Shock and awwwwww, man! NEVER AGAIN - a lesson learned

2

Replies

  • 10_M
    10_M Posts: 22
    I've found that, surprisingly, at places like that a hamburger is often the best option. 1/3lb, no cheese, no mayo is only about 600 calories. And order it without fries.
    I was hoping someone would mention this, burgers are definately a good option...when you take control over what and what you not put on it! Red Robins is a good place to go if you are on a diet, choose a grilled chicken or veggie paty, no sauce and lettuce wrapped! Comes up to 300 calories! Pasta, although delicious and innocent is normally packed with calories.(PS hidden calories at restaurants is why I hate eatting out!)
  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
    that is CRAZY! you've got to watch anything creamy or cheesy!
  • Kirkajuice
    Kirkajuice Posts: 311 Member
    Thats wrong! I am goingout tonight and there isn't any calories listed on the website. I am now lorried

    Sometimes you can find the information on other sites. Google "nutritional information (insert menu item) (insert restaurant)" without quotation marks. There's almost always somewhere that has the info.
  • Hoppymom
    Hoppymom Posts: 1,158 Member
    It happens. You didn't even mention the sodium and that is where the restaurants REALLY get scarey! I have to agree with the poster who talked about Applebee's 550 and under menu. I am never disappointed in the selction. Lots of variety and great taste. The postions are decent too.
    Conventional wisdom reminds us that mistakes are good and that we can learn from them and you clearly have.

    Check out the thread that ran yesterday about Dr. Oz's philosophy that having a cheat meal once a week or so actually increases weight loss. Another psoter mentioned that this is what he does. For me this week... it'll be the SuperBowl food.

    Enjoy your journey!:flowerforyou:
  • jsmith0644
    jsmith0644 Posts: 66 Member
    oof! I had to give up on restaurant food, except vegetarian (even that mildly surprised me).
  • GBO323
    GBO323 Posts: 333 Member
    I check restaurant website for nutrition info. No issue asking my coworkers to consider another place that I can calorie count since I keep a list of them handy. If not possible to change, that I go the low carb route of grilled protein, grilled veggies, and clear soup/salad. Filling and less likely to oops when I put it into the Tracker when I get home.
  • fteale
    fteale Posts: 5,310 Member
    I had similar in Pizza Express. I went for a salad thinking it would be lower cals than a pizza. It was 844 calories! HOW? When I make salad at home it's about 100 cals max. How do restaurants manage to cram so many calories into their food?
  • 519harley
    519harley Posts: 241 Member
    Have you ever seen the book called Eat this, Not that! by David Zinczenko? It goes over a lot of chains accross the US and shows what is better to eat vs what you think is lower in calories. Very good book! They also have the version called Cook this, Not that.
  • shellimus
    shellimus Posts: 158 Member
    I love having MFP on my phone...it makes it so easy to check restaurants before I go. I always try to look at the menu online also. It seems what I would have chosen is NEVER the healthiest item....kinda scary....you just can't always tell by the description.
  • WilliamsPeggy
    WilliamsPeggy Posts: 440 Member
    I hate it when that happens.
  • solpwr
    solpwr Posts: 1,039 Member
    I've found that, surprisingly, at places like that a hamburger is often the best option. 1/3lb, no cheese, no mayo is only about 600 calories. And order it without fries.

    I second this! Hold the fries.

    Don't beat yourself up. Look at this as a permanent lifestyle change. The process of logging calories will keep you on track indefinitely. Don't worry about timelines, think about calorie logging. It will keep you accountable. You will find ebbs and flows in your progress, just don't quit logging, and you will make it the goal of living the life you envision for yourself.
  • amonkey794
    amonkey794 Posts: 651 Member
    I don't go out without know the menu first.
    And usually, I make it a "free day", because I am not going to nibble on carrot sticks and soy wafers while everybody else is enjoying fabulous foods. I'd rather just blow it out, eat what I want, then consider it a "free day/cheat day".
    I love my cheat days, or as I prefer to say: "RE-FEED THERAPY"
    I have a weekly day where I eat about twice my daily goal, and a monthly food orgy where I eat like a man going to the electric chair for 24 hours.
    LOVE IT!
    It's nice knowing I am never more than 7 days from eating anything I desire in whatever quantity I want.
    I'd go nuts otherwise.

    I have lost over 70 lbs doing this, so those who say it inhibits progress are clueless. I still get people who want to argue...:laugh:




    I would love to learn to do this, but I don't have the emotional capacity to support it! Lol j would probably have an emotional meltdown, tears and all like an emotionally disturbed child :/
  • CallmeSbo
    CallmeSbo Posts: 611 Member
    The answer is.........a regular portion is 2292 calories, 153 fat, 142 carb, 92 protein - Can almost hear the body cry in protest!
    my goodness. Wow!
  • StrugglingtoMove
    StrugglingtoMove Posts: 73 Member
    I am obsessed with my APP. Thanks for learning the lesson for us all though ;-).
  • Sl1ghtly
    Sl1ghtly Posts: 855 Member
    That's what I call an epic salad. How was it?
  • anneouel
    anneouel Posts: 68 Member
    Inconceivable.
    this is the moment I wish for a like button XD

    and yeah ive been to restaurants and thought the same thing only to go home and kick myself in the *kitten*
  • Jaded_GRL
    Jaded_GRL Posts: 42
    I hate when that happens. It also bums me out when the food isn't even good enough to be worth the calorie splurge. lol
    OHHHH that is a huge issue I have!!! Hate saving calories for a special meal that day and then the food isn't good or service ruins the meal and then you feel like you wasted those cal's!!
  • sparkie2bfit
    sparkie2bfit Posts: 40
    That's what I call an epic salad. How was it?

    It was ok, but I've lost my appetite for it! ROFLTTWOC (Rolling on floor laughing trying to work off calories ;-)
  • maryjay51
    maryjay51 Posts: 742
    i did the same thing the other day.went to applebees with a colleague .. ordered the grilled shrimp and spinach salad with no dressing thinking i was doing good.. it had slivered almonds in it too .. i went home to put it in my food diary and found it had 56 grams of fat in it without dressing ..holy moly i dang near keeled over .. no way ever ever will i do that again !!!
  • bas1955
    bas1955 Posts: 29 Member
    That's what I call an epic salad. How was it?

    It was ok, but I've lost my appetite for it! ROFLTTWOC (Rolling on floor laughing trying to work off calories ;-)

    OOOOPS, posted on my dear wife's account - must be the carb overload kicking in.....
  • polar135
    polar135 Posts: 319 Member
    planning is the key to business meetings or going out to dinner in my experience. @ champs, i normally go with Grilled Fajitas with no wraps.

    and if i dont plan, i normally just go with Fajitas with out wraps. (Chicken Fajitas with Condiments - w/o Tortillas is around 590 calories at most places.

    I like Fajitas without wraps if you can't tell. lol
  • MaximalLife
    MaximalLife Posts: 2,447 Member
    I don't go out without know the menu first.
    And usually, I make it a "free day", because I am not going to nibble on carrot sticks and soy wafers while everybody else is enjoying fabulous foods. I'd rather just blow it out, eat what I want, then consider it a "free day/cheat day".
    I love my cheat days, or as I prefer to say: "RE-FEED THERAPY"
    I have a weekly day where I eat about twice my daily goal, and a monthly food orgy where I eat like a man going to the electric chair for 24 hours.
    LOVE IT!
    It's nice knowing I am never more than 7 days from eating anything I desire in whatever quantity I want.
    I'd go nuts otherwise.

    I have lost over 70 lbs doing this, so those who say it inhibits progress are clueless. I still get people who want to argue...:laugh:




    I would love to learn to do this, but I don't have the emotional capacity to support it! Lol j would probably have an emotional meltdown, tears and all like an emotionally disturbed child :/
    Life is to be lived - not endured.
    Maybe one of our resident egg-heads could explain the science behind calorie spiking; I just know it works for me.
    And it's fun.
  • OkieinMinny
    OkieinMinny Posts: 834 Member
    I was at BWW and looking at my APP on the phone and the waitress brought me out the menu with calorie counts on everything, it was great! so if you cant find it in the app - ask the server if they have a breakdown....
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    Save several hundred calories by asking for olive oil and vinegar for dressing and taking your own shaker of Mrs. Dash no sodium seasoning. If there is bacon in the salad, ask for no bacon. A couple of tablespoons of blue cheese or other creamy dressing will kill you on what should be a "healthy" meal.

    To the person who was surprised about the fat in the almonds..... nuts have the "good" fat that your body can use efficiently. It will help your body feel satisfied too. So don't stay away from nuts because of that.
  • emilysuelemus
    emilysuelemus Posts: 66 Member
    Oh wow! thanks for the tip!
  • rubygarcia86
    rubygarcia86 Posts: 73 Member
    yea that is a great lesson learned!! i try to pre check MFP before ordering too...or i know my total allotted cals before even thinking of eating out to a restaurant lol
  • Loves418
    Loves418 Posts: 330 Member
    This is why I now refuse to go to eat anywhere that will not give me a nutritional information either online or in the restaurant itself. Took an hour the other night to look for a place because all our favorites don't offer any info so off the list they went.
  • dakitten2
    dakitten2 Posts: 888 Member
    I always check online before going to a restaurant and refuse to eat anywhere that they dont post their nutrition info. My nutritionist also gave me a handy little book of all the fast food places with their nutrition info that I keep in the car! And yes watch that word "lite" also when grocery shopping. I compare everything in the grocery to other items before deciding on what to buy.

    I learned your lesson on week 2 of my journey. We were going out and was going to Tony Roma's for ribs. I check the nutrition info on what a usually ordered, sampler platter or something like that, and it was 2200 plus calories. I like to have died just thinking about how often I had eaten that in the past. Needless to say I havent eaten there sinc starting. Also, dressings are a killer out in restaurants. I bring my own dressing or one of Wishbone's salad spritzers which is only 1 to 1.5 calories per spray.

    Also this is a learning journey. We all learn from each other and some days we stumble. Just remember it was one meal in 21 for the week and dont let one bad meal and/or day derail you from reaching and maintaining your goal.
  • kaysue160
    kaysue160 Posts: 12
    I was having a busy day and planned to eat on the run. Being cheap, I wanted to also use a coupon. I chose DQ... did you know their KIDS meals w/ soda & dessert are about 700 calories... and that's supposed to be for a CHILD!
  • emmadog1
    emmadog1 Posts: 1
    You might want to check out Dotties weight loss zone www.dwlz.com she has a huge selection of calorie and nutririon info on restaurants/take out even for places that dont list anything on their menu.Ive used it several times and found it very helpful.
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