Lesson? Read nutritional info BEFORE ordering

UKMarjie

I was out with my children today at the mall. We had errands to run and my daughter (4) who has been poorly has been asking if she can have a yogenfruz fruit 'ice cream' (frozen yoghurt) since she started to feel better. Our timing was a bit off and so we had lunch at the food court.

In the food court there is a mine field of bad choices and worse choices and some stand bys that are ok (Subway being the best of the lot, followed by having some kind of sushi). I noticed a shop that I had not visited - designed with colours, fonts and promotional images on it which scream 'healthy, non-processed, organic, non-fattening'. I was just about to order but thought - what the hell let's take a look at the calories listed on their nutrition literature. So I start to scroll down the wraps and I was ASTOUNDED (astounded!!) at the calories listed there. I know the portions might be plentiful - but holy *kitten*! Their lowest calorie wrap was 585 and their highest? 799 (see link below). Let's compare shall we? McDonald's 'sandwiches' lowest 250 and highest? 830.

I am sure that the freshness of some of the ingredients at the Freshii place count for it and that it has fewer E numbers (additives and preservatives) but on shear eat it and it will make you go over your count (like as in it might be nearly half you daily allotment) it just goes to show you how important it is to read what is in the tin and not just look at the 'healthy style packaging' some marketer has found signals wholesomeness in a test group.

https://www.freshii.com/menu/nutritions
http://www1.mcdonalds.ca/NutritionCalculator/NutritionFactsEN.pdf

The thing I found is that if I get caught out at the mall without a plan - eating out is both a pain in the *kitten* and gets a bit stressful. Planning my meals seems to be the only way I can stay sane right now while on the reduced calorific intake. Maybe when I am onto maintenance it will be different...but this journey is opening my eyes sooo much!

links_slayer

lol @ expecting "healthy" food at the food court.

lizlkbg

Isn't it mind blowing?
Even before I started this, I always look at nutritional information prior to ordering because my son is diabetic so I need to know the carb count in order to calculate his insulin. Now, I know fast food is not healthy, but the EXTENT to which it's not healthy is way more than one might innocently think!
I remember the first time I look at the nutritional information for a Red Robin restaurant - hardly a thing on there for under 1,000 cals.

UKMarjie

lol @ expecting "healthy" food at the food court.

I know - they sell it right next to the hallucinogens!

Danni3ll3

I hear you! I went to Montana's today for lunch and had a hard time finding something decent to eat. They did not have a calorie count and only two dishes were deemed healthy choices. I picked the apple pecan salad and it turned out to be a good thing. And the salad was delicious but I was stressing until I chose the salad.

JustJennie1

lol @ expecting "healthy" food at the food court.

You can get healthy items at food courts such as salads with dressing on the side, subway grinders with no condiments on them. There ARE healthy choices you just need to look.

UKMarjie

It freaks me out how restaurants try to masquerade as healthy though. At least they have left my frozen yoghurt at Yogenfruz alone - really nothing terrible there - but it would be nice to have something other than that and Subway without it being my entire day's count! Naive I know...but I would like to see a unicorn too!

ldrosophila

800 calories for a wrap and a nice ice cold calore free drink doesnt sound that bad to me. But youre overall post to read the label is always right, and just cause it's "healthy" doesnt mean it is low in calorie. I mean avocados are chocked full of calories but you cant get a more beautiful food.

If those were pretty big and dense wraps I bet you could have only eaten half of it, so that would still only be 400 calories.

Gallowmere1984

Step 1: order chicken breast anything that isn't fried.

Step 2: throw away everything but the chicken, and scrape the crap off of it.

Step 3: eat.

Problem solved.

UKMarjie

lol @ expecting "healthy" food at the food court.

You can get healthy items at food courts such as salads with dressing on the side, subway grinders with no condiments on them. There ARE healthy choices you just need to look.

That is true - but there isn't much variety. I don't mind planning on a higher calorie meal once in a while if I am intending on going somewhere where they at least can cook what is proper food - you know, recently picked from the ground or from the butchers and never in a freezer - but I am now thinking the food court is actually not the treat I grew up thinking.

I know - nothing revolutionary in my thinking but heck it will save my belly and it will save me money. You get to the point where you think...I'll just make myself a sandwich. Also, half of it isn't cooked when they give it to you. **** in, **** out I guess.

jennyrebekka

i learned this lesson on the back end this morning....do not have a phone that has internet connection....went to the donut place (i know, i KNOW).......got back to my desk - - - ONE DONUT = 480 calories!

alpine1994

Okay, but their spicy lemongrass soup is TO DIE FOR. and 348 calories. It was right next to my old office. I miss it dearly.

UKMarjie

800 calories for a wrap and a nice ice cold calore free drink doesnt sound that bad to me. But youre overall post to read the label is always right, and just cause it's "healthy" doesnt mean it is low in calorie. I mean avocados are chocked full of calories but you cant get a more beautiful food.

True - but it also depends on what your calorie intake for a day is intended to be. At around 1300, 800 is a huge piece of real estate out of your day...I don't mind that when I am at home and I actually know what is happening in my food - that it is exactly what I say is going in, sodium reduced, mayo is low fat and ONLY 1 tsp, or cheese is not estimated, or of a quality I can accept. I don't mind around 300 - 400 for a wrap - I don't see what you need 800 for (but this is where my head is at now, while I am loosing) and will have to learn what works when I am maintaining.

GuybrushThreepw00d

Step 1: order chicken breast anything that isn't fried.

Step 2: throw away everything but the chicken, and scrape the crap off of it.

Step 3: eat.

Problem solved.

Worked for me when having a chicken shish kebab at a late night kebab shop. Much better than deep fried chicken and chips.

UKMarjie

i learned this lesson on the back end this morning....do not have a phone that has internet connection....went to the donut place (i know, i KNOW).......got back to my desk - - - ONE DONUT = 480 calories!

Yeah - I do the 'look before you leap' thing. I love me a Tim's but as I don't want just one Timbit I ain't up in the joint!

ldrosophila

So I've never eaten at this freshii place although it sounds really good, but I had to check the menu. The vegan is the most caloric one but look at what a nutritional power house it is! Protein rich meat (guess you get your choice) and garbanzos, antioxidant rich tomatoes, red peppers, onions and spinach. Immune boosing balsamic viaigrette. And the food of the gods Artichoke! I bet no one could eat the whole thing! It's also the highest in protein and the owest in saturated fat not to mention it has your full days worth of fibre!!

That appollo and harvest are making me drool!

kdiamond

I have yet to ever see a healthy wrap unless I make it myself. They really do try all the tricks down to the names of them - "spinach" wrap is nothing more than food coloring.

I rarely eat at the mall, but if I have to I'll get a grilled chicken salad from Chik fil a - by far the best of the bunch as far as fast food goes.

UKMarjie

Step 1: order chicken breast anything that isn't fried.

Step 2: throw away everything but the chicken, and scrape the crap off of it.

Step 3: eat.

Problem solved.

Worked for me when having a chicken shish kebab at a late night kebab shop. Much better than deep fried chicken and chips.

This is true, however sometimes it would be nice to go out and not eat like Robocop. I actually love food - good food that is. I think that is where the difference is coming in - I am starting to make a huge line in the sand at the 'why would I ever put that in my body' place. When you think about how many calories you are spending on some of this rubbish you wonder why it took so long to figure it out. There is stuff that I eat which I would never let my kids have and that is just foolishness. I am never going to go the route of extremes but I am realizing that a lot of western food culture is seriously sick and broken.

UKMarjie

So I've never eaten at this freshii place although it sounds really good, but I had to check the menu. The vegan is the most caloric one but look at what a nutritional power house it is! Protein rich meat (guess you get your choice) and garbanzos, antioxidant rich tomatoes, red peppers, onions and spinach. Immune boosing balsamic viaigrette. And the food of the gods Artichoke! I bet no one could eat the whole thing! It's also the highest in protein and the owest in saturated fat not to mention it has your full days worth of fibre!!

That appollo and harvest are making me drool!

I am looking forward to getting to the place where I can start to focus solely on the nutrition of the the item. It actually doesn't look that bad - quality and quantity are mental there (fresh) but the calories made me run for the hills. If they had had a kids menu I would have eaten off of that.

Here is an irony for you - I used to be a vegetarian - but you know, like in your twenties and never having really cooked food before type of vegetarian. So cluelessly eating no meat without much of an interest in actual food. Now that I have children and do all the food prep at my house I spend a lot of time looking at what goes into them and onto their plates. There are some compromises I am ok with - some conveniences that I am willing to accept - but mostly I worry about how it will all work out if they grow up like me - never having learned much about nutrition. It is so important to me that they get it and understand about how to be fit and eat well.

Firefox7275

IMO you are being overly harsh and quite blinkered: healthy and diet friendly are not and have never been interchangeable terms. You are only looking at the calorie count, nutrition is far more complex even within each macro there are are healthier and less healthy, more or less 'fattening' options. Not sure what country you are in but the menu listings and pictures for the Freshii food that I looked at do genuinely look to be balanced nutrient dense options, not just marketing or packaging.

Every option I looked at contains a source of calorie dense fats but generally within the context of healthy foods - avocado, olives, nuts, cheeses. Much of the rest of the produce is the recommended bright and dark colours, they have beans and brown rice. I'd eat their food and feed my kids their food in a heartbeat over a MacDonalds or Subway, if I was on a diet I'd use my common sense and exercise portion control, probably ask for no dressing if they were making fresh, in fact the salads even say the dressing is served on the side. The 800 calorie option might be half the daily intake for a female on a diet but it's not for a male not on a diet, which presumably they also cater to.

And lets be clear: the MacDonald's sandwich is not 'real food' it is a cheat meal or your maximum 10% daily calories on junk/ processed/ sugary/ refined cr@p. Unless you are eating 2500 calories a day that's one and a half to two days of your treats wasted and it's only enough food to fuel you for perhaps two hours. Would have made most sense to simply share something with your child.

ldrosophila

So I've never eaten at this freshii place although it sounds really good, but I had to check the menu. The vegan is the most caloric one but look at what a nutritional power house it is! Protein rich meat (guess you get your choice) and garbanzos, antioxidant rich tomatoes, red peppers, onions and spinach. Immune boosing balsamic viaigrette. And the food of the gods Artichoke! I bet no one could eat the whole thing! It's also the highest in protein and the owest in saturated fat not to mention it has your full days worth of fibre!!

That appollo and harvest are making me drool!

I am looking forward to getting to the place where I can start to focus solely on the nutrition of the the item. It actually doesn't look that bad - quality and quantity are mental there (fresh) but the calories made me run for the hills. If they had had a kids menu I would have eaten off of that.

Here is an irony for you - I used to be a vegetarian - but you know, like in your twenties and never having really cooked food before type of vegetarian. So cluelessly eating no meat without much of an interest in actual food. Now that I have children and do all the food prep at my house I spend a lot of time looking at what goes into them and onto their plates. There are some compromises I am ok with - some conveniences that I am willing to accept - but mostly I worry about how it will all work out if they grow up like me - never having learned much about nutrition. It is so important to me that they get it and understand about how to be fit and eat well.

Oh I hear you I was an obese vegeterian. My diet consisted of pepsi and macaroni and cheese.

Youre doing the best for your kiddos just found it interesting that even though the food would be higher quality and more nutrient dense it is too rich in calories. It's kind of a sad thing when society makes McDonalds are better choice than whole foods. But KUDOS to you doing the best you are for yourself and your kiddos.

Topher1978

That is a good amount for a meal that is healthy. Granted, I can eat more than you. But 500 to 800 calories is not really a lot for a meal. If your alotment is very low, get the meal and cut it in half. Wraps that I find at such places are pretty darn big, and half can usually suffice to satiate hunger.

DavPul

I'm unclear as to what is being defined "healthy" in this thread. Since combo of low cal and freshness? And yeah, plan all your meals ahead of time. It's the sensible thing to do.

Get a mcdouble at McDonald's next time. Right ratio of cals to protein. And it's on the dollar menu. Something like 25 gr of protein and 350 cals and costs $1.19.

BeachGingerOnTheRocks

When I go to the mall, the first thing I do is scope the parking lot for an Outback Steakhouse. If there isn't one, then I pull out my phone and surf the app for the restaurant foods. When I can't find that, I find the chik-fil-a. If there's just a McDonalds, then McNuggets or a double burger and I'm good.

But if the choice for me is a high-cal wrap that has a good bit of nutrition or Sbarro...I take the dressing off the wrap and eat a wacky dinner, like protein-yogurt frosting and a Joseph's pita, or whatever gets my nutrients right at the end of the day.

UKMarjie

IMO you are being overly harsh and quite blinkered: healthy and diet friendly are not and have never been interchangeable terms. You are only looking at the calorie count, nutrition is far more complex even within each macro there are are healthier and less healthy, more or less 'fattening' options. Not sure what country you are in but the menu listings and pictures for the Freshii food that I looked at do genuinely look to be balanced nutrient dense options, not just marketing or packaging.

What you say is true and frankly and although I didn't state it outright thought the implications of my posts were pretty clear that the nutrition comparison is not to be made. If it wasn't clear enough before then let me say it here. You can't compare Freshii to McDonald's for nutrition.

As far as portion control goes you are right again. However, another bug bear of mine about 'first world' is the amount of waste that goes in to food production, packaging, and generally over-sizing of portions which you then wind up having to throw away. There is nothing to be learned at a restaurant or a food court about portions or portion control (another obvious statement which I am sure will give some the urge to climb onto their horses in sheer superiority).

If you are in the luxurious position of knowing these things, having been educated with regards to food, not having been raised in a household with someone who had an eating disorder and cultural heritage which does not provide a great role model to learn from, then I congratulate you. If you have never had an issue with portion control, emotional eating or any addictive personality issues to contend with then good on you! That is not my situation. It is why I am all over the cooking I do for my kids and nothing has come out of a jar or tin for them that wasn't a single ingredient to add to a recipe and why, although I am great to them I am still learning for me and why I am being the best role model I can be while I am learning.

I was posting about the fact that the amount of food added up to a huge portion of my allotted calories and it made me panic because I didn't think about buying it and guesstimating how much I would have to throw away (roughly half, I realize now when cooler heads are prevailing and my two kids are not hanging off me either crying or whinging). It seems to me that if you are on the other side of things - you could easily eat two 400 calorie wraps and be on your merry way - but most westerners could do with more 400 calorie lunches and less 800 ones - no matter how nutritious.

So gee-willickers thanks for your entirely helpful comments and your learned IMOs.

Danni3ll3

I'm unclear as to what is being defined "healthy" in this thread. Since combo of low cal and freshness?

Low cal and nutrient dense.

UKMarjie

I'm unclear as to what is being defined "healthy" in this thread. Since combo of low cal and freshness?

Low cal and nutrient dense.

This.

Oishii

The salads are low cal and the burritos are pretty low cal too. I do remember that feeling though, when I'd already bought a tuna melt panini.

When I am maintaining it tends to be more of a struggle to get what I like to eat to be high enough calorie, rather than low enough. I went to the mall on my birthday and 'let' myself have sashimi and frozen yoghurt for lunch, rather than forcing myself to eat enough :laugh:

UKMarjie

Interesting.