your own meal (Subway you can build a sub through their website; Red Robin (burgers) has a meal builder); chipotle has their ingredient info in MFP that you can use (so do many other restaurants0
-
I have to laugh at people (like that pediatrician) who think that just because there is a number on a website, that is going to be the number.
Obviously she never worked in a restaurant.
Chefs/cooks cook with their hands, not measuring spoons. A recipe may call for 100 calories in sauce or cheese or butter, and you may be getting a lot more (or less) than that.
Just enjoy your food when you eat out, but if you're trying to lose weight, maybe bring lunch from home most of the time.3 -
As someone who works in a place that serves food, I feel sorry for people who make it very clear that they don't want to eat what they are ordering but only doing it as it's "healthy" and/or they are "dieting".
Even something like plain chicken breast and vegetables are much, much higher in calories than you would expect. The aim of a restaurant is to get you in, pay 4x it would cost to make yourself and then come back and do it again. This means a lot of hidden fat, butter, salt, oil etc. to make even the plain meals tasty.
Honestly, if eating at a restaurant is a special occasion, just order what you actually will enjoy and be done with it.7 -
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 this will work. But there are SOOO many restaurants that aren't chains around that also don't have calorie counts available. You just have to learn what will likely be lower calorie vs what is likely lower calorie.
I'd be sad if I couldn't go to the individually owned restaurants around here. In fact, I'd rather frequent a locally owned restaurant than a massive chain.1 -
Yep. It's why I limit eating out to once a week at most.
Like a previous post mentioned even the places that post calories is still a big estimate since every cook will cook it slightly different each time.
Except for subway. That place literally counts out each item they put on your sub. At least the ones I've been to. I have to ask for extra veggies because they are so stingy!1 -
There's a place called Sumo Salad here which actually weighs out the ingredients as they make your salad. It's really cool.2
-
WinoGelato wrote: »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.
This is what I focused in on too. Eating out costs too much to get something you don't even like.
0 -
Yep. It's why I limit eating out to once a week at most.
Like a previous post mentioned even the places that post calories is still a big estimate since every cook will cook it slightly different each time.
Except for subway. That place literally counts out each item they put on your sub. At least the ones I've been to. I have to ask for extra veggies because they are so stingy!
ha. Three little spinach leaves! I know!
The fast food chains are much more portion controlled than the more upscale chains, their profit margin is tiny already. When I worked in restaurant it was a sit-down chain with servers and ordering from a menu at the table. The portions were supposed to be controlled, but depending on the cooks and the server you might get one ounce of cheese on your salad, or three. Servers are the worst at this, if they have any control over what you get, they will most likely give you way more than they should so you'll tip them more. Salad dressing and croutons are examples. Or chocolate sauce or whipped cream. Bacon bits...butter.
You know, low cal stuff.3 -
It's hard if you're trying to make a good choice, and it turns out it wasn't. Eating out and eating well is hard. My portions when I make a meal are so much smaller than most restaurant meals, that even when I pick something "good" when I eat out, it's easy to overeat because they put it in front of me. No restaurants here put calories on the menu (that's generally a state/province regulation). If I can, I look it up in advance. If I can't (say, like today, I was served pizza at a lunch meeting at work), I just try to eat a small portion. If I can choose, at least half the meal should be veggies is my rule of thumb - and no plate-filler carbs (bun, rice, noodles).1
-
JeepHair77 wrote: »(I mean, shoot, Carls Jr. publishes their nutritional content, and they should be ashamed!)
they should be ashamed of what?
Carls Jr burgers are from visible fire grill, not like McDonald's from metal containers.
0 -
If you can dine out in a restaurant for 600 calories, you are doing great. In reality that is pretty hard to do.2
-
Freshii has it available behind the counter in a binder. When comparing the Shake Shack to the Metaboost salad with chicken (it's good despite the asinine name of the thing) at Freshii, it's worth thinking about the rest of the nutritional value as well as the calories.
Not ashamed to eat there, no local options where I work.0 -
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.
Just trying to say that the "eating healthy" trend means nothing as far as weight loss goes, if you don't count calories. "Healthy" and "low-cal" are not necessarily the same thing.0 -
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 she only eats in chains? Yuck.2 -
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.
Calories burned lifting are kind of meager anyway, but my point is that 600 calories is a fairly modest amount of calories. Even if it doesn't work for every meal, it is certainly a good number to shoot for for dinner. Given that the average person burns between 1600 and 2500 calories per day, 600 calories per meal is about right for most people.0 -
There are very few "healthy" low calorie restaurants or dishes. However it is all about knowing what you do to adapt dishes to fit your macros/calories.
My go to is a chicken fillet burger with chips but I swap the chips for a salad with no dressing and eat none or part of the bun depending on how many calories I have left.0 -
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.
AKA a chip butty, and one of the basic food groups.4 -
cmriverside wrote: »I have to laugh at people (like that pediatrician) who think that just because there is a number on a website, that is going to be the number.
Obviously she never worked in a restaurant.
Chefs/cooks cook with their hands, not measuring spoons. A recipe may call for 100 calories in sauce or cheese or butter, and you may be getting a lot more (or less) than that.
Just enjoy your food when you eat out, but if you're trying to lose weight, maybe bring lunch from home most of the time.
This. Unless I guess it's places like Applebee's that get their plates delivered as is... they're probably more careful about sticking to the stated portion size there.0 -
I totally agree! It's just cheap filler. I already have plenty of grain in a 300 calorie wrap I don't need more grain inside. Sorry for the rant it's a pet peeve of mine. Give me more protein and some extra veggies.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.
0 -
cheryldumais wrote: »
I totally agree! It's just cheap filler. I already have plenty of grain in a 300 calorie wrap I don't need more grain inside. Sorry for the rant it's a pet peeve of mine. Give me more protein and some extra veggies.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.
Me too, Cheryl. I'll take the grain or the wrap, but not both. Sometimes neither. The other night I was envying my daughter's turkey & veggie wrap, but the wrap itself would have put me over my calories for the day. Just had mine in salad form.
0 -
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 can definitely get two meals out of a Chipotle's burrito.0 -
cheryldumais wrote: »
I totally agree! It's just cheap filler. I already have plenty of grain in a 300 calorie wrap I don't need more grain inside. Sorry for the rant it's a pet peeve of mine. Give me more protein and some extra veggies.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.
This is where privately owned restaurants come in. My friends and I used to come to this one Mexican restaurant where I ordered "meat only" burritos. It was basically only greasy beef bits wrapped in a large tortilla. I was surprised when my friend showed me we could order like that!
That was back in college and calories had no effect on us.0 -
TimothyFish wrote: »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.
Calories burned lifting are kind of meager anyway, but my point is that 600 calories is a fairly modest amount of calories. Even if it doesn't work for every meal, it is certainly a good number to shoot for for dinner. Given that the average person burns between 1600 and 2500 calories per day, 600 calories per meal is about right for most people.
Presuming that OP is trying to lose weight - likely a safe bet ...
Given that the average person burns between 1600 and 2500 calories per day, the average person would want to eat between 1200 and 2000 cals to lose a pound a week, which would not be an aggressive weight loss goal unless OP is close to her goal weight.
That leaves some 'average people' on target with 600 cals x 3 meals = 1800 cals, and most not on target given a normal distribution.
Not a stretch to think that OP didn't plan for 600 cals for that particular meal. Which was lunch and not dinner, though it doesn't really matter. OP had a general idea, at least, of how much she wanted to eat for a particular meal and unintentionally went over. That's cause for frustration - and for her to figure out that she may want to check calories before rather than after her meal.0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.4K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.2K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 426 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.7K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions