But now wait. Let me just voice another side of the discussion. Those of us who have been watching our calories for awhile, learning about nutrition, etc.--do we really NOT KNOW what foods we should steer clear of in a restaurant? I mean, this is not difficult once you know a few things!
I got slammed just the other day by an "innocent" roast beef sandwich, and I should have known better. I mean, there was beef, cheese, mayonnaise, really good cheesy bread... Did I HAVE to have a nutrition breakdown right there in front of me to know it was high cal? Probably not. I think I had taken a temporary trip to la-la land and thought "oh, it's so healthy!" Oh right, I am just such a health food nut... Bleah! Who was I kidding?
So my point is that with experience, you kinda know what you can order and what you can't, and it's not the restaurant's fault if you eat something you shouldn't have! And, if a restaurant does not have "better choices" available, then golly, don't go there!
Thanks for the link, Glory. I think it is a really good reminder that calories can vary from what is printed....but I do think it is helpful to have that information. Information can help people make better choices.
I was a little surprised when I researched the calories in a grilled veggie sandwich I had this weekend. I replaced fries with fruit, and made what I thought was the "better" choice of all the choices...ummm 800 calories for a grilled veggie sandwich. Considering the article, maybe I should round those calories up!! Most interestingly to me, the BLT from the same restaurant weighed in at 560 calories. The best choice would have been for me to make my own darn sandwich!
I think we are all fairly educated on calorie counts and nutrition principles, but I never mind having more information to help me make decisions..."bad" and "good" and "healthy" are relative terms and I like numbers and grams and mgs....except now it looks like we can't rely so much on what the restaurants claim anyway.
Jay - mostly I agree with you. The problem comes in when places like Olive Garden place items like the pomodoro on it's "healthy options" menu, and publish calorie information. In that case, the people who DO the research to find the healthy options are getting burned, because the restaurant is providing is, according to their website, "for the full portion as served".
I think that if you ARE going to provide nutrition information, you should make a reasonable effort for it to be accurate, if only so the people who do the research so they can make a healthy option don't get penalized.
But now wait. Let me just voice another side of the discussion. Those of us who have been watching our calories for awhile, learning about nutrition, etc.--do we really NOT KNOW what foods we should steer clear of in a restaurant? I mean, this is not difficult once you know a few things!
I got slammed just the other day by an "innocent" roast beef sandwich, and I should have known better. I mean, there was beef, cheese, mayonnaise, really good cheesy bread... Did I HAVE to have a nutrition breakdown right there in front of me to know it was high cal? Probably not. I think I had taken a temporary trip to la-la land and thought "oh, it's so healthy!" Oh right, I am just such a health food nut... Bleah! Who was I kidding?
So my point is that with experience, you kinda know what you can order and what you can't, and it's not the restaurant's fault if you eat something you shouldn't have! And, if a restaurant does not have "better choices" available, then golly, don't go there!
Jay
To an extent yes, we know the bacon cheeseburger with fries is a meal which is packed with calories or even the sandwich you've described. But what about things like the Wendy's Mandarin Chicken salad I mentioned upthread (substituting a different dressing and skipping the crunchy noodles saved me over 200 calories. I had looked up the info on their website. That's quite a bit of calories for people trying to lose weight. And what about newbies who don't even think to question, thinking, "hey, it's a salad, it must be a good choice". Not to mention restaurants promote their salads as being a healthier alternative to other fare. And at least one restaurant trade association is trying to lobby against legislation requiring the info on menus. I already e-mailed them awhile ago, telling them I'd dine out/take out more if I had the nutritional info.
I used to love the soup, salad, breadstick thing at Olive Garden. We used to go once a month from work. Most of us ordered that. Every single person who didn't go food they hated. My sister had a gift card for them. We went when I was back there. I won't go again. Maybe my taste buds have changed since I've changed my eating habits. It was awful!
As far a Macaroni Grill. That place sucks. You can't have a nibble of bread without rosemary permeating every taste receptacle in your body. It is so pungent that I can't breathe. The taste is impossible to get out of the mouth. They offer no other alternative to rosemary bread. That place has soup. You'd think they'd have crackers. Their pasta sticks to the teeth. I feel like I have to get the jaws of life to pull my teeth apart. They have a few salads instead of pasta. However, I've had a hard time getting them to put the dressing on the side and they get grouchy if you send it back.
Nelie, I'll take that Reb Lobster thing. That place I can handle.
You are absolutely right about the calorie counts. I've put some of what some places have listed into Fit Day. I get error messages about the number of calories.
I just went into Diet Facts and Red Lobster is on there with a ton of nutritional information. 13 pages with 363 items listed.
Olive Garden has a whopping 15.
Romano's Macaroni Grill has 145.
Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE : DRI) of Orlando, Florida, which, through its subsidiaries, operates Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Bahama Breeze and Seasons 52 restaurants.
Hey nylisa, I understand what you're saying--but at the same time, those crunchy noodles are--like--noodles, right? carbs? And they are fried before dried, I think. So yes, 100 calories easily in those noodles. And any dressing that isn't low-cal has got to be 100 cals a TBS.
And Amanda, I agree that if the websites give a calorie count for the "full portion served," and then the individual restaurant is serving more than that, you can get burned that way. OTOH, we all know what 2 ounces of cooked pasta looks like, don't we? And so why would one eat more than that at a sitting anyway?
Gosh, mare, sounds like you're done with Macaroni Grill... I have enjoyed Red Lobster, but the danger there is those doggone cheese biscuits.
I agree with you JAY...most of us "KNOW" what/when/where of what makes us fat...all the good stuff!
I also think that sometimes there are food items we "think" are ok but are high in calories because of sauces, etc....the end of the world if we eat it...nah!
I love macaroni Grill Shrimp Portofino...before I was on my "journey of better choices' I could care less abot the calories...now I look before I go...I still get shrimp portofino when I go to mac. grill...but I make 2 meals out of it!
Most of these dishes have more calories than stated because your local restaurant's cook thinks he's being a nice guy by giving you more than the chain considers to be one serving. The article makes it sound like it's a vast right wing conspiracy to make us fat.
This is so true! It happened right in front of me at the cafeteria at my office. They list the calories on a sign in front of each dish, and the cook served me a HUGE scoop of pasta and then his boss yelled at him for giving me more than a serving. So even though it's nice to see the calories listed, there's no way of knowing how much you're actually getting!
I know I have learned a lot of words to beware of. Not 100% accurate, but it helps. For example, with soups, if it has the word "cream" "chowder" or "bisque" I tend to avoid it.
I would love more restaurants to provide more nutritional info, but I do more and more trust my abilities (over time) to figure out what some of the better options are. And I figure that my success over time in maintaining my weight loss is an indication I'm doing something right -- even if my own guesses aren't perfect!
I work at Olive Garden. I eat there about two-four times a month and I eat whatever I like (looooove the alfredo). And I'm still dropping weight. If there's one thing I've learned from this experience, it's that the bigger you are the more you can get away with eating and still lose. Plus I get a ton of exercise as a server.
As far a Macaroni Grill. That place sucks. You can't have a nibble of bread without rosemary permeating every taste receptacle in your body. It is so pungent that I can't breathe. The taste is impossible to get out of the mouth. They offer no other alternative to rosemary bread.
You are so funny - that's exactly the way I feel about fennel!
Oooo I love rosemary which is one reason I love Macaroni Grill's bread
Mmmm bread...
I go out to eat every week. Usually on saturday and even for places that I don't know calorie counts, I practice portion control and try to make the best choices that I can. One of my favorite chinese places even offers sauces on the side. Although when I first started losing weight, I didn't eat out for about 3 months.
And what about newbies who don't even think to question, thinking, "hey, it's a salad, it must be a good choice".
They're newbies, and will need to educate themselves. They'll get there. But yes, even a salad covered with noodles and high cal dressing is better than a cheeseburger. At least then you get your daily veggies.
But honestly, even before I started this, we'd go to Shoneys and I'd fix a huge salad. I've always loved salads. And I KNEW all that cheese, that cup of dressing, the ton of eggs, and all that other garbage I piled over those 2 pieces of lettuce wasn't a HEALTHY salad. If I ever tried to fool anyone in thinking that it was, it was just myself I was trying to fool. But even then, without the education, I STILL knew a healthy salad should consist of a lot of lettuce and not all that other junk.
I have enjoyed Red Lobster, but the danger there is those doggone cheese biscuits. 
