Does this look like a 700 calorie lunch?

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emily_fox
emily_fox Posts: 62 Member
edited August 2015 in Food and Nutrition
I work in a doctor's office, we get food catered almost every day. I'm trying to teach myself portion sizes, and I don't have a food scale at work. So, I eyeball my portions. Today we had Olive Garden. Do you think this looks like a 700 calorie lunch? It's half a portion of the chicken Marsala, I think 2 ounces of pasta (spaghetti and meat sauce?) , an ounce of potatoes and a cup of salad with dressing on the side. I'm hoping it's less than 700, but I try to overestimate cals eaten. Also, please give suggestions on how I could have improved this meal. More meat? Etc.osuxb6bu2a93.jpg

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  • Y_A_F_A
    Y_A_F_A Posts: 11 Member
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    Based on only what's pictured, I'd guess less than 700 - maybe 250 for the pasta/sauce, 100-150 for the chicken, and 100-150 for the potatoes - lettuce almost none. It's kind of hard to really tell portion sizes though, as the plate could be bigger or smaller than I'm guessing.
  • emily_fox
    emily_fox Posts: 62 Member
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    Yeah, I figured it would be kinda hard to guess super accurately from the picture. Do you think the portions look ok? I really just want to learn portions
  • Ashtoretet
    Ashtoretet Posts: 378 Member
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    http://media.olivegarden.com/en_us/pdf/olive_garden_nutrition.pdf A full serving of non-stuffed chicken marsala is 1030, so 515

    Iceberg lettuce is something like 15 calories per 3 cups so that's pretty much 0. http://miamimommysavings.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Olive-Garden-Salad-Dressing.png claims the bottled dressing is 80 calories per 2 tablespoons and I would think the portion you have is dressed with less than 1 tablespoon. So maybe 30 calories.

    https://www.fatsecret.com/calories-nutrition/usda/white-potatoes-(flesh-and-skin)?portionid=44238&portionamount=1.000 says 20 calories for the potatoes

    Google says a spaghetti noodles have roughly 1.58 calories per gram, and there are 57.6 grams in 2 ounces, so the bare pasta would be around 90 calories.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/calories/prego-marinara-sauce-with-meat-227591480 says .5 of a cup is 80 calories so I would guess you have slightly less than that, so maybe 50 calories.

    Altogether that's 705 by my estimates. If it were me, I would write down like 730. If I were getting this food often, I would probably cut out the spaghetti and add more potatoes to feel full for less calories.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
    edited August 2015
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    emily_fox wrote: »
    Yeah, I figured it would be kinda hard to guess super accurately from the picture. Do you think the portions look ok? I really just want to learn portions

    portions are an individual thing...an appropriate portion for me is not going to be the same as an appropriate portion for you.

    also, no..that doesn't look like 700 calories...I'd say somewhere between 300 - 400...500 tops...but then again, stuff like this is tricky as I have no idea how much dressing is on your salad...or marsala sauce, but it looks fairly minimal.
  • atiana19
    atiana19 Posts: 94 Member
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    I would remove one of the starches probably the pasta and add some more veggies that would greatly reduce the calories but still keep you full
  • atiana19
    atiana19 Posts: 94 Member
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    steam broccoli or sauteed spinach would be excellent with that
  • Y_A_F_A
    Y_A_F_A Posts: 11 Member
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    If you mean in terms of proportions - relative amount of pasta, meat, etc. - then I'd say yes. As a meal, I would personally consider dropping either the pasta or the potato in favor of additional veggies for greater nutritional variety. Doing so might mean you need to slightly increase the portion size of the protein and starch to hit your calorie goal though. Not that there's anything bad about what you have included.
  • happysquidmuffin
    happysquidmuffin Posts: 651 Member
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    Ashtoretet wrote: »
    http://media.olivegarden.com/en_us/pdf/olive_garden_nutrition.pdf A full serving of non-stuffed chicken marsala is 1030, so 515

    FYI just referring to your estimate of the chicken marsala calories, that calorie figure is for the full meal - not just the chicken part of it. So I agree with the other lower estimates on the chicken calorie count. Doesn't look like more than 4-5 oz of cooked chicken. Plus a few calories for the marsala sauce coating it.
  • happysquidmuffin
    happysquidmuffin Posts: 651 Member
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    I'd probably log it 600 calories and call it good, because that's probably still slightly overestimating.
  • Y_A_F_A
    Y_A_F_A Posts: 11 Member
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    Ashtoretet wrote: »
    http://media.olivegarden.com/en_us/pdf/olive_garden_nutrition.pdf A full serving of non-stuffed chicken marsala is 1030, so 515
    ...

    I *think* that value is for the chicken marsala meal, not just the chicken from the meal.

  • emily_fox
    emily_fox Posts: 62 Member
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    Everyone's responses have been so helpful. I ended up logging it at 723, and then I did a 15 minute walk afterwards. Maybe I should keep a scale at work? But I feel good knowing that I might be overestimating. I'd rather overestimate than under, and I really wanted to see if I was on the right track.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    Olive Garden lists their calorie info online, so you can look it all up.

    Their stuff is ridiculously high in calories.
  • kozykondition1
    kozykondition1 Posts: 45 Member
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    I'd be surprised if it was over 400. I don't even see salad dressing. The chicken looks stripped of sauce also. So 250-300.
  • wearmi1
    wearmi1 Posts: 291 Member
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    It looks like a very sad 723 calorie meal ;-( Sorry to say.
  • emily_fox
    emily_fox Posts: 62 Member
    edited August 2015
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    Yeah, I agree, quite pitiful for the calorie bomb. But I know that if I'm going to sustain this long term, I can't give up the drug rep lunches (saves me so much money), I've decided I'll modify.
  • whiteblossom14
    whiteblossom14 Posts: 240 Member
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    My supper under 500 So not sure I why yours is so high o2pfxyoxqyhu.jpg
  • emily_fox
    emily_fox Posts: 62 Member
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    repsrequired wrote: »
    My supper under 500 So not sure I why yours is so high o2pfxyoxqyhu.jpg

    Because it's crappy Olive Garden haha, your meal looks delicious!!!

  • whiteblossom14
    whiteblossom14 Posts: 240 Member
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    emily_fox wrote: »
    repsrequired wrote: »
    My supper under 500 So not sure I why yours is so high o2pfxyoxqyhu.jpg

    Because it's crappy Olive Garden haha, your meal looks delicious!!!
    It was lovely potatoes done in my actufy with no oil yum yum
  • ldrosophila
    ldrosophila Posts: 7,512 Member
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    repsrequired wrote: »
    emily_fox wrote: »
    repsrequired wrote: »
    My supper under 500 So not sure I why yours is so high o2pfxyoxqyhu.jpg

    Because it's crappy Olive Garden haha, your meal looks delicious!!!
    It was lovely potatoes done in my actufy with no oil yum yum


    im just impressed that you took the time to organize the cucumber. when I cook it looks like a giant mess with rough sloppy cuts
  • SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage
    SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage Posts: 2,668 Member
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    I'd say you're safe logging that at 700. It's likely slightly under, but better to over estimate.

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