Olive Garden -- just shoot me now...

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LarryPGH
LarryPGH Posts: 349 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Oh, man...

I went to Olive Garden tonight, and I thought I was doing ok --

I got their "capellini di mare" (which was one of their "low fat" entrees), and had a full plate of salad, and 1 1/2 bread sticks.

The damage?

1075 calories, 155 g carbs, 3214 mg sodium.

Aggghhh!

Replies

  • melleyd
    melleyd Posts: 432 Member
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    I just get soup like minestrone and salad and maybe a breadstick or two. It's really decent calorie-wise that way!
  • kitkat1781
    kitkat1781 Posts: 72
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    I refuse to eat there anymore!!! The first time I got home from a meal there and looked up the calories in the salad, I almost cried!!! There are some places that just aren't conducive to health eating, and Olive Garden is DEFINITELY one of them! If you have to go, get salad WITHOUT DRESSING and the capellini pomodoro (sp?) and only eat about 1/3 of the pasta. It's totally not fun or satisfying, but it'll do in a pinch.
  • ajbeans
    ajbeans Posts: 2,857 Member
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    Pasta is a calorie-killer. It's low-fat, but high-cal. :-/ Don't sweat it this once. You tried to choose wisely, and now you know for next time. One meal won't throw you off-track.
  • alex51026
    alex51026 Posts: 71
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    Yummmm!!! After a hard workout thats not so bad, except for the sodium of course!

    Was it delicious?
  • paulcer
    paulcer Posts: 167 Member
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    Yeah, If I go to a restaurant and order what I want (the good stuff) I have to split it in half and eat it over two days. If I order the healthy stuff, seems it still wipes out my calorie/fat allowances, so I just eat veggies the rest of the day or the next day. :-/
  • vkpmusic
    vkpmusic Posts: 343 Member
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    tell me about it! 2 plates of salad is 700 calories...more than the Tiramisu!
    THEN I had the new limited time asagio ravioli with chicken....1100 calories! That's almost my daily intake!

    My sodium was about 3000 over that day. Sheesh!
  • bradspace
    bradspace Posts: 54
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    That made me laugh! I can't tell you how many times I thought I was doing the "right" thing by making a "healthy" choice only to find out that their idea of "healthy" was apparently relative to eating a 5 lb. tub of lard. I What really made me mad was if I'd known how bad it was, I'd have enjoyed it a LOT more! Live and learn. Sometimes you just have to throw caution to the wind, eat a meal that you like and double down on the exercise the next day!
  • paulcer
    paulcer Posts: 167 Member
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    That being said, I still do it, it's just hard.
  • duarte1966
    duarte1966 Posts: 2
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    I feel your pain. I went to Old Chicago and had a 1, 037 calorie meal. I thought I was so disciplined!
  • disneymom94
    disneymom94 Posts: 32 Member
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    It was one meal. Don't beat yourself up! You will make better choices over the next few days to make up for it. Besides, many fitness folks say it is okay to have a cheat day now and then. I went there last night and was about 400 calories over my calorie count for the day. My husband and I split a dish and I go for salad with very little dressing. I just hit the treadmill a little harder today and tried to make better choices.
  • ron2282
    ron2282 Posts: 2,772 Member
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    I eat at olive garden at least twice a month and I've no problem losing weight. I usually get minestrone soup, eat one bread stick and only eat about 1/2 of my entree. I'm usually so full after the soup and bread stick that I don't want anymore than 1/2 the entree anyway. As long as you have an otherwise healthy day, it won't kill all your progress. The only unavoidable thing is the sodium. But as long as you don't have high blood pressure, just up your water intake that day and you'll be fine.

    The Cheesecake Factory on the other hand is the real killer. Thank God the closest one is over an hour away from me!!! :laugh:
  • callmefor911
    callmefor911 Posts: 155 Member
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    fyi and it is does help alittle u can get the chicken parm and ask them for grilled chicken instead of breaded which is a big help. they also have a light dressing that they will put on the side of the salad.

    i went there sat night and before I went I checked it all out on mfp so then I knew before I even went what I was going to order.

    with that said take it as a lesson learned and move on.. u will know for the next time..
  • bar403
    bar403 Posts: 28 Member
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    I went to Olive Garden the other day and our waitress gave me the nutrition guide which listed all the calories. I ended up having the Chicken Scampi and I asked for them to box half of it before even bringing it out. Our waitress was very accommodating! My meal ended up being 535 calories plus 350 for the salad. I admit that the salad isn't worth all those calories but for a meal out (especially Olive Garden!!) it wasn't too bad.

    If you have them box half the meal before bringing it out, you will be fine at almost any restaurant - especially considering how big the dishes are!

    As a rule, I always try and get the nutritionals before hand.
  • calliope_music
    calliope_music Posts: 1,242 Member
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    Applebees is the same way...KILLER with the sodium!
  • rodegghero
    rodegghero Posts: 212 Member
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    You can ask for
    Lf dressing next Time! They also have whole wheat pasta
  • LarryPGH
    LarryPGH Posts: 349 Member
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    Hmm... if the whole table is sharing a bowl of salad, will they bring out a separate bowl w/o dressing, or with low-fat dressing?
  • Nigel99
    Nigel99 Posts: 498 Member
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    Like many "lean" and "low fat" items in the grocery store, something may have fewer calories and/or fat, but it will quite often have a ton more sodium or sugar to keep it flavorful.
  • NutritionDivaRD
    NutritionDivaRD Posts: 467 Member
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    For future reference, the herb grilled salmon is the best low sodium item they have. Without looking up the info I want to say its around just over 500 cals and 760 mg sodium. It has steamed broccoli as a side and let me tell you, it is all delicious! We ate there two months ago and I planned for it. You can pull their nutritional information up on their website so that next time you'll be more prepared. The hubs and I plan to go there again for Valentine's Day so I'll be prepared for it then as well. Love that herb grilled salmon now!

    Another tip, ask the waitress/waiter to bring a box with your meal and put half of it in the box and tuck it away before you even start eating. Just an idea to help cut the calories of your entree in half right away. Typically, portion sizes of entrees are double what you need anyway.

    As for today, you might as well let it go. No sense in letting it drag you down. Hang in there! :)
  • ron2282
    ron2282 Posts: 2,772 Member
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    Hmm... if the whole table is sharing a bowl of salad, will they bring out a separate bowl w/o dressing, or with low-fat dressing?

    They will bring out one bowl with no dressing and give everyone a small cup of whatever dressing they want.
  • nattyb044
    nattyb044 Posts: 11
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    I know when I go to Olive garden most of the time I will skip the salad and breadstick are together. It' just one of those cases where a salad isn't good for you. But I do love their minestrone and apricot chicken. You can also get lunch portions even if it's dinner time and that will help cut down on the calorie significantly. Hope that helps a little :)

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