I had a salad at Wendy's the other day, instead of a burger and fries. This same salad is very similar to one I get at McDonalds that figures out to 8 WW points (calorically it's like 420 cals or something) with the dressing, and is very filling. It's even less if I get grilled chicken, which I do occasionally.
This Wendy's salad was more than DOUBLE THE CALORIES! IT WAS 20 POINTS! I AM SO OUTRAGED. Here I was, trying to be good, and I would have done BETTER to have a burger and fries.
WHY DOES THIS WORLD TRY TO KEEP US FROM LOSING THIS WEIGHT?!
I have been going steady, I've lost 6 pounds in 2 weeks, and I'm weighing in tomorrow on my 3rd week. I know I'm not going to lose anything because I had this 20 point salad yesterday! I know people will say that many calories does not = a full pound but on my body, if I eat junk food ONCE I gain or at least counter act all of my hard work. So frustrated!
The dressing was far from the issue- that's the funny part, I inspected the salad dressing nutrition facts, not wanting to 'mess up'! The salad dressing was only 90 calories for a packet I used about half of.
You can't assume that "similar looking" is similar calorically. Boy, have I learned that the hard way. My biggest peeve was when Hardees came out with the sliders (the mini-hamburgers), and I thought that two small sliders were probably lower in calorie, or at least about the same calories as the smallest hamburger they served at the time. So I was really proud of myself for choosing the two tiny burgers (they sure SEEMED like less food) and when I looked them up, I found that they were actually higher in calorie than the smallest burger would have been. In fact, each slider was only 50 calories lighter than a regular sized burger would have been.
There are a lot of good books either on exact calories and nutritional information for chains, and also on estimating the calories in restaurant foods.
I remember reading a salad dressing tip in an old dieting book (probably written in the 70's, because I was still in junior high when I read it because I remember testing cafeteria salad dressings). Anyway you smudge a drop of the salad dressing on a paper towel, napkin (or better yet a sheet of real paper - so a paper placemat is perfect). You let it sit for several seconds and then wipe it away. The more transparent the stain, the more oil in the dressing.
It actually does work fairly well once you get the hang of it (I literally practiced my stain-reading at home with condiments from the fridge - on pages from my school notebooks: ketchup, mustard, vinegar, fat free dressings, regular dressings, mayonaise...). I remember demonstrating to friends at lunch in the cafeteria and a small crowd of girls (and a few boys) gathered to "watch" me demonstrate (it would have been somewhere between 1976 and 1980). I'd forgotten how many of us girls even then were dieting or diet-conscious (and the vast majority were average weight or under, I rarely had more than one or sometimes two other girls in my classes who were actually overweight or even chubby. I always felt like the biggest of freaks - both figuratively and literally).
Actually, thinking about stain-reading, it's sort of funny - like some tribal shaman fortune teller "reading" the future in animal entrails or by casting bones or rune stones.
Oops, posted before I read that the salad dressing wasn't the issue. What was it, croutons and nuts maybe, or breading on the chicken?
There are just so many possible salad saboteurs that I do stay away from salads when eating out, unless I've looked up the calorie count at home first - especially in fast food restaurants. In fancier restaurants I look up when I can, but if there's no nutrition information online or I don't have a chance to look it up, I'll interogate the wait staff (and do my stain-reading). Hubby thinks I'm crazy when I do that. I have a habit of "playing with" my straw wrapper and it drives hubby batty (he'll take it away from me, like I'm a little kid). So the first time he saw me dab my dressing on the placemat (we were still dating at the time)- he thought it was another annoying nervous habit and asked "why are you figerpainting on your placemat?"
Of course, the worst early-dating faux pas is to be caught in the act of active "dieting." Since I'd stated that I was dieting in the personal ad I placed, which he responded to, you'd think he might have been prepared, but he rolled his eyes and sighed, and said "why can't women just enjoy a meal - you all are obsessed with either the calories or the price" (hubby has always liked very high priced restaurants and I've always been very price conscious - so that issue had already come up on a prior date).
Ok, I've gotten WAY off track. I just can't help it. One story reminds me of another story, which reminds me of another story and I swear you give me two wildy different topics and I will find a way to link those two topics with fairly smooth transitions (a gabber's version of the "Six degrees of Kevin Bacon game").
As long as you stayed on plan the rest of the day and the days after I'm sure you are fine. Go for an extra walk and you'll burn the extra calories and you'll be A-ok!
Some things are really surprising, when I was looking up the Cheesecake Factory and see things I thought were "simple" like grilled chicken or fish with rice is over 1000 calories makes me know I really have to look the info up. But in general, I still try to get the most basic food I would have at home and avoid fried, breaded, cheesy, things in sauce.
With Wendy's I usually get the mandarin chicken salad from there, it's around 600 calories with the toppings and dressing and fills me up for a few hours. I was actually surprised this one has the calorie count it does, I thought for sure it would be higher, but it's actually reasonable and it can be cut down leaving off the toppings or using less dressing.
I've learned to always look things up before I eat them. A lot of places have the calorie counts online. I got some real surprises just like that. I don't eat at fast food restaurants anymore if I can possibly help it, but even better quality places have pitfalls.
I don't eat meat or cheese, so I don't use the dressings with the salads out there anyhow. Saying that, when I did it always came down to the cheese and the way something was prepared. Even just veggies...I remember being on a family visit and the family wanted to order out. I thought I would get veggies, so I did thinking "healthy." Turns out they were cooked to death in what seemed like vats of butter. Ew. lol
You think "grilled chicken salad" is healthy, but how was the chicken prepared and cooked? You are probably getting more than one serving of the chicken anyhow and if there is cheese in the salad. You aren't even at the dreaded packets of dressing.
If I'm on the road and HAVE to get something then I get like a plain jane salad, no cheese, no meat, no dressing and actually I enjoy that a lot. You get to really taste the veggies, but that is just me. I love veggies.
I think JayEll is right. There are so many surprises out there at these places. I remember a woman on Youtube talking about Baja Fresh and she used to eat two fish tacos for lunch there. She thought fish = healthier options, turns out though that it isn't a real positive choice. When she started looking things up she was shocked. Finding out what you're really eating is always an adventure! lol
I get the mandarin chicken salad at Wendy's most times too, but ask for the balsamic vinaigrette dressing instead of the sesame. I think the sesame has something like 120 calories on its own?
Don't stress about it. Now you know you will be better prepared next time. I use calorie king fat and carbohydrate counter ( The book) It is small enought to carry in my purse and has tons of calorie counts, including fast foods , for example Wendy's Caesar Chicken salad w/o dressing or croutons is 180 calories with dressing and croutons 530 !!!!!!
Thanks everyone, I know by now to check before I order something, but the one at McDOnalds is literally the SAME THING!
It has all of the exact same components, so I've come to the conclusion that the piece of chicken may have been a little bigger, or the breading must be different. What a difference though, 7 points at McDOnald's and 20 at Wendy's! And I like them exactly the same, it just so happened we chose to stop at Wendy's!
I know I'll be fine, but it just makes me mad that I could have had something much better if I was going to spend most of my flex points.
That's why I don't even go to fast food restaurants anymore and I try to eat out a little as possible. It's just to hard to determine what's healthy and what's not.
Although, I've read that a new law may be going in, in the usa, where restaurants with at least 10 (I'm pretty sure it was 10) chains have to start putting calorie counts on their menus. OMG how nice that would be! I know that some states are already doing this but I think it's going to be nation wide. Don't think it will be any time super soon tho
Thanks everyone, I know by now to check before I order something, but the one at McDOnalds is literally the SAME THING!
It has all of the exact same components, so I've come to the conclusion that the piece of chicken may have been a little bigger, or the breading must be different. What a difference though, 7 points at McDOnald's and 20 at Wendy's! And I like them exactly the same, it just so happened we chose to stop at Wendy's!
I know I'll be fine, but it just makes me mad that I could have had something much better if I was going to spend most of my flex points.
I would have opted for a grilled chicken salad. That would have saved alot of calories, or points in your case. It's not always about the food, sometimes it's about how it is prepared. You just have to learn which choices to make when you eat out. It can be done!
Last edited by jefferzzzz; 09-25-2009 at 10:34 AM.
I don't know much about fast food salads, but if the Wendy's is double the points for the McDonalds, are you sure that the points for the McDonalds salad is for the whole salad? Sometimes points and calories are "per serving" but then the restaurant cleverly omits (or notes in a small obscure location) that a certain item is 2 or more servings. I'm not saying this IS the case for McDonalds, but I have seen it with other restaurants.
Once, DH was planning on ordering a noodle dish from a restaurant. It was 700 calories (per serving), but then way off to the side, it noted that each dish contained 2 servings. So if he ate all that he was served, it was actually 1400, and that's if the chef prepared and served it according to the restuarant's specifications.
Even seemingly intelligent ordering choices in restaurants can be calorie landmines. Someone posted once about chicken or shrimp lettuce wraps that were something like 600+ calories. I thought, "How in the WORLD can a restaurant squeeze 600 calories into lean protein and LETTUCE??" I still don't know.
Eat out with caution. Unfortunately, even caution and common sense aren't enough. And that's with restuarants that 'fess up. Think about the ones that refuse to share their info.
Sooo Mad!!!
