Applebee's...thought I'd share

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ncthomas09
ncthomas09 Posts: 322 Member
in Food and Nutrition
There's an Applebee's across the street from me at work. Just happened to see on their sign out frontthat they have new entrees for 550 calories a piece. Not sure what the entrees are or anything but thought I would share knowing that so many people go there and sometimes have a hard time picking things to eat.

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  • AllTehBeers
    AllTehBeers Posts: 5,030 Member
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    I get one of their chicken dishes. It's pretty good.
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
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    Their lower calories meals are a bit small, but admittedly tasty. Just be cautious if you're watching your sodium, the lowest sodium one is about 1500mg and they go up to around 2500mg.
  • jnn0409
    jnn0409 Posts: 171 Member
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    I checked out their website the other day and saw that, they have the meals online if you want to check it out before going. Some look quite tasty! Just wish it showed how many calories for the Weight Watchers meals...
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
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    Just wish it showed how many calories for the Weight Watchers meals...

    http://www.applebees.com/~/media/docs/Applebees_Nutritional_Info.pdf
  • ncthomas09
    ncthomas09 Posts: 322 Member
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    I barely get to go out anymore but it's probably a good thing because it makes calorie counting so much easier on me! LOL but it is helpful to know certain places offer dishes like this so that if people want to go out you can always suggest one place over another and then it's no huge deal to go out to eat.
  • jwstew007
    jwstew007 Posts: 67
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    I like how some of the applebee's under 550 have a few thousand mg of sodium..
  • Moxie42
    Moxie42 Posts: 1,400 Member
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    I do like their lower-cal menu items! Yeah there's a ton of sodium but you'll probably find that on ANY menu at ANY restaurant unless you eat nothing but all-veggie salads with oil/vinegar dressing. I'll take the extra sodium and down buckets of water to compensate if it means have a super-yummy meal that tastes like a cheat, especially if my friends are ordering burgers and pasta! Not all the time of course, but once in a while...

    The Cheesecake Factory has a GREAT 2-page "Skinnylicious" menu where everything is under 590 cals too. I had their Mexican Tortilla Salad- it was soooooo yummy, and HUGE- couldn't even finish it all. On that menu they have lots of other things too- other salads, burgers, sandwiches, pasta, tacos, flatbread pizzas, chicken entrees, fish entrees, appetizers, etc.
  • ncthomas09
    ncthomas09 Posts: 322 Member
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    The Cheesecake Factory has a GREAT 2-page "Skinnylicious" menu where everything is under 590 cals too. I had their Mexican Tortilla Salad- it was soooooo yummy, and HUGE- couldn't even finish it all. On that menu they have lots of other things too- other salads, burgers, sandwiches, pasta, tacos, flatbread pizzas, chicken entrees, fish entrees, appetizers, etc.

    Good to know! I dont have a Cheesecake factory near me, but my family and I travel to Kansas City alot and we almost always avoid going there because of the high calories!
  • ctgirlscout
    ctgirlscout Posts: 90 Member
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    When I go to Applebee's I order the 7 oz. sirloin (250 calories), fried red potatoes (150) and broccoli (50)=total 450 calories. Lots of food for under 500 calories!
  • AllTehBeers
    AllTehBeers Posts: 5,030 Member
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    I like how some of the applebee's under 550 have a few thousand mg of sodium..

    I just drink more water.
  • sharonpink
    sharonpink Posts: 76 Member
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    Take these restaurant menus with a grain of salt, so to speak, on the amount and calories. They have guidelines, but everyone of their cooks may prepare it differently. If it arrives at your table and it looks like they've loaded on cheese or something like that for instance, you're going to have to go way over what it says in the menu. Applebees and other restaurants have had lawsuits filed against them for misrepresentation over the amount of fat, calories and sodium stated in the menus.
  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
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    I like how some of the applebee's under 550 have a few thousand mg of sodium..

    Drink more water.

    It's a restaurant, you can figure on high sodium counts any time you don't prepare your food from scratch yourself. Just pay attention and try to balance it out.

    One meal of elevated sodium won't hurt, unless you have an issue with sodium....which most people don't.
  • bradphil87
    bradphil87 Posts: 617 Member
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    My fav one is a steak dish that comes with shrimp too!!! :) it's on the 550 cal menu, I don't worry about sodium at all, I work out and sweat plenty, I also drink a lot of water and don't have blood pressure issues :)
  • ncthomas09
    ncthomas09 Posts: 322 Member
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    Take these restaurant menus with a grain of salt, so to speak, on the amount and calories. They have guidelines, but everyone of their cooks may prepare it differently. If it arrives at your table and it looks like they've loaded on cheese or something like that for instance, you're going to have to go way over what it says in the menu. Applebees and other restaurants have had lawsuits filed against them for misrepresentation over the amount of fat, calories and sodium stated in the menus.

    Where I do agree with this there are other things that I kinda have to guess on anyway. Like sometimes I get a sandwich from our hospital cafe while at work but I don't know the brand of bread or cheese they use so I have to guess. But for the most part you get an idea of about how many calories are in your meal. So if you go out and you notice the dish looks different than the pic in the menu or different than the last time you had it you should have an idea you will be a little calorie heavy. But honestly when you go out to eat all you have is a guideline for calories anyway. It's not like your body is going to freak out and gain a bunch of weight if your just barely over.
  • JaceyMarieS
    JaceyMarieS Posts: 692 Member
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    I do like their lower-cal menu items! Yeah there's a ton of sodium but you'll probably find that on ANY menu at ANY restaurant unless you eat nothing but all-veggie salads with oil/vinegar dressing. I'll take the extra sodium and down buckets of water to compensate if it means have a super-yummy meal that tastes like a cheat, especially if my friends are ordering burgers and pasta! Not all the time of course, but once in a while...

    The Cheesecake Factory has a GREAT 2-page "Skinnylicious" menu where everything is under 590 cals too. I had their Mexican Tortilla Salad- it was soooooo yummy, and HUGE- couldn't even finish it all. On that menu they have lots of other things too- other salads, burgers, sandwiches, pasta, tacos, flatbread pizzas, chicken entrees, fish entrees, appetizers, etc.

    CF's taco lettuce wraps and the fire-roasted artichoke are EXCELLENT!

    From Applebee's I like the sirloins from both the under 550 menu and the WW menu. Much better than i thought they would be. I replace the potatoes with more broccoli.

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