Have Restaurants Gone Mad???

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Alee4nia
Alee4nia Posts: 168 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So since I started MFP, I have been researching nutritional content and calories of different restaurants. Well, it's insane and barbaric. Cheesecake Factory, for example, has items that have over 2000 calories in them....what?? Who is this supposed to be feeding, Godzilla?

I mean come on, no wonder I am fat and the obesity rate is soaring in this country. Why won't restaurants make healthier options?? I just don't get it...would someone please enlighten me??
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Replies

  • Jennyisbusy
    Jennyisbusy Posts: 1,294 Member
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    I hate when they make something healthy sounding a calorie bomb! Roasted chicken - yay- oh wait it's been soaking in butter. or Salad-yay and then you find out it has more calories/sodium than a burger.
  • Alee4nia
    Alee4nia Posts: 168 Member
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    Exactly, it's amazing how unhealthy they can make salads!?
  • aippolito1
    aippolito1 Posts: 4,894 Member
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    haha Not even roasted chicken soaked in butter...most restaurants give you at LEAST 6 oz. The restaurant I used to wait tables for... one serving of grilled chicken is TWO 6 oz chicken patties with about 2 cups of wild rice as a serving and about a cup of veggies and every entree comes with a giant beer bread roll. I had to eat 1/3 just for a decent calorie count even with the healthy portions (the one I mentioned before).
  • piperjon
    piperjon Posts: 157 Member
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    Today, I went to Old Chicago pizza, and had what I thought to be a healthy(ish) sandwich, the Classic Club. Yeah, it has a small amount of bacon and ham and turkey, and I ordered it without mayo. I came with mayo, and as I was at lunch, and it took a while already, and my blood sugar had tanked, I ate it with the mayo.

    Look it up...

    Old Chicago - Classic Club Sandwich, 1 Sandwich 829calories, 72grams of carbs, 43grams of fat (!!!!!) 0 protein listed.

    NINE HUNDRED FRIGGIN CALORIES FOR A SANDWICH!
  • piperjon
    piperjon Posts: 157 Member
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    Oops...don't hit tab by accident....

    Pj
  • msowens
    msowens Posts: 15 Member
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    Caveat emptor.
  • Ruby11222
    Ruby11222 Posts: 114
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    It seems the higher in fat they are the more addictive they are, the more money they make. Plus unhealthier/processed foods are cheaper to manufacture.

    It really sucks, I love to go out for meals but a lot of the time it isn't worth it to have a meal that has more calories than I should eat for the whole day.
  • Alee4nia
    Alee4nia Posts: 168 Member
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    Before we go out, I make sure to look up the nutritional content, otherwise we are eating at home.
  • anamikaraks
    anamikaraks Posts: 59 Member
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    Going to breakfast with friends and started looking at breakfast food. HOLY COW!!! It's amazing. Our only defense is to really read the nutrition info. Now I at least know when I eat all my calories in a single meal.
  • lisadlocks
    lisadlocks Posts: 212 Member
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    The restaurants are feeding US. We are the ones demanding bigger, greasier, with salt and sugar on top. I fed my obesity well. Most restaurant do have healthy option menus. You can order directly from the chef when you don't see healthy choices. I am traveling as we speak and I asked for steamed broccolit and grilled asparagus with my grilled salmon. I bypassed the southern fried chicken with gravy and buttermilk biscuits and apple pie with ice cream. I did order the mushroom bisque which was divine but now I have a sodium headached. It is up to us to do better and to make healthier choices. Then we will notice the light menu or heart healthy menu we used to ignore (or simply didn't see). The food industry will kill us if we let them. Funny, it has always been my fork and my hand on the trigger.
  • recesq
    recesq Posts: 154 Member
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    Aleena, I really hope you're being sarcastic. In case you're not, it is intellectually dishonest to blame restaurants for selling Americans what we want. There are some, maybe many, who can eat that food and not gain weight. Instead of focusing on supply, focus on demand. That's where the problem and solution lay.
  • WKenL
    WKenL Posts: 64 Member
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    Yes. Restaurants have gone mad.

    Portion sizes are utterly ridiculous, and yet they present options as healthy. As has been noted, even salads are awful. I had a salad at one restaurant recently, and it was mostly hard-boiled egg and cheese.

    It makes a really good argument for making your own food and saving the money! (I'll step off the soapbox before I go on THAT rant.)
  • Alee4nia
    Alee4nia Posts: 168 Member
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    It's just amazing how what you think is a healthy option is not, I mean it's insane the amount of calories a SALAD can have....yes, we need more education in regards to nutrition, how much we eat, etc...but also what these big businesses have done to our food...
  • Alee4nia
    Alee4nia Posts: 168 Member
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    I mean we have the FDA and they have guidelines on nutrition. I just wish restaurants would at least try to have a healthy standard...I just don't think there are enough healthy options....I have noticed throughout the years when I try to pick healthier items at the restaurant...

    There are many people who do eat these foods, but I think there are many people who don't want these foods either, I am one of them...
  • BrewerGeorge
    BrewerGeorge Posts: 397 Member
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    Portion sizes are utterly ridiculous, yes. When a 250+ lb man needs to order off the kids' menu to get a realistic portion size, something is wrong.
  • llamabox
    llamabox Posts: 2
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    I mean we have the FDA and they have guidelines on nutrition. I just wish restaurants would at least try to have a healthy standard...I just don't think there are enough healthy options....I have noticed throughout the years when I try to pick healthier items at the restaurant...

    There are many people who do eat these foods, but I think there are many people who don't want these foods either, I am one of them...

    the FDA is a freakin joke...
  • DannyMussels
    DannyMussels Posts: 1,842 Member
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    There's a milkshake at one place thats in the 2 or 3000 calorie range.

    Most crazy coffee drinks are pretty terrible, for you women it'd be half your days intake in one cup.

    Pasta portions are usually 2 or 3x an actual portion size.

    Breads usually unlimited...foods flavored with various fats/sweetners (hfcs*) to make them taste better, which ups the calories, and its a cheap way for them to enhance their dishes.


    *high-fructose corn syrup, developed years back as an alternative to basic sugars. It's cheaper to produce, transport and store. The shelf-life is a gillion times longer then other sweetening agents. Goes in everything from dressings to pasta sauces. Super cheap way for companies to make things taste better. So its calories galore as well...

    A few books and websites out there tackle restaurant menus and their dishes, and expose them for what they really are, with blurbs about what makes them so bad. As well as alternative dishes, with similar flavors.

    Naughty eh?
  • cramernh
    cramernh Posts: 3,335 Member
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    Portion sizes are utterly ridiculous, yes. When a 250+ lb man needs to order off the kids' menu to get a realistic portion size, something is wrong.

    That is, IF they will let you!
  • ASPhantom
    ASPhantom Posts: 637 Member
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    I just wish they would supply nutrition info on their menus.

    Half of the places, you can't even locate info on. That's the frustrating part.
  • Jennyisbusy
    Jennyisbusy Posts: 1,294 Member
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    Portion sizes are utterly ridiculous, yes. When a 250+ lb man needs to order off the kids' menu to get a realistic portion size, something is wrong.

    Yes! Thank you.

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