What a realization!

CindyAHewitt

My husband and I went on a last minute four hour round trip drive yesterday which cut into our dinner time. So we thought stopping at Applebee's would be the healthiest choice out of most of the semi-fast restaurants in the area.

We were wrong.

While I did end up ordering one of the 500 calorie meals and eating just half of it, we also split a sampler appetizer (a whopping 2400 calories all on one platter!). His burger was 1610. After seeing the total of what we ate, we came to a realization. I have always said that I don't eat a lot and I'm not sure how I've gained so much over the years.

This is how!

We easily went over our daily allotted calories in one meal, but sad truth is that this is how we used to eat for every meal. Quantity aside, the calories on one plate are enough to feed me for over a day. *shakes my head*

My husband and I won't be going out to eat for awhile.

braign

Haha yes when my husband and I looked at the back of the McDonald's tray-liners to see the calories, we had a similar realisation! We had it in our heads that the dollar menu items are TINY so we'd be fine just getting a couple... and some small fries. Almost 1000 calories each! It's made us more aware for the future though, and we did work our butts off to pay for those calories when it came to working out.

CindyAHewitt

Luckily I work tonight, so I'll be on my feet all night and I think I'll sneak away on my break and find somewhere to do pushups or something... :-/

quiltbugj

I like to eat out too. We're eating out a lot less lately, so I have more control over what I'm consuming. Plus, my food usually tastes lots better too!

Loriel

A friend of mine went on a weight loss retreat. For breakfast one morning they were told to take what they considered to be a single serving of cereal. Since she had been dieting a long time she knew what a serving was. She took her portion and then it was actually measured. She had enough for her, her friend, the person behind them and a little left over.

It isn't just restaurant calories that get us (and as you have pointed out that is a lot) but sometimes we just need to pay attention to what we are doing and look after ourselves. Nobody wants to weigh and measure food but maybe if we just make it a little less obvious it won't feel like weighing and measuring. Put an appropriate sized scoop in the food. You aren't measuring you are just taking a scoopful lol.

Vegan_Runner

My hubby normally gets the nachos at the movie theater. It is just some jalepenos, cheese sauce and chips. Well they started posting the calories....1600!!!!! Insane. Needless to say it stopped him in his tracks and he has not ordered them since. It isn't even that much food, like you said it isn't the quantity.

marycmeadows

very true. this is why I always look at menu options before I go out. If I can't find nutrition info for a certain restaurant, I don't go there, plain and simple. Typically if you do some research you can figure out something that is not too bad -- sodium is always a bit high -- but I no longer get any appetizers -- just a waste of calories. And I rarely drink calories. Typically when I go out to eat (if it's not a cheat day) my meal is something along the lines of chicken breast or salmon, with steamed broccoli and a salad -- At ruby tuesday's I love the spaghetti squash marinara - YUM -- Super low in calories, but high in sodium - of course - but very filling and tasty.

TourThePast

This is just a crazy idea, but far more restaurants are publishing their calories and...

<drifts into fantasy land>

Perhaps when more and more people realise how ridiculously inappropriate many of the recipes and portion sizes are in restaurants, and their customers start complaining about it or voting with their feet, restaurants will start serving food that people can safely eat on a regular basis, without it damaging their health.

While there will always be a room on a menu for "treats" they should never comprise the majority of the food on offer.

If there are any entrepreneurs out there, how about a restaurant serving "ordinary" meals (ie not tofu and other stuff perceived as "health" foods) but cooked healthily, low sodium etc, served in sensible portions and with calorie counts for everything on the menu. I bet it would go down a storm, I'd LOVE to be able to eat out regularly somewhere like that. There are lots of people around with money to throw at healthy lifestyles...!

Toridactyl

A friend of mine went on a weight loss retreat. For breakfast one morning they were told to take what they considered to be a single serving of cereal. Since she had been dieting a long time she knew what a serving was. She took her portion and then it was actually measured. She had enough for her, her friend, the person behind them and a little left over.

It isn't just restaurant calories that get us (and as you have pointed out that is a lot) but sometimes we just need to pay attention to what we are doing and look after ourselves. Nobody wants to weigh and measure food but maybe if we just make it a little less obvious it won't feel like weighing and measuring. Put an appropriate sized scoop in the food. You aren't measuring you are just taking a scoopful lol.

This is precisely why my morning cereal bowl is a little bowl that will hold no more than 3/4 c cereal and 1/4 c milk! I hate to measure everything *everytime*. It's just a little way I help myself!

Also, more on topic--moving to CA has really opened my eyes to the calories in restaurant food. They are posted everywhere! I really do think that more places should switch to the same system. Seeing 1600 cal for a small meal on the big McDonald's lighted menu certainly opened my eyes.

michaelmelo

Eating out is by fat the hardest thing to do when on a diet.

TourThePast

Eating out is by fat the hardest thing to do when on a diet.

I find it's easy. Grilled salmon or grilled skinless chicken breast, undressed salad or green vegetables served plain without butter, a serving of new potatoes again served plain.

While it's easy, it does get very very boring...

Peep_chic

very true. this is why I always look at menu options before I go out. If I can't find nutrition info for a certain restaurant, I don't go there, plain and simple. Typically if you do some research you can figure out something that is not too bad -- sodium is always a bit high -- but I no longer get any appetizers -- just a waste of calories. And I rarely drink calories. Typically when I go out to eat (if it's not a cheat day) my meal is something along the lines of chicken breast or salmon, with steamed broccoli and a salad -- At ruby tuesday's I love the spaghetti squash marinara - YUM -- Super low in calories, but high in sodium - of course - but very filling and tasty.

^^Yep exactly how she said it. except for the spaghetti squash... I need to go try that.

braign

Knowing I'm going out and can ONLY either get the salmon/chicken breast and a 'salad' (i.e lettuce on a plate) kind of depresses me sometimes. I do wish restaurants would be more inventive with their healthy options, but I guess if it means I don't crave going out to eat, I save the money and the calories, so oh well!

BJPCraig

I hear ya! Last year my wife and I decided to try IHOP’s “Simple & Fit” menu for a special breakfast treat (it was our anniversary). Everything is less than 600 calories, and it was pretty good. But after studying the calories on the entire menu and looking around us at the other people eating there, we realized that just about everyone else in the restaurant had well over their entire day’s worth of calories on their breakfast plates!

I’ve posted in another thread that what’s worse than the calorie count is what’s NOT in the food. When going out with a friend, we had dinner at a Red Robin. We’d planned for it, exercising heavy and eating light the rest of the day, so we had the 1500 calorie dinner without going over our limits. But we were STARVING afterward, because (as far as we can tell) there’s basically NO nutritional value in the food. Eating out is hard, especially at the chain restaurants.

Oh, and our biggest disappointment? We used to go out to Olive Garden and polish off 3 of their serving bowls of salad between the two of us... Until we found out that a single serving of their salad is 290 calories! What the heck do they put in their dressing? Lard?

JennetteMac

This is just a crazy idea, but far more restaurants are publishing their calories and...

<drifts into fantasy land>

Perhaps when more and more people realise how ridiculously inappropriate many of the recipes and portion sizes are in restaurants, and their customers start complaining about it or voting with their feet, restaurants will start serving food that people can safely eat on a regular basis, without it damaging their health.

While there will always be a room on a menu for "treats" they should never comprise the majority of the food on offer.

If there are any entrepreneurs out there, how about a restaurant serving "ordinary" meals (ie not tofu and other stuff perceived as "health" foods) but cooked healthily, low sodium etc, served in sensible portions and with calorie counts for everything on the menu. I bet it would go down a storm, I'd LOVE to be able to eat out regularly somewhere like that. There are lots of people around with money to throw at healthy lifestyles...!

HEAR HEAR I'm wishing I had some spare money to throw into that project.