Restaurants' Dirty Little Secrets

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Even though a lot of restaurants are adding their food's calorie counts to their menus there are still a good number that don't. Check out the link below to find your favorite restaurant and check out their menu for their ability to provide healthy low cal foods. You'll be hard pressed to find many that make good grades.

http://eatthis.menshealth.com/restaurant_guided_search/all/all/all/all

Enjoy poking around,

J.

Replies

  • Jorra
    Jorra Posts: 3,338 Member
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    Bumping for the greatest website on the internet! (besides MFP)
  • anolan807
    anolan807 Posts: 273 Member
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    Be careful with what you are looking. Restaurants are being caught fibbing about their calories. Food is being found to have 100 or more calories then what they are listing on their websites..
  • AdAstra47
    AdAstra47 Posts: 823 Member
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    Thanks for the info!

    And NPR had an article today about how some restaurants that *do* report their calorie counts aren't being very accurate:
    http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/07/20/138555722/restaurants-often-miss-the-mark-on-calorie-counts?sc=fb&cc=fp
  • quitmakingexcuses
    quitmakingexcuses Posts: 906 Member
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    Bookmarked! Thanks! :)
  • Gidget85
    Gidget85 Posts: 12 Member
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    added to my fave list of websites...thank you for sharing :)
  • JoniBologna
    JoniBologna Posts: 653 Member
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    It's not that they're lying about the calories. It's that they don't measure accurately or at all when making it. If you've ever worked in the food industry you'd get it.
  • Ultima_Morpha
    Ultima_Morpha Posts: 895 Member
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    It isn't just restaturants...most packaged food has deviations in calorie counts. The regulations of nutritional labeling in the US are very loose. Most calorie counts are averages and derivations of other food/products. In restaurants, you have the added potential of human error.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    Yeah restaurants don't lie (generally,) but when everything is prepared by hand there are going to be variances from spec all the time. It's human nature. No chef will put EXACTLY the same amount of every item on a dish every time. Be honest, even when you measure everything out at home, it's always a little off, right? :wink:

    84 grams, 85 grams, close enough... :tongue:
  • Jorra
    Jorra Posts: 3,338 Member
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    It isn't just restaturants...most packaged food has deviations in calorie counts. The regulations of nutritional labeling in the US are very loose. Most calorie counts are averages and derivations of other food/products. In restaurants, you have the added potential of human error.

    Exactly. Food companies will get in trouble for underestimating the weight of their packages, but not for overestimating. Your box of food has more servings in it than you think.
  • sweetie89207
    sweetie89207 Posts: 361
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    great website thx
  • tigerbluefly
    tigerbluefly Posts: 257 Member
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    I worked in the industry for 25 years. Don't be afraid to ask for no butter, no oil, sauce on the side, baked not fried etc..... They can do it all and it's not hard to make those small changes. I learned to eat that way eating most of my meals at work. Everything can be altered to be healthier. Just ask. :)
  • rblauvelt7
    rblauvelt7 Posts: 97 Member
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    Makes me so sad. I'm supposed to go to The Cheesecake Factory on Saturday for my friend's birthday. Looks like I'm going to be doubling up my workouts beforehand!
  • ❤B☩❤
    ❤B☩❤ Posts: 634
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    Thank you for sharing. I am bumping for later!
  • ktbug82
    ktbug82 Posts: 166
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    bump!
  • ChantalGG
    ChantalGG Posts: 2,404 Member
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    I had a booster juice the other day they claim it is about 350 calories but when i tried to recreate it at home, half the size came to the same amount of calories and i used light yogurt instead of frozen yogurts like they use. Got to be aware.
  • tanyaMax
    tanyaMax Posts: 524 Member
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    Bump. Thanx