no wonder people are over weight..

jimmydeanbakker

Crazy eh??

I'm convinced eating out is what has caused this whole epidemic. If I eat out, even counting the "reported" calories, I gain. If I eat at home (whole foods, nothing sprout-y or fancy), I lose.

But even with the nurtrition facts, people don't care until it inconveniences them :ohwell:

Actually, there is a lot of truth to your beliefs. Restaurant foods have bigger serving sizes and people start mimicking these serving sizes at home. A lunch meal from any restaurant can easily be 1500 to 2000 calories, and by the time breakfast, dinner, and evening snacks are put into the pot, a person could eat 5000 calories. That little ride on the elliptical won't put a dent in that number.

elid

There's certainly some crap out there that you should absolutely avoid, but if you want to make anything a lifestyle you've gotta make it work. Most of us live lives that take us out to social events, fast food joints, and other potential pitfalls. Just gotta learn to manage cheats or find alternatives on the menu. And believe me, I've found very few situations where I couldn't find something to eat.

Well said! I love going out with my husband on our date every week, and would seriously miss the experience (not just the food, but the entire act of going out and having a good time!). And occasionally people at the office want to go for lunch, etc. I either save calories up for a couple days and splurge, or pick something reasonable like a salad with grilled chicken and dressing on the side. And whenever I can, I research the calorie count before I go. (I usually ignore sodium.)

jimmydeanbakker

I've still lost weight eating out 2-3x per week, sometimes more when I'm traveling. There's really nothing to geek out over - even if you don't know the EXACT caloric figure that you're eating. More important is that you have a handle on portion control (i.e. don't eat the entire plate because it's probably a huge serving). Most dine-out meals can easily provide a second leftover meal for the next day.

Don't forget that you have a nifty little app at your disposal so you can make quality choices when you eat out at a restaurant. You can lose weight eating out if you're using common sense practices. But we have to be honest, how many people go into a restaurant with the purpose of eating less?

lilRicki

I just read that yeah resturants and food labels are suppose to tell you the nutritional value of things, but there is no law stating that it has to be accurate information...isn't that crazy? so they can still lie to you about what you're eating...you are way better off to eat at home, at least you can slap your recipe into MFP and it can calculate everything for you, and you know what's in your food...it's just like McDonald's doesn't have to confess what's in their hamburger...it's all lips and @ssholes

akalei

This is strange. A friend of mine is also plus sized. She and her husband who was also plus sized went to subway. They each just got like a bottle water and one of those 6inch under 6 grams of fat sandwiches.. So the lady tries to upsell them to 12 inch and is trying to get them to add on all this extra sauce and offeres them pop and chips and cookies and they had to say no a few times before she got that they didnt want all the extra stuff..
They ate in and near the counter. Then they noticed something. Whenever a thin person ordered the girl at the counter did not try to upsell anything to them. When bigger people came in the lady tried to push cookies and chips on them. Later she called to complain, but they pretty much didnt care andmade excuse like "oh its just random" when it was VERY obvious only bigger people were getting asked if they wanted more. Then they offered her free cookies or chips on her next visit..

elid

That is an interesting story. I believe it. I wonder if maybe the cashier didn't even notice she was doing it.

This is strange. A friend of mine is also plus sized. She and her husband who was also plus sized went to subway. They each just got like a bottle water and one of those 6inch under 6 grams of fat sandwiches.. So the lady tries to upsell them to 12 inch and is trying to get them to add on all this extra sauce and offeres them pop and chips and cookies and they had to say no a few times before she got that they didnt want all the extra stuff..
They ate in and near the counter. Then they noticed something. Whenever a thin person ordered the girl at the counter did not try to upsell anything to them. When bigger people came in the lady tried to push cookies and chips on them. Later she called to complain, but they pretty much didnt care andmade excuse like "oh its just random" when it was VERY obvious only bigger people were getting asked if they wanted more. Then they offered her free cookies or chips on her next visit..

poisongirl6485

This is strange. A friend of mine is also plus sized. She and her husband who was also plus sized went to subway. They each just got like a bottle water and one of those 6inch under 6 grams of fat sandwiches.. So the lady tries to upsell them to 12 inch and is trying to get them to add on all this extra sauce and offeres them pop and chips and cookies and they had to say no a few times before she got that they didnt want all the extra stuff..
They ate in and near the counter. Then they noticed something. Whenever a thin person ordered the girl at the counter did not try to upsell anything to them. When bigger people came in the lady tried to push cookies and chips on them. Later she called to complain, but they pretty much didnt care andmade excuse like "oh its just random" when it was VERY obvious only bigger people were getting asked if they wanted more. Then they offered her free cookies or chips on her next visit..

That's ridiculous. Did she call the local store or call corporate? I'd suggest she email their Consumer Affairs office. To do that is just rude, especially when Subway has capitalized on that one dude losing a bunch of weight and becoming their spokesperson.

sdwelk11

I totally agree, Hubby and I now take our lunches to work. (I work at a hospital and sometimes I will get the salad bar for lunch) I always bring my own salad dressing because they don't carry a variety of low fat dressings, which is ironic since it is a hospital after all! We have now decided to eat all meals at home or pack them with us. I even carry snacks on the weekends when we are out and about to curve the urge to stop and eat somewhere. However, we do eat out once a week at a local sushi bar. We love our sushi and treat ourselves 1/week to it. Find that we are saving money that we used to spend on crap food. Also enjoying time together cooking at home together like we used to early in our relationship.

purple1butterfly

I have a thing about low sugar products as they mostly have aspartame (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspartame) in & it send my kids hyper. They use it in crisps, all sorts of foods & drink. I spend most of my shopping time when buying new food checking labels. In restaurants you dont know if they use product with it in

Sasssy69

I agree, all those little extras add up and people think they cant eat anything without ranch or some type of sauce added to it. People dipping their pizza in ranch, how fatting is that, our culture adds ranch, sour cream and cheese to everything

OMG I know. My SO's niece does this. I'm thinking, REALLY??? It's PIZZA. If you have to add sauce to pizza, there's something seriously wrong. She's 13, so she can do it... NOW, but I can already see the pudginess starting to show. It's sad.

Cristy_AZ

this may be a little off topic, but what is it about excess sodium that hurts weight loss? Water retention? It has no calories, which is the main focus of weight loss. I'm not arguing that high sodium is irrelevant, I'm just wondering how it is detrimental to weight loss.

Yeah I agree. Sodium doesn't really contribute to weight loss or weight gain too much except for the retaining of fluids, which can be flushed out with water. It actually has nothing to do with your body fat content. The worst side effects would be high blood pressure or heart attack/ heart failure. So even though it doesn't really impact our weight, too much sodium has several severe negative effects.

Found this online:
How Salt Affects Your Weight
Diet and Weight Loss Tutorial
Salt does not cause your body to gain or lose fat. In fact, salt has no calories. High consumption of salt only results in temporary weight gain as it causes your body to retain water. Conversely, low consumption of salt can result in temporary weight loss as it causes your body to expel water.

It is interesting to note that many crash diets which boast quick weight loss rely on foods with little or no salt content. The weight loss is mostly water, and as soon as you eat foods containing salt again you regain the weight.

A Word of Caution
Our opening paragraphs would lead you to believe that salt is of little concern in regards to long-term weight loss. In fact, a diet high in salt content can not only affect your blood pressure (see below), but is typically associated with weight gain.

The reason is that high levels of salt in our diets usually come from calorie dense, fiber poor, processed foods, like those found in fast food and restaurant meals, as well as on supermarket shelves. If you adhere to a low salt diet, it will likely consist of the lower calorie, healthier foods associated with weight loss.

Salt versus Sodium
We add table salt (sodium chloride) during cooking and at the dinner table to enhance the flavor of our food. Manufactures add it, often in great quantities, to return flavor to processed foods and help preserve them. But when we look at nutrition content, we look at sodium.

Though the terms are often used interchangeably, salt and sodium are not the same thing. Sodium, which is found naturally in most foods, accounts for approximately 40% of table salt. Therefore when salt is added to food, the sodium content increases by approximately 40% of the amount of salt added.

Why Salt Causes Water Retention
Our bodies rely on electrolytes, most significantly sodium and potassium, to carry the electrical impulses that control our bodily functions. In order for our bodies to function properly, it is important that the concentration of electrolytes in our bodies remain constant.

A high concentration of electrolytes in our blood triggers our thirst mechanism, causing us to consume adequate amounts of water to return to the proper concentration of electrolytes. This is one of the reasons bars provide free salty snacks like pretzels and peanuts. The salt causes us to become thirsty and purchase more drinks.

When we consume an adequate amount of water, our kidneys are able to keep the concentration of electrolytes in our blood constant by increasing or decreasing the amount of water we retain. The result of our retaining more or less water in our bloodstream can also affect our blood pressure.

The water moves beyond our bloodstream, too. Through the process of osmosis, water flows from a lower salinity environment to a higher one in an attempt to balance the levels of salinity. After we consume large amounts of salt, it is the water moving from our bloodstream into our skin that gives us that "puffy" look and makes it hard to get our rings off. Then, when we consume lesser amounts of salt, the same process works in reverse to remove the excess water from our bodies.

Cristy_AZ

this is exactly why I stay out of all restaraunts, especially fast food joints!!

Sasssy69

I won't eat at any restaurant.. fast food or sit down, if I can't find the nutritional information on the food they have. If I know I am going out to eat.. I look it up and plan my meal before I even get there. That way I don't have to look at the menu and be tempted, I already know what I am getting.

Me too. It has saved me many times. I can plan all my other meals around it too. It's what I'm doing tonight.

keepitoff99

I won't eat at any restaurant.. fast food or sit down, if I can't find the nutritional information on the food they have. If I know I am going out to eat.. I look it up and plan my meal before I even get there. That way I don't have to look at the menu and be tempted, I already know what I am getting.

LIKE - Good thinking - I've done this when I've gone out for a sit down meal!

margie_77

The problem is most people, like me before, have no clue how many calories they are eating!
Most places meal sizes are atleast 2 'portions' and if you've never paid attention to that kind of thing, you just eat it.

watkinsc

Speaking of HFCS - I recently watched the King Corn documentary (right after Food Inc.! Blah!) - corn is EVERYwhere!

We have a grocery store out here (seattle) that made a commitment some time ago to NOT sell anything with HFCS in it. Since I have found them, and thusly greatly reduced my intake, my headaches have gone away. Hmmmm....

Barneystinson

I've still lost weight eating out 2-3x per week, sometimes more when I'm traveling. There's really nothing to geek out over - even if you don't know the EXACT caloric figure that you're eating. More important is that you have a handle on portion control (i.e. don't eat the entire plate because it's probably a huge serving). Most dine-out meals can easily provide a second leftover meal for the next day.

Don't forget that you have a nifty little app at your disposal so you can make quality choices when you eat out at a restaurant. You can lose weight eating out if you're using common sense practices. But we have to be honest, how many people go into a restaurant with the purpose of eating less?

I actually rarely check the calories of what I'm eating when I'm out. Most days I don't even log food unless I'm trying to get back into a certain macronutrient breakdown and just need to verify that my portions are working.

amuhlou

Besides the hidden sodium - it's all the CORN SYRUP. it's in everything!!! You can't get away from it when you're eating out so that's what drives me to eat at home, stuff I make, not-processed, from scratch.

It's easier than I thought, too. Last night I made some lentils w herbs & some chili powder, with some fresh kale thrown on top to steam the last 5 mins or so. It was over-the-top delicious, my husband agreed.

For one cup of lentils with 3 cups of water I used probably 1/4 tsp of salt.

Ugh, so true! Even Arby's Horsey Sauce has corn syrup in it. How does horseradish need corn syrup? My husband and I are pretty fed up with that. We rarely eat fast food because of that and we don't really miss it at all.

I will say that the Wendy's website does a great job of telling you all the ingredients of everything, even sauces. So if I were going to eat fast food, I'd be much more likely to do it there.

Also, Heinz has come out with a "simply heinz" ketchup with a refreshingly simple list of ingredients-no corn syrup!

minervasp73

Speaking of HFCS - I recently watched the King Corn documentary (right after Food Inc.! Blah!) - corn is EVERYwhere!

We have a grocery store out here (seattle) that made a commitment some time ago to NOT sell anything with HFCS in it. Since I have found them, and thusly greatly reduced my intake, my headaches have gone away. Hmmmm....

Another reason why I love shopping at Whole Foods. Sure, some of their stuff will be a little more expensive (but not much), but no weird crap in the food !!

ladyhawk00

Another good reason to avoid eating out -

As one person noted, even now that many chains will be required to post "nutrition" info on their meals, it does NOT mean it's accurate. I forget where I saw it, so I can't provide the source, but a study showed that even with posted calorie and nutrition content of a dish, it's rarely what's actually served to you. The study found that at least half of the time the dish came to the table with more than 30% MORE calories than what was listed.

Definite sabotage. Home cookin' is the way to go!