How was THAT 1100 cals?

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fougamou
fougamou Posts: 200 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
OMG, I went to Longhorn Steakhouse and ordered a Grilled Chicken Apple Harvest Salad. Ingredients were: Crisp Fuji apples, pecans, dried cranberries, bacon, sweet potato crisps and spinach in an apple cider vinaigrette - and of course chicken. Wasn't a mega salad (portion wise, I think it was smaller than the salads I get from Panera), and not a lot of chicken and I do not remember even eating any pecans, so there certainly were not many.

When I looked it up 1100, and I am still hungry! I assume all the calories came from the dressing, but still....
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Replies

  • marciebrian
    marciebrian Posts: 853 Member
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    that's horrible. I've read many articles about being careful about salads... most (unless you make it yourself) are not healthy and loaded with calories... sucks though ;-( sorry
  • tm82001
    tm82001 Posts: 133 Member
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    I have learned the hard way, like you, that a salad doesn't mean low cal or lower cal. If I can, I look up the nutritional facts ahead of time, so I can plan accordingly.
  • ronrstaats
    ronrstaats Posts: 294 Member
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    That dressing is about 225 calories a serving... but who knows how much added sugar they put in the glaze they use to prepare the chicken.
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
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    That's why I stay away from salads. Not worth it, unless I make it from home.
  • broox80
    broox80 Posts: 1,195 Member
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    I know it!! Salads can be a killer. I try to get salmon or a steak with grilled veggies. It does suck though because a big restaurant salad is really good every now and then.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    That is a lot of calories for a salad. I'm so glad I don't like dressings and am lactose intolerant, which means no cheese, because it cuts down on some of the calories.

    All in all, sounds like you enjoyed the salad. :bigsmile:
  • tabbyxxcat
    tabbyxxcat Posts: 102 Member
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    A while back when I was introducing the idea of calories and eating a deficit to lose weight to my parents, my dad decided to look up the salad he had eaten at Applebee's, that fateful Sunday afternoon, on my MFP app. He practically cried when it came up as over 2000 calories. I just despise eating out anymore...except for Chipotle ;D
  • Ejourneys
    Ejourneys Posts: 1,603 Member
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    I feel your pain! For me it was learning the truth about antipasto. Holy moly.
    My restaurant salads are few and far between. I make my own (and my own dressing) at home.
  • LishieFruit89
    LishieFruit89 Posts: 1,956 Member
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    I had that salad. Minus the bacon. And dressing on the side - used like a tsp of it.

    It was an ok salad. But I had to send it back because it came with bacon and asked for none. They dumped it out, picked out the bacon and tossed it back in the bowl. Wasnt nearly as nicely presented the second time it was served.
  • fougamou
    fougamou Posts: 200 Member
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    I am usually wise to salads, but it was a vinaigrette, not a creamy salad dressing. No cheese, no croutons. I would have guessed 650-700 cals. Still can't figure it out.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    Always get your dressing on the side. Even a vinaigrette is made with a lot of oil which in and of itself is not "bad"...but the problem is that a serving of dressing is generally around a couple of TBSPs and that would be fine....but most restaurants put about triple that on their salad. When you get it on the side you get to see how much actual dressing they use and of course, you can then control it.

    A mere 3 Tbsp of a good vinaigrette is easily 300 - 400 calories...they probably put about 6 Tbsps on the salad as people generally like it loaded up. Their job is to make customers happy (food tastes good and bang for your buck), not calorie control.
  • sybrix
    sybrix Posts: 134 Member
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    I suspect the dressing as the main culprit. On a whim I checked out the calories in a vinaigrette that was in our fridge a while - 100 calories for just 2 tbsp. Who knows what was in theirs, could have consisted of more oil than a normal vinaigrette.

    But yeah, 1100 sounds so high for that salad. Not sure either how it came out to that much.

    I remember buying a grocery store berry spinach salad for lunch. The "lemon poppy seed" dressing alone was over 450 calories and was mostly just mayonnaise, oil, and lemon juice. It tasted disgusting and I ended up using about 1/4th of it.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    that's horrible. I've read many articles about being careful about salads... most (unless you make it yourself) are not healthy and loaded with calories... sucks though ;-( sorry

    How are they unhealthy? The amount of calories in food should not dictate whether they are considered healthy or not.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    that's horrible. I've read many articles about being careful about salads... most (unless you make it yourself) are not healthy and loaded with calories... sucks though ;-( sorry

    How are they unhealthy? The amount of calories in food should not dictate whether they are considered healthy or not.
    I assume she means they're not much healthier than the non-salad menu options, since the salads can be full of high-fat ingredients (bacon, nuts, oil, cheese), with a handful of iceberg lettuce tossed under it to make you feel virtuous.

    I think sometimes the salad is not really made to the spec that the calories are based on. I got a curried chicken salad from Pita Jungle twice, that rings up to a whopping 1270 calories. The first time, it was huge and the 'chicken salad' part was in a yogurt based dressing and I made two hearty meals of it. The second time, they used grilled chicken strips (not in dressing like 'chicken salad'), fewer nuts, fewer toppings and it was just much smaller. I easily ate the whole thing.

    It's all estimates.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    that's horrible. I've read many articles about being careful about salads... most (unless you make it yourself) are not healthy and loaded with calories... sucks though ;-( sorry

    How are they unhealthy? The amount of calories in food should not dictate whether they are considered healthy or not.
    I assume she means they're not much healthier than the non-salad menu options, since the salads can be full of high-fat ingredients (bacon, nuts, oil, cheese), with a handful of iceberg lettuce tossed under it to make you feel virtuous.

    I think sometimes the salad is not really made to the spec that the calories are based on. I got a curried chicken salad from Pita Jungle twice, that rings up to a whopping 1270 calories. The first time, it was huge and the 'chicken salad' part was in a yogurt based dressing and I made two hearty meals of it. The second time, they used grilled chicken strips (not in dressing like 'chicken salad'), fewer nuts, fewer toppings and it was just much smaller. I easily ate the whole thing.

    It's all estimates.

    Dietary fat is healthy and essential...

    I think the problem is that so many people think that only vegetables are "healthy" and nothing else. People have a general lack of knowledge when it comes to proper nutrition. People still think that fat makes you fat and of course, carbs are just the latest and greatest of dietary boogie man.
  • gigglesinthesun
    gigglesinthesun Posts: 860 Member
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    OMG, I went to Longhorn Steakhouse and ordered a Grilled Chicken Apple Harvest Salad. Ingredients were: Crisp Fuji apples, pecans, dried cranberries, bacon, sweet potato crisps and spinach in an apple cider vinaigrette - and of course chicken. Wasn't a mega salad (portion wise, I think it was smaller than the salads I get from Panera), and not a lot of chicken and I do not remember even eating any pecans, so there certainly were not many.

    When I looked it up 1100, and I am still hungry! I assume all the calories came from the dressing, but still....

    no, the calories also came from the pecans, the bacon, the dried cranberries, the sweet potato crisps, the chicken, the apples and the spinach. In this list only the apples and the spinach sound lowish on calories, the rest ...
  • aschroeder2749
    aschroeder2749 Posts: 172 Member
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    OMG, I went to Longhorn Steakhouse and ordered a Grilled Chicken Apple Harvest Salad. Ingredients were: Crisp Fuji apples, pecans, dried cranberries, bacon, sweet potato crisps and spinach in an apple cider vinaigrette - and of course chicken. Wasn't a mega salad (portion wise, I think it was smaller than the salads I get from Panera), and not a lot of chicken and I do not remember even eating any pecans, so there certainly were not many.

    When I looked it up 1100, and I am still hungry! I assume all the calories came from the dressing, but still....

    I'm guessing it was the dressing, potato crisps, and nuts. Nuts are high in calories (but also good for you, in moderation). Even though it was high in calorie content, it was probably better for you than a burger and fries with similar caloric content. When eating out, one thing to try is ordering a side salad with chicken. Go for full fat dressing though, not fat free.
  • christinebannon
    christinebannon Posts: 4
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    Here's why it's 1100 calories: pecans, dried cranberries (MOST have extra sugar, like adding candy bits to your salad), BACON (need I really explain), and sweet potato "crisps" means FRIED, add the dressing…1100 easy
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
    Options
    that's horrible. I've read many articles about being careful about salads... most (unless you make it yourself) are not healthy and loaded with calories... sucks though ;-( sorry

    How are they unhealthy? The amount of calories in food should not dictate whether they are considered healthy or not.
    I assume she means they're not much healthier than the non-salad menu options, since the salads can be full of high-fat ingredients (bacon, nuts, oil, cheese), with a handful of iceberg lettuce tossed under it to make you feel virtuous.

    I think sometimes the salad is not really made to the spec that the calories are based on. I got a curried chicken salad from Pita Jungle twice, that rings up to a whopping 1270 calories. The first time, it was huge and the 'chicken salad' part was in a yogurt based dressing and I made two hearty meals of it. The second time, they used grilled chicken strips (not in dressing like 'chicken salad'), fewer nuts, fewer toppings and it was just much smaller. I easily ate the whole thing.

    It's all estimates.

    Dietary fat is healthy and essential...

    I think the problem is that so many people think that only vegetables are "healthy" and nothing else. People have a general lack of knowledge when it comes to proper nutrition. People still think that fat makes you fat and of course, carbs are just the latest and greatest of dietary boogie man.

    Exactly this ^.
  • LishieFruit89
    LishieFruit89 Posts: 1,956 Member
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    Here's why it's 1100 calories: pecans, dried cranberries (MOST have extra sugar, like adding candy bits to your salad), BACON (need I really explain), and sweet potato "crisps" means FRIED, add the dressing…1100 easy

    I dont eat bacon because I dont like pork.

    But bacon is not bad for you.
    Centercut bacon is pretty lean and a good source of fat and protein. Dont demonize it.

    Also you can make something crispy without frying it.
    Ive eaten that salad. They werent greasy and fried like.

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