Eating Out - Beware of Chicken

Degren

Last night we went out to dinner, so I looked up the nutritional info ahead of time. I was very surprised to read that my favorite chicken dishes were the highest calorie items on the menu! Beware of our lowfat friend chicken, for it is often cooked in butter and rich sauces. Don't ever assume it is low cal/ low fat; always confirm. I ended up with half a roll, half a Caesar salad, and a child's plate of spaghetti and I was very full.

rml_16

You can request they don't use butter or oil when cooking the chicken.

Also, a lot of restaurants steam veggies in oil or butter, so make sure to ask they leave it off if you don't want to use the calories.

Nelski

It's not the chicken that you have to worry about, it's how it's cooked and what's served with it. Your topic title is misleading.

ErinMarie25

Grilled chicken is always better than fried chicken. I agree with the above poster.

At Red Robin, I had a chicken sandwich for only 400 calories and it came with melon wedges.

Degren

Agreed, my topic is misleading as written. I should have written, "Beware of Chicken as listed on the menu".

I rely heavily on posted information, so for someone like me, just starting out with the calorie counting, it is easier to order a lower cal menu item "as written" than to subtract out butter and oil on another dish after it is modified. Once I get more confident with my food choices, I will definitely revisit restaurant chicken, just with a new outlook on how it is cooked.

rml_16

Agreed, my topic is misleading as written. I should have written, "Beware of Chicken as listed on the menu".

I rely heavily on posted information, so for someone like me, just starting out with the calorie counting, it is easier to order a lower cal menu item "as written" than to subtract out butter and oil on another dish after it is modified. Once I get more confident with my food choices, I will definitely revisit restaurant chicken, just with a new outlook on how it is cooked.

You have to be careful with almost anything you get in a restaurant. I think I mentioned above that even the steamed veggies are steamed in oil or butter.

Basically, you're safe with salad (no meat) and dressing on the side if you want to go strictly by the menu and want something low-cal.

Degren

Agreed. I am just glad that many restaurants post their nutritional info online now, in fact many are in the database for this website. I suppose I may have been naive before, thinking that veggies and chicken were always the "healthy option".