Applebee's Spinach and Shrimp Salad @ 1,000 cals!!!!

Jana9559
Jana9559 Posts: 29
edited October 5 in Food and Nutrition
WTH!!! Went to Applebee's yesterday with my friends and thought I was eating good when I ordered the Spinach and Shrimp salad. I entered it into my food diary and it says it's 1,000 calories!!! Not to mention 63 grams of carbs and like 80 grams of fat. What??????? I am so upset!! I wish restaurants would list calorie info on menus!!! I won't make that mistake again. :(

Replies

  • carlaj38
    carlaj38 Posts: 23 Member
    Wow! I love that salad also. Thanks for the knowledge.:flowerforyou:
  • homeport51
    homeport51 Posts: 198 Member
    Applebees has an under 550 menu that has some great stuff on it (except for the sodium). I always check the restaurants website for nutritional values and decide what I am going to have before I go. If you have a smart phone, you can even do that at the restaurant.
    Honestly though, most folks don't want to know what the values are for the stuff they are eating and I'm sure if the restaurants posted it on the menus, it might serve as a deterrent rather than a selling point.
    Live and learn, huh?
  • sweets2001
    sweets2001 Posts: 106
    Usually if I know I'm going to a specific restaurant to eat will do my research beforehand and find what would work within my daily calories. It was one time and now you know for next time.
  • Jamiecfc1
    Jamiecfc1 Posts: 75 Member
    You live and learn that not everything that you think is good actually is! I would guess with this its all the dressings and stuff they add to it, pretty sure McDonalds "salads" are actually higher in cals than some of their burgers too!

    :wink:
  • HMonsterX
    HMonsterX Posts: 3,000 Member
    I wish restaurants would list calorie info on menus!!!

    If they did, it would stop people buying stuff. So while it would be good for us, it would be bad for their profits.
  • meeperoon
    meeperoon Posts: 270 Member
    avoid salads in restaurants like the plague!! so many hidden extras in dressings and the such like, the only thing i can guarantee in restaurants is steak.

    a steak is a steak is a steak!!!
  • sjtreely
    sjtreely Posts: 1,014 Member
    Not to add salt to your wound ... but I bet the sodium was up there, too.

    Yep. I've made mistakes this this, too. We all have. Knowledge is power. It's done and over. Move on by drinking some extra water and going just a little bit further in your workout today.

    It just ticks you off, though. I know.
  • midonhau
    midonhau Posts: 108 Member
    I know how you feel. I went to Applebees a couple months ago. Being my first time there I figured it would be safe to order from the Under 550 calories section of the menu. I got the Teriyaki Shrimp Pasta. When I got home and entered it in my diary the sodium blew my mind.....3410 mg of sodium in the meal!!!! I haven't been back since. While I have nothing against them or other restaurants I've certainly learned my lesson....do your homework before purchasing the meal.
  • tyresank
    tyresank Posts: 174 Member
    I believe you can go online and they do indeed have some of that information, and they in particular do have a healthy option, but you have to look for those marked as such. Lately because my sis and her family like to eat out once a week and I usually meet them for dinner I go onine and see what is the best choice before I get there and that have been working for me. Otherwise these salads are not what you think... especially if you do not ask for the dressing on the side, it is amazing the amount of dressing they use and the contents at times!!
  • SpeedBump1
    SpeedBump1 Posts: 74 Member
    I agree. I am not sure if Applebee's fall under this. If so I do not know why they aren't. http://www.fda.gov/food/labelingnutrition/ucm217762.htm
  • wivish72
    wivish72 Posts: 32 Member
    I have made the same mistake and the only thing I can figure out is that hot bacon dressing has to be the worst thing ever in calories, fat and carbs. I have found if you get the 1/2 portion, or the pick 2 off of the lunch menu - that portion with a soup is not too bad. It is still a big calorie lunch, but at least not 1,000 calories. I agree it would make it a lot easier if restaurants put nutrition information on the menu.
  • skfj5
    skfj5 Posts: 70
    Happens a lot. Try checking on-line for calories BEFORE you enter a restaurant (most have nutritional info posted on their websites).

    New rules say chains with over a certain number of locations HAVE to post nutritional info on the menu...but not sure when that law takes effect. And of course, their are loopholes to get around it (for example, Cheesecake Factory notoriously REFUSES to post it's nutritional info ANYWHERE (even on-line)...so to get around the law they created a separate "Skinnylicious" menu that has nutritional info posted on the items in that menu ONLY...so as long as you order off THAT menu, you know what you are getting. If you order off the REGULAR menu...you're screwed.)

    So your best bet is to look on-line...
  • Htay88
    Htay88 Posts: 16 Member
    I feel your pain I had a similar thing happen to me. I had a Healthy choice option chicken quesidilla i got home and went to log my calories and found out its wasn't that healthy at all! 800 cal +


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    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Nutrition Facts For Foods
  • katenichole7
    katenichole7 Posts: 5
    Oh my god that's freaking insane!!!! That's so sneaky. Even salads aren't a safe food sometimes. Next time you're going out, if you know you're going out, look up the restaurant and find it's nutritional info!
    Maybe if you go out to eat often, you should write down your favorite foods and what the calories are so you can make a better decision for that day!
    Some days you may have not eaten much at all and could have room for something a bit more filling calorie wise. Other days you may just need a garden salad :P
  • CraziiPrettiiMILF
    CraziiPrettiiMILF Posts: 24
    the salad isn't the problem. It's the dressing. Did you have the entire serving of dressing?
  • libland
    libland Posts: 284 Member
    It is sad, isn't it? I have yet to find a restaurant salad that is less than 700 calories except those small side salads, which usually just have iceberg lettuce (yuck) with a slice of cucumber and a sad looking piece of tomato.
  • SpeedBump1
    SpeedBump1 Posts: 74 Member
    Duplicate. MFP technical difficulties.
  • normh545
    normh545 Posts: 81 Member
    i agree, on the menu should at have grams per item then you could at least work it out
  • jhardenbergh
    jhardenbergh Posts: 1,035 Member
    yeah, you gotta be careful with Applebee's they do have some of their items listed under 500 or 600 calories. Steak and Vegetables is usually the best way to go. The dressing, whatever they cooked the shrimp in, and cheese if it was on there is what probably did you in.
  • SpeedBump1
    SpeedBump1 Posts: 74 Member
    I posted a reply but noticed it wasn't there. I posted again and saw a double post. Now I do not see any posts other than the original poster. MFP technical difficulties I guess.
  • HMonsterX
    HMonsterX Posts: 3,000 Member
    I posted a reply but noticed it wasn't there. I posted again and saw a double post. Now I do not see any posts other than the original poster. MFP technical difficulties I guess.

    So it's not just me that had that trouble! :D
  • shellfey
    shellfey Posts: 4
    You can ask for their nutritional information. I am struggling with my gall bladder, it has to come out in December. But I have to be very careful about fat grams. So I always have to ask.
  • kmbrooks15
    kmbrooks15 Posts: 941 Member
    I ate there last night with my kids. I got the Asiago Peppercorn Steak with herbed potatoes and veggies, 380 calories and 1520 mg sodium. The sodium is a tad high, but not as bad as some other items.

    We also had dessert shooters. They have these small dessert portions for $1.99. Mine was 390 calories. So with dessert, I got out of there for less than 800 calories.

    I think the reason restaurants put so much sodium in their food is so that people will be thirstier. If you're just drinking tea or water, it doesn't help them, but for someone drinking alcohol, they'll end up ordering more drinks, which equates to more money. I just drink water and drink more of it to make up for the sodium in the food.
  • Semperfione
    Semperfione Posts: 109
    I have run it to this too....totally agree with you. I now check on my blackberry before ordering. You can download app on your phone if you have not done so yet. Hope that helps a bit.
  • kaetra
    kaetra Posts: 442 Member
    Restaurants are rough. I refuse to eat at a restaurant that doesn't have their nutritional info online or somewhere I can get it in the restaurant. There are so many restaurants that do have nutritional info available these days it gives me plenty of choices.

    Alot of times the values are listed in columns, so after checking my favorite meal (and 99% of the time realizing it's not do-able) I skim down the calorie column first and find the lowest calories - then I scan the sodium column next and try to find something that is under 1,000 mg of sodium. Seems like most restaurants load everything up with salt so finding something eatable is very challenging.

    Take IHOP for example, they have their fit and smart or whatever selections, but even those are loaded with out of this world salt. I went there and got the veggie omlette off the fit menu. It was VILE, I dunno what they used for egg substitute but it was disgusting and it was $8 wasted on a pile of inedible goo. I should have just eaten at home before we went and ordered tea and a side fruit salad.
  • Jana9559
    Jana9559 Posts: 29
    OMG I am just sickened by this! I love that salad and it's litterly made of raw spinach and shrimp! What could be healthier than that? It's that stupid dressing....but honestly, what the heck is that made of???? Is it made out of entirely corn syrup? And not to mention that they load it on....it was dripping with this so called "dressing". Thankfully, I didn't eat all the dressing...I left a lot at the bottom of the plate. If I ever go to Applebee's again...it's steak and a side salad with green veggies. Geesh! I hope my FAIL to look up calories before I went helps others to do so. :)
  • shsdlt
    shsdlt Posts: 2 Member
    oh my gosh! That is a lot! I agree...they should put the calories on the menu. What was in it??
  • Jana9559
    Jana9559 Posts: 29
    Nothing but basically 5 ingredients: raw spinach, grilled shrimp, almond slices, red onion, and raspberry vinaigrette dressing. It's the dressing that contains all the fat and calories. I guess from now on, ask for the dressing on the side and use just 1/2 of it. I didn't use it all because my salad was drenched in it. I left a glob at the bottom of my plate. But still....when you order a salad, you don't expect it to cost you a whole days worth of calories, fat, carbs, etc. Live and learn! I learned the hard way. Beware everyone when you eat at ANY restaurant. From now on I will ask for a calorie list before I order ANYTHING anymore
  • CannibalisticVegetarian
    CannibalisticVegetarian Posts: 1,255 Member
    Yeah that happened to a few times in the past *shakes a fist at Olive Garden's calamari*. These days I try to look the online menu over and find something worth eating before leaving the house. Watch out! Those fast-food and sit-down restaurant salads can creep up on you.
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