Dieters being ripped off

TheMrWobbly

Has anyone got suggestions for healthier foods that are not just ripping off those that wish to eat healthier or has anyone got suggestions of what to avoid.

I was at Zizzi's at the weekend and went for the 'Skinny' pizza which turned out to be a pizza 1/3 the size of a regular pizza with 5 prawns for it's topping. They did throw in some leaves with 4 slices of radish which they called 'salad'. In my view this is theft because there is nothing skinny about the pizza, it is just much smaller.

This weekend I am going in search of Oppo ice cream, here's hoping...

ch10e88

I find cooking 'the old fashioned way' with fresh vegetables etc is cheaper and A LOT healthier. 'Diet foods' are often tampered with and full of sweetners.

Vailara

I think Pizza Express do something similar. It is a bit of a rip-off, but on the other hand I suppose it's difficult to make a pizza lower calorie except by making it smaller and thinner! And then use less of the fattier toppings like cheese.

There's an Italian restaurant near me which does half portions of its pizza and pasta dishes (and charges less for them). I imagine they still come to a lot more than 500 calories but at least you're not tempted to keep eating a full portion.

I do think it's difficult eating out, and to be honest, I think if you're paying that much for a meal you might as well have a night off and order something you like, rather than going for the lowest calorie option.

sijomial

Vailara wrote: »

I think Pizza Express do something similar. It is a bit of a rip-off, but on the other hand I suppose it's difficult to make a pizza lower calorie except by making it smaller and thinner! And then use less of the fattier toppings like cheese.

There's an Italian restaurant near me which does half portions of its pizza and pasta dishes (and charges less for them). I imagine they still come to a lot more than 500 calories but at least you're not tempted to keep eating a full portion.

I do think it's difficult eating out, and to be honest, I think if you're paying that much for a meal you might as well have a night off and order something you like, rather than going for the lowest calorie option.

@Vailara

Pizza Express leggera range (leggera = light in Italian). Under 600 cals.
They take out the middle (which of course is the best bit!) and fill the hole with salad.
Personally I would eat less earlier in the day and eat a big pizza but my wife does report they are tasty.

I do wonder what they do with the middle bit of the pizza.

drosebud

I tried that Oppo icecream in salted caramel and didn't like it at all. It's quite grainy and has a bit of a funny after taste. I'd also much rather have half the amount of nice ice cream than that.

TheMrWobbly

The Oppo ice cream didn't go down very well - salted caramel has, as drosebud said, an aftertaste, Mint choc better but still not great, and the chocolate was actually ok, I don't like chocolate so I am taking other opinions there. overall not worth the extra price.

On the plus side my offspring, who ceased being veggie after lent, insisted on pizza hut so I had the full size pizza and ate it over three days. Didn't feel ripped off and got three lunches out of it.

TheMrWobbly

Another bonus for Tesco - Grated mozerella £2 for 250g, Mild cheddar grated £2 for 250g, add them together and call it "pizza cheese" and suddenly its £2 for 200g, 20% less for the same money.

Vailara

Well spotted!

FlissFloss78

I'm finding eating out hard too. Recently I've started using protein diet shakes at lunch time with fruit snacks during the day. I've actually found that if I want to eat pizza, I have it, but I have my shake for lunch or dinner depending on the time I eat. I loose better eating a higher protein diet.

katsheare

I just discovered this thread, and this isn't to do with eating out (I think the only option that works with me is to eat maybe a third of a dish and take the rest home, but I don't mind leftovers) but it is to do with convenient, healthy food: I'm loving Waitrose's veggie bags that you can steam in the microwave. Yes, they're a ripoff if you're doing them from home, but I can tuck into one bag with (for example) kale, peas and spiralised carrots with whatever I'm having for lunch at the office. Makes my 5 a day much easier! I don't know if the other chains are doing these, but check out the veg section next time you're out for your shop!

sytchequeen

I always pretty much assume anything labelled "low fat" or "diet" is probably a rip off, and read the labeling and pricing very carefully indeed, usually comparing it to a normal product.
Similarly when eating out - lighter options (as they call them) leave me very suspicious. I'd rather order a steak salad and know exactly what I'm getting.

MaybeLed

sijomial wrote: »

Vailara wrote: »

I think Pizza Express do something similar. It is a bit of a rip-off, but on the other hand I suppose it's difficult to make a pizza lower calorie except by making it smaller and thinner! And then use less of the fattier toppings like cheese.

There's an Italian restaurant near me which does half portions of its pizza and pasta dishes (and charges less for them). I imagine they still come to a lot more than 500 calories but at least you're not tempted to keep eating a full portion.

I do think it's difficult eating out, and to be honest, I think if you're paying that much for a meal you might as well have a night off and order something you like, rather than going for the lowest calorie option.

@Vailara

Pizza Express leggera range (leggera = light in Italian). Under 600 cals.
They take out the middle (which of course is the best bit!) and fill the hole with salad.
Personally I would eat less earlier in the day and eat a big pizza but my wife does report they are tasty.

I do wonder what they do with the middle bit of the pizza.

I actually quite like their leggera, it's one of the few places I will order the 'lighter' option. Mostly so I can have a cafe reale. Normally if I'm eating out I'll swap the sides for something lighter, and if that's not feasible just track it and move on.

Unfortunately I can't eat sweeteners (they give me terrible migraine, but for the general population they are fine) So I normally stick to smaller portions of 'normal' foods anyway.

TheMrWobbly

Still looking for an lower fat ice cream option that doesn't taste like chemicals. Any suggestions?