How can you possibly estimate calories from meals at a restaurant?

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  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
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    Yeah those kinds of laws sound nice in theory, but in practice there are a lot of reasons not to have them.

    For one thing, it overly burdens small independent restaurants -- many of whom don't even have a website, let alone the resources to calculate calories for their meals and post them up.

    For another, it limits chef creativity, especially at restaurants known for substituting fresh local ingredients seasonally or changing up the menu daily.

    And the speed at which things need to be prepared in a restaurant kitchen means that people can't always be weighing every ingredient they use -- it would take too long. That really only works in fast food or large chains, where they're re-heating pre-packaged and pre-portioned frozen foods.

    Quebec (where I live) has banned fast food advertising to children in an effort to curb childhood obesity. But I wouldn't expect calorie counts on any menus (other than large international fast food chains) anytime soon. There's nobody pushing for that sort of legislation here, as far as I know. And most people would probably scoff at it.
  • fzermer
    fzermer Posts: 229 Member
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    segacs wrote: »
    Yeah those kinds of laws sound nice in theory, but in practice there are a lot of reasons not to have them.

    For one thing, it overly burdens small independent restaurants -- many of whom don't even have a website, let alone the resources to calculate calories for their meals and post them up.

    For another, it limits chef creativity, especially at restaurants known for substituting fresh local ingredients seasonally or changing up the menu daily.

    And the speed at which things need to be prepared in a restaurant kitchen means that people can't always be weighing every ingredient they use -- it would take too long. That really only works in fast food or large chains, where they're re-heating pre-packaged and pre-portioned frozen foods.

    Quebec (where I live) has banned fast food advertising to children in an effort to curb childhood obesity. But I wouldn't expect calorie counts on any menus (other than large international fast food chains) anytime soon. There's nobody pushing for that sort of legislation here, as far as I know. And most people would probably scoff at it.

    I agree, Segacs...we are already over regulated. However, I do agree with the "Truth in Labeling" movement, where labels already exist, or are already mandated.
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
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    fzermer wrote: »
    I agree, Segacs...we are already over regulated. However, I do agree with the "Truth in Labeling" movement, where labels already exist, or are already mandated.

    Yeah, okay, I think labels shouldn't be misleading, too.

    But grown ups should be able to self-regulate, to stop eating when full, and to make healthy choices without necessarily being spoon-fed everything. If you go out to a restaurant and consume 3000 calories worth of food every day and gain weight, you can't really cry about not knowing better because they didn't give you a calorie count. Common sense really ought to prevail here.
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
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    I am absolutely amazed at how many calories and sodium restaurants can pump into the simplest meals. The rare times I eat out, I order food that can be fairly easily guesstimated (grilled pork chops, for instance) and always request salt-free. I would imagine that all-you-can-eat Chinese buffets are about the highest in both!
  • Aviva92
    Aviva92 Posts: 2,333 Member
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    segacs wrote: »
    fzermer wrote: »
    I agree, Segacs...we are already over regulated. However, I do agree with the "Truth in Labeling" movement, where labels already exist, or are already mandated.

    Yeah, okay, I think labels shouldn't be misleading, too.

    But grown ups should be able to self-regulate, to stop eating when full, and to make healthy choices without necessarily being spoon-fed everything. If you go out to a restaurant and consume 3000 calories worth of food every day and gain weight, you can't really cry about not knowing better because they didn't give you a calorie count. Common sense really ought to prevail here.

    huh. being a grown up sucks. i'll stay a kid.

    many grown ups can't seem to do this. not sure if it has much to do with being a grown up anyway.
  • diegops1
    diegops1 Posts: 154 Member
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    Good pesto is made with pine nuts. LOTS of calories, but sooo tasty! Like the others say, if you are less than 300 over once a week, you deserve a gold star. The only asian restaurant in my county uses MSG. So whenever I eat there, I have a lot of water gain for a few days. I try to use portion control when eating out and estimate based on the ingredients and the amount.
  • mburgess458
    mburgess458 Posts: 480 Member
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    dougpconnell219 wrote: »
    I think it should be a law that all restraunts have to furnish reasonably accurate nutritional info on request.

    I agree, but even when a restaurant does give nutritional info (I'm thinking of chains) there is no possible way to know that will be even close to what ends up on your plate and in your stomach. If the cook has a heavy hand with the butter/oils in order to make dishes taste better they could be way worse than what the corporate office puts up on the website. Or if they give bigger portions than the official amounts in order to please customers. The food itself is fairly cheap at a lot of restaurants so they can afford to slop a little extra on everyone's plate in order to get them to keep coming back (I'm looking at you Chipotle).
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited February 2015
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    segacs wrote: »
    Yeah those kinds of laws sound nice in theory, but in practice there are a lot of reasons not to have them.

    For one thing, it overly burdens small independent restaurants -- many of whom don't even have a website, let alone the resources to calculate calories for their meals and post them up.

    For another, it limits chef creativity, especially at restaurants known for substituting fresh local ingredients seasonally or changing up the menu daily.

    And the speed at which things need to be prepared in a restaurant kitchen means that people can't always be weighing every ingredient they use -- it would take too long. That really only works in fast food or large chains, where they're re-heating pre-packaged and pre-portioned frozen foods.

    Quebec (where I live) has banned fast food advertising to children in an effort to curb childhood obesity. But I wouldn't expect calorie counts on any menus (other than large international fast food chains) anytime soon. There's nobody pushing for that sort of legislation here, as far as I know. And most people would probably scoff at it.

    Agree with all this.

    Plus, in most of the US, there are plenty of restaurants with calorie counts if people prioritize that. I tend to avoid those restaurants when going out to dinner (not because of the counts, but because they go along with a more standardized, corporate kind of restaurant that's just not what I'm usually interested in) and prefer small local places. I'm willing to make the tradeoff between easy logging and food preferences. Someone who prioritizes differently can make different choices and that's great, but they shouldn't try to force everyone to have the same priorities.

    I've lost 95 pounds going out to dinner 1-2x per week at the kinds of restaurants I prefer, without calorie counts. I think if you exercise common sense about portion size and meal choice it shouldn't be an issue. I've also found restaurants will answer questions if asked.
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
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    Yeah, I saw a tourist review of Au Pied de Cochon (a restaurant by chef Martin Picard known for its extravagantly indulgently rich menu and heavy use of foie gras in just about everything) once on a review website, complaining that there were no calorie counts on the menu. Um... really?
  • DaivaSimone
    DaivaSimone Posts: 657 Member
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    No calorie count at Au Pied de Cochon? Let me help you:

    Foie gras poutine: a shitload of calories
    Pig's trotter stuffed with foie gras: another shitload of calories
    Cassoulet and foie gras for two: a crap ton of calories
    Fried sugar pie on a stick: a truck load of calories

    I hope this is helping. ;)
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
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    Maybe they wanted magical calorie-free foie gras poutine? :)
  • DaivaSimone
    DaivaSimone Posts: 657 Member
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    That would be nice, though.
  • fzermer
    fzermer Posts: 229 Member
    edited February 2015
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    DaivaSimone wrote: »
    No calorie count at Au Pied de Cochon? Let me help you:

    Foie gras poutine: a shitload of calories
    Pig's trotter stuffed with foie gras: another shitload of calories
    Cassoulet and foie gras for two: a crap ton of calories
    Fried sugar pie on a stick: a truck load of calories

    I hope this is helping. ;)

    Huh...I can't seem find "shitload" in the nutritional portions! Go figure. :-)

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