Ever eat an enormous number of cals at a restaurant without realizing? (aka the 1000 cal dessert)
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Rachechols wrote: »I learned my lesson with salads. Once at Longhorn and the other at O'Charleys. I have discovered that most restaurant salads are deceptive and aren't anywhere near as healthy as you think. Even for the half portion it was almost 1000 calories. A freakin salad.
Combined with the rolls it was no wonder I wasn't losing any weight.
I agree on this, people go out and order a salad thinking it is low cal, and it may be compared to other items on the menu, but they still end up incredibly high. There are two restaurants I go to regularly around here, neither are chains...I basically build my own salad. I am sure they love me
I change the fried chicken to grilled chicken, I order salsa for the salad dressing at both. One I have them change the lettuce from iceberg to Spinach. Do you think the spit in my food...LOL (I hope LOL)
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the mistake is in assuming that a hot fudge brownie Sunday would be UNDER 1000 calories...
Well, brownie + 1 scoop vanilla ice cream + whipped cream doesn’t *have* to equal 1000+ cals. The issue was serving size, I think. I should have eaten half of half. The brownie part was bigger than a deck of cards, which I think is too big.
We live and learn I guess.
Also, cheesecake sounds yum.
Let's see. If I'm making a brownie sundae at home, we're talking a 2"x2" brownie (standard serving size) at ~400cals, a 1/2 c. scoop of vanilla at ~200cals, and about 1/4 c. whipped cream at ~100cals.
400 + 200 + 100 = 700cals. (So glad this is not one of my favorite foods
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Now, I've never seen other than a very high-end restaurant serve a brownie that small, or a scoop of ice cream close to 1/2 c.
I think you're lucky it was around 1000 cals. I'd have estimated around 1400 cals, myself. And if it were a Chili's-type place, probably would have tacked on another 400-500 cals just because they seem to find ways to make food more calorie-heavy than they appear.0 -
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Looked up "hairball remedy"tincanonastring wrote: »
Well, have you ever eaten an enormous number of cats at a restaurant without realizing?
No results found.
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Sometimes it's obvious, sometimes it's not though... I mean, I always look at nutrition before going somewhere, if possible, but when you don't know the size of the dish, I know I don't really want to assume that it's going to be a lot of food... sometimes it's really not. You don't need a ton to add 300 calories to a dish frankly... just some oil and butter.
That's why I'm so nervous going to places that don't have nutrition info, you can think you're making a good choice, but who knows how many hidden calories are in your grilled chicken breast.
Dessert is always tricky because it can be all over the place, but when I see a restaurant dessert under 900 calories, I'm shocked. I mean I don't find most pieces of the cheesecakes at Cheesecake factory THAT big... and they're still 900-1200 calories. Yesterday I looked up the calories for Creme brulee as I'm going to have some tomorrow (local restaurant, no clue what the calories are but it's fancy so smaller servings), and I was SHOCKED to see that some of them are 1000 calories. They must be huge. I can't imagine a regular size ramekin of creme brulee would be over 400 calories?0 -
I'm going out to a desert place tomorrow and was thinking of ordering an oreo milkshake *wishfully* thinking it would be a better option than the waffles or icecream. WRONG! I checked and at 1000 calories, its probably the same if not higher than the other options!0
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I was shocked when I started looking up nutrition information. We are a busy family and eat out often. No way I would order some of the things I used to order. I still eat out a lot especially on weekends but now that I'm aware and look things up in advance, I have no problem eating out and staying within my goals. Rarely do I get dessert. I much rather have it at home. Or we go for frozen yogurt afterwards.0
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It was SUCH an event in my house growing up! We'd talk about it all week and still talk about it after haha!cwolfman13 wrote: »Maybe it's just me...but when I was younger, going out to eat was basically an event...it was special.
It still sort of is at my house. For a family of three at most chain or mid-priced restaurants, we can rarely get out for under $60 once you add in tip. We'd be in the poorhouse pretty quick if we ate out like that multiple times a week the way I see some people do.
We go out about once every 6-8 weeks and that is only because we recently had a huge increase in income. Before, it was basically about three times a year + a few other occasions where other people were footing the bill. Going out this weekend for my daughter's birthday to a decent Japanese restaurant. I fully expect to spend around $70-80 bucks.0 -
When I had just started MFP to count calories, I went to Beef O'Brady's for lunch. Thought the Grilled Chicken Wrap sounded like a reasonable choice. . . egads! 1040 calories without the fries - 1390 with the fries, tack on a soft drink. . . needless to say I was over my limit that particular day. And have not been back there since.0
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I went for lunch with a couple of friends once and one ordered a dessert that was so massive we all had to share it. It had ice cream, cream, wafers, even bite size chocolate bars in it!
I usually don't order dessert when I go out, I just get a coffee. Unless it's a special occasion, like my birthday.
I live in England and our portion sizes aren't usually that big. I've been to the US and couldn't believe how big the portions were and could never finish a meal.0 -
When I had just started MFP to count calories, I went to Beef O'Brady's for lunch. Thought the Grilled Chicken Wrap sounded like a reasonable choice. . . egads! 1040 calories without the fries - 1390 with the fries, tack on a soft drink. . . needless to say I was over my limit that particular day. And have not been back there since.
That's the kind of WTF surprises I'm talking about. Sometimes you really think you're making a good choice and it's just horrible.0 -
DawnieB1977 wrote: »I went for lunch with a couple of friends once and one ordered a dessert that was so massive we all had to share it. It had ice cream, cream, wafers, even bite size chocolate bars in it!
I usually don't order dessert when I go out, I just get a coffee. Unless it's a special occasion, like my birthday.
I live in England and our portion sizes aren't usually that big. I've been to the US and couldn't believe how big the portions were and could never finish a meal.
I had to explain to my euro in-laws that it wasn't at all expected that you clean your plate and it was normal to box up a lot of the meal to take home and eat later. We were at a Mexican restaurant where portions are often beyond massive, even by 'murican standards. Their eyes about exploded out of their heads once the meal came.0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »Maybe it's just me...but when I was younger, going out to eat was basically an event...it was special.
Same here. Even going to McDonalds or Burger King was a treat, we just didn't have much money. Our splurge was Red Lobster...
I often wonder if my kids would a) be better behaved and b) eat more of their food if we treated the restaurant experience as more of a special event. We don't even eat out that often compared to many families, but probably fast food once/week at the drive through on busy weekends and dinner at a local Mexican or Italian place once every couple of weeks.
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CrabNebula wrote: »DawnieB1977 wrote: »I went for lunch with a couple of friends once and one ordered a dessert that was so massive we all had to share it. It had ice cream, cream, wafers, even bite size chocolate bars in it!
I usually don't order dessert when I go out, I just get a coffee. Unless it's a special occasion, like my birthday.
I live in England and our portion sizes aren't usually that big. I've been to the US and couldn't believe how big the portions were and could never finish a meal.
I had to explain to my euro in-laws that it wasn't at all expected that you clean your plate and it was normal to box up a lot of the meal to take home and eat later. We were at a Mexican restaurant where portions are often beyond massive, even by 'murican standards. Their eyes about exploded out of their heads once the meal came.
My sister and I went to San Francisco, and they asked if we wanted the rest of our meal boxed up in one restaurant and seemed offended when we said no lol. It's not like we had a fridge or microwave in our hotel room.
The scariest portion I had was some nachos in Las Vegas. When I was full it looked like I hadn't even touched the plate, there were so many.0 -
@Francl27 Those creme brûlées must be either giant or overloaded with sugar (or both). I distinctly recall having this in Paris when I was studying abroad and it came in a tiny 2” diameter 1/2” tall ramekin: it was the perfect portion size, and not overly sweet. I wish more restaurants in North America reduced serving sizes, especially for desserts. This ties in with what @DawnieB1977 is saying. And @CrabNebula .
@healthybodyhealthylife Drinking all those calories is even worse for me. To think there are people who have a dessert AND a dessert drink. Good thing you were thoughtful enough to do your research!
@klkarlen I can’t even begin to understand how a grilled chicken wrap can get to 1000 cals. It could be all of the sauces I guess? That’s one thing I like about the Subway nutrition website - one of their sauces adds around 400 calories to a sub! Nuts.
It’s one thing to be surprised about a dessert, which is still more likely to be killer high in cals, but something that sounds like a reasonably choice… sheesh.
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tincanonastring wrote: »
A few years ago my mom told me that a restaurant in her town got shut down because the county health inspectors found a bunch of cats in the freezer.
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Rachechols wrote: »I learned my lesson with salads. Once at Longhorn and the other at O'Charleys. I have discovered that most restaurant salads are deceptive and aren't anywhere near as healthy as you think. Even for the half portion it was almost 1000 calories. A freakin salad.
Combined with the rolls it was no wonder I wasn't losing any weight.
Very, very good point. Salads can really kill, those dressings are often super calorie dense. Add some croutons or bacon bits or whatnot, and it really adds up. Plus, salads never fill me up anyway, which makes it practically annoying.
You all make some really fantastic points!
@jkwolly : Nomnom is all I have to say.
@raisealittlehell : You definitely have the right idea. That’s pretty much what I try to do, with the occasional transgression
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@jacksonpt : I literally don’t understand how that is even possible. I’d have thought a steak would be good protein for decent cals!
@LifeInTheBikeLane : That’s insanity, what went into that burger?! Yikes.
@Sabine_Stroehm : Appetizers are another thing that can really screw things up. When I was growing up, we’d always eat two courses: soup and the main dish. I think it’s fair to say this is why I was always on the chubby side (especially as I ate loads of bread throughout heh).
Also, eating out did use to be a treat, eh? I wonder when/how/if that changed.
When I first gained weight in my mid to late 20s it was related to a job where we'd either get to order in food (from pretty high quality restaurants through a service the employer used) when staying late, as was quite common, and where eating out was a common part of the job (traveling-related, and taking out clients). Although I was getting restaurant food up to 5 times per week, I'd treat it as if it were a special occasion (as it had been, before that time) and get the appetizer (soup or salad, but still) and often dessert as well as the entrée. (And when actually at the restaurant (not when ordering in at work), typically a couple glasses of wine too.) And yet when I first started thinking about how to lose weight I genuinely thought I didn't eat that much. Until I thought about it a little.0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »Maybe it's just me...but when I was younger, going out to eat was basically an event...it was special.
Same here. Even going to McDonalds or Burger King was a treat, we just didn't have much money. Our splurge was Red Lobster...
I often wonder if my kids would a) be better behaved and b) eat more of their food if we treated the restaurant experience as more of a special event. We don't even eat out that often compared to many families, but probably fast food once/week at the drive through on busy weekends and dinner at a local Mexican or Italian place once every couple of weeks.
We don't eat out that often, and I've never taken my kids to Mcdonalds, KFC, Burger King etc (and before I get abuse, I just don't like them ok!). We go to Costa (UK equivalent of Starbucks but with better coffee ) and the kids get a babyccino and some wafers, and I get my caffeine fix. Sometimes we have lunch at a café. We only go to restaurants in the evening a few times a year. Last time was in October for mine and hubby's birthday (we have the same birthday). It's expensive eating out in England. Everything is more expensive here!
P.S Emilia, I lived in France for a year and have been there millions of times, and their portion sizes are even smaller than here.0 -
Went to Denny's, had some fries. Can't remember the calories of the fries, but I was over by 300 calories that day. Suffice it to say, all my fries are now homemade.0
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@Francl27 Those creme brûlées must be either giant or overloaded with sugar (or both). I distinctly recall having this in Paris when I was studying abroad and it came in a tiny 2” diameter 1/2” tall ramekin: it was the perfect portion size, and not overly sweet. I wish more restaurants in North America reduced serving sizes, especially for desserts. This ties in with what @DawnieB1977 is saying. And @CrabNebula .
I've seen a newer chain of restaurants (at least, only been in Texas for a few years) called Seasons 52 that has seasonal and local foods on the menu. All menu items are under a certain calorie limit (450ish I think), and you can get multiple courses (we usually split an appetizer before the main course) and not feel quite so bad. And deserts come in a shot glass. It's the perfect amount to get the satisfying flavor but not enough to stuff yourself after your first two courses.0
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