Ok so yesterday was day 4 for me and me and the hubby had to make a trip to Atlanta for my appointment with the plastic surgeon regarding a breast reduction. After hurting my back...my back surgeon thinks the pain that is left is because of them being too big. Anyways...after the appointment we passed an Olive Garden and he wanted to stop and eat lunch. Ok I've looked for the calorie counts on their website and all they have are the nutrition facts for the low fat/low carb meals. I had a huge salad, a breadstick and the Tour of Italy which was a piece of lasagna, fetticini (sp) alfredo, and a small piece of chicken covered in some kind of tomato sauce. I only had a few bites of each and brought the rest of it home to have for dinner. My Question is this...how bad do you think I blew it? The only other stuff I had yesterday was a bowl of honey bunches of oats w/ skim milk, a rice cake and a few cream cheese and chives Wheat Thins.
If the dressing was on the salad--which it usually is at OG--well, you went over the top, but it could have been worse! That's about all I can tell you. Just get on back on track today.
I wouldn't worry as much about the salad dressing as Iwould about the Tour of Italy--I'd say that meal probably has around 2000 calories alone (think about it--breaded chicken parmesan, alfredo sauce, fettucini noodles, lasagna noodles, the cheese in the lasagna, the cheese on the chicken parm...). Each of their breadsticks is about 140 calories. Their salad dressing is about 90 calories per 2T (according to the food database I just looked it up in).
I wouldn't even try to count it all--I'd just move on
I learned the hard way that even the soup at the Olive Garden is loaded with fat and calories. My sister was visiting last week and she decided that she wanted to go there for lunch. Usually, I look up nutritional information before heading to a restaurant, but I wasn't able to this time since we were already out and about. Anyways, I got the salad with the dressing on the side, one breadstick without butter, and a bowl of pasta e fagioli. When I looked it up online (on an independent site, not Olive Garden's), I was appalled to find out that the bowl of soup had 588 calories!! For soup!! At Atlanta Bread Company (my favorite lunchtime place), I could get a bread bowl full of tomato soup (and eat the whole bread bowl, which I never do) for about 588 calories!
A lunch size portion of lasagna or fettuccine is about 450 calories according to CK. So lets assume the Tour of Italy was about that of which you indicated you did not eat it all.
I don't know about the salad but one breadstick has about 140 calories. You could probably round all this up and estimate the total meal at 1,0000 calories. As for fat grams - I expect that to be pretty high.
One basic lesson to learn about OG is if you are going to have pasta - skip the bread sticks.
A lunch size portion of lasagna or fettuccine is about 450 calories according to CK. So lets assume the Tour of Italy was about that...
I would really assume the Tour of Italy is much more than that since it is lasagna and alfredo and chicken parm. I know the lunch portions are smaller, and the Tour is obviously not a full portion of each, but it's still a lot.
But, again, I wouldn't kill yself trying to estimate calories, since it's done and over. Today is a new day
Olive Garden is not diet friendly
Agreat resource for calorie counts including restaurants and fast foods is The Calorie King Fat and Carbohydrate Counter , I use the book and carry it with me , good for restaurant visits,they are also online try www.calorieking.com ...there are many others try googling calorie counts.
Ouch. DH and I are going to Olive Garden for our post-valentines day dinner. It's easier to find seats.
My favorite dish is and has always been the Chicken Parmegiana. I usually just get the lunch size, give the pasta to my son and eat the salad and breadsticks (bad bad bad either way). I may try their Eggplant Parmegiana this time - as I'm a new found lover of eggplant lol.
I'll deffinately be working my calories around that week so I can have my "cheat" without feeling so guity lol.
Last edited by tamaralynn; 01-25-2008 at 10:11 AM.
Olive Garden Eggplant Parmigiana 900 calories
Chicken Giardino 410 calories
Linguine all Marinara 340 calories
Shrimp Primavera 485 calories
Some of these are off the lunch menu.
I actually like Olive Garden but plan ahead.
Enjoy!
We just went to Olive Garden the other day. I had the Shrimp Primavera (very good) but I brought 1/2 the order home. Had the dressing brought on the side because there was no low fat dressing. I thought it was pretty good - taste and calorie used.
You have to read this article and watch this video about Olive Garden and Macaroni Grill from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). It says that Olive Garden lasagna is 1050 calories and is worse than a Quad Stacker from Burger King (four beef patties, four slices of cheese, and eight strips of bacon.). And that's not including soup, salad, or breadsticks.
Here are CSPI's "picks" from the Olive Garden:
Quote:
Olive Garden Picks: CSPI’s lab tests found 790 calories in the Linguine alla Marinara—more than the 550 calories the chain reports. Capellini Pomodoro, pasta with tomatoes, garlic, basil, and olive oil, also had more calories that the company stated (990 as opposed to 640). But both dishes had only 2 grams of saturated fat. “Garden Fare” items such as Venetian Apricot Chicken (450 calories), Shrimp Primavera (690 calories), and Pork Filettino (if ordered with vegetables, not potatoes, just 340 calories) are among the best choices.
I've been to the Olive Garden twice this month and have managed to stay within my calories for the day eating very similar to how JennJenn described. I researched extensively ahead of time so I knew exactly how much of that rolotini thing I could eat (That is the best stuff ever). I don't think you blew it at all. And even if you did, one day won't make the difference so don't let it deter you.
Thanks ladies. I really didn't let it get me down too bad. It was only one day and I'm over it. I'm losing VERY slowly but hey...it's better than gaining!
Olive Garden
I had a huge salad, a breadstick and the Tour of Italy which was a piece of lasagna, fetticini (sp) alfredo, and a small piece of chicken covered in some kind of tomato sauce. I only had a few bites of each and brought the rest of it home to have for dinner. My Question is this...how bad do you think I blew it? The only other stuff I had yesterday was a bowl of honey bunches of oats w/ skim milk, a rice cake and a few cream cheese and chives Wheat Thins.
And that's not including soup, salad, or breadsticks.
