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How Much Are You Indulging When You Eat Out?

Posted July 31, 2008 at 12:00 PM by Denise Musumeci

Section: In The News, His Health, Physical Health, His Nutrition, Healthy Eating, Diets

If you’re working on losing weight, you can start a new diet plan, count calories, and omit certain foods or ingredients with your meal. More and more people are often finding that no matter how carefully they monitor their daily diet they still keep gaining weight. Part of this may have to do with the calorie count that comes from restaurant food. Even a choice that would normally be healthy if made at home could add up to more fat, calories, carbs, and cholesterol than you may think.

Melinda Beck of The Wall Street Journal says that New York City recently passed a law that requires restaurants to post a detailed nutrition guide to each meal option. Restaurant customers in New York are getting a hard slap in the face when they see just how bad their choices really are. For example, Beck says, “Applebee’s Fiesta Lime Chicken packs 1,290 calories. Pizzeria Uno’s Individual Chicago Classic (serves one) has 2,310 [and] an appetizer like T.G.I. Friday’s Jack Daniel’s Sampler at 2,330.” Considering that the recommended calorie intake ranges from 2,000 to 2,500 calories per day, just one appetizer covers your entire daily value.

What makes these meals worse is that “healthy” options can be worse than eating carbohydrate-loaded bread. For example, “At Shea Stadium’s Metropolitan Club, the Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad is 807 calories; the Grilled Chicken Sandwich is 340.” Theoretically, since the salad contains more vegetables and excludes bread, it should be the healthier choice. However, the high content of fat and calories in salad dressing boosts the calorie content to staggering amounts.

How can you make smart choices when you eat out? Pick and choose better ingredients in you food if possible. For example, substitute mustard for mayonnaise in your turkey salad. When choosing a salad dressing, pick a low-calorie option or a low-fat alternative to your favorite dressing and avoid toppings that significantly raise the calorie content of your meal. Also, instead of eating the entire meal in one sitting, you could share it or take half of it home to eat later. Be sure that even if you don’t eat the whole thing that it is still the biggest meal of the day. Ordering your vegetables steamed or asking the chef to use less butter or cooking oil when preparing the meal will not change the way your meal tastes, but will cut down on calorie content considerably.

By altering the content and portions of your food, you can enjoy a great meal at a restaurant without feeling guilty about it. However, if you still feel self-conscious or guilty about how much you’re actually eating, websites like http://www.chowbaby.com, http://www.thedailyplate.com, http://www.calorie-count.com, and HealthyDiningFinder.com will provide you with nutrition facts of meals in a wide variety of restaurants. By checking out these sites ahead of time, you will have a more informed decision about your choices before you indulge.

Sources and other research information:
[http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB121728720696791385.html?mod=2_1566_leftbox]

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Tags: calories, eating better, fat, new york city restaurant nutrition guide law, nutrition, restaurants

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75 Responses to “How Much Are You Indulging When You Eat Out?” (Leave a reply)
  1. Scott from Royal Oak said:

    Very good advice.  Check out the “20 Worst Foods in America” article too...it’s disgusting how many calories/carbs/sugar they pack into some of these foods.  I posted a link to it on my site above.

    July 31, 2008 at 09:10 PM
  2. Scott from Royal Oak said:

    This links to the 20 Worst Foods article: http://www.thehealthyeatingguide.com/nutritionalvaluecalculator.html

    July 31, 2008 at 09:11 PM
  3. Chris - The Rotater from Alabama said:

    After a lifetime of working out, I’ve taken the past year and a half off.  The result - no weight gain, but a 2 inch increase in my pants size and a deep desire to get back into the gym.

    About a month ago, my wife,my two daugters and I committed ourselves to a “healthy” nutrition plan (natural fresh foods, limited meat) and moderate exercise - mostly walking and biking.

    The result is that my wife and I have each lost about 8 pounds without even trying - and a byproduct is that our family spends more quality time together preparing our meals ( we still eat out about once a week).

    August 11, 2008 at 04:45 AM
  4. Workflow lotus Notes said:

    Very good advice.  Check out the “20 Worst Foods in America” article too..About a month ago, my wife,my two daugters and I committed ourselves to a “healthy” nutrition plan (natural fresh foods, limited meat) and moderate exercise - mostly walking and biking.a lifetime of working out, I’ve taken the past year and a half off.  The result - no weight gain, but a 2 inch increase in my pants size and a deep desire to get back into the gym.Thanks to share........

    August 14, 2008 at 12:43 PM
  5. Free Fruit Machines said:

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    August 25, 2008 at 09:15 AM
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    August 28, 2008 at 10:18 PM
  7. Gardening Tips said:

    well this is a well decorative post and quiet instructive about dieting and also got some important links mainly (http://www.calorie-count.com) which is helping me a lot. thanks a lot.

    August 29, 2008 at 04:26 PM
  8. Slot Machines said:

    Hey this topic is kool ... “The Wall Street Journal” i think i heard of it ....  however thanks to include this in your post.:D

    August 31, 2008 at 02:47 PM
  9. fairings from Canada said:

    Great topic indeed. It will make more people aware of their eating habits.

    August 31, 2008 at 08:48 PM
  10. Italian recipes said:

    Very good advice. Really smart and also a very good topic!!I think It will make more people aware of their eating habits. Thanks for sharing.....

    September 4, 2008 at 08:57 PM
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    September 5, 2008 at 05:03 AM
  12. Scoliosis information said:

    When it comes to the weight loss topic, there is no shortage of advice. Thousands of websites are there. Check any magazine rack or bookstore, search internet and you are bound to discover that latest and greatest cure for being overweight. But this one is really informative. Thanks for the links btw.

    September 5, 2008 at 07:28 PM
  13. Mamas Italian Dishes said:

    Really informative post! I like your topic as well as your post. I just always looking for this type of site. thanks for your all suggestions about diet plan. Waiting for your next post like this.

    September 6, 2008 at 07:02 AM
  14. Ringtones said:

    well losing weight is very difficult ... but if seriously want to do this you must meet your physician.anyhow thanks for this informative post. tc

    September 7, 2008 at 05:12 PM
  15. bluehost coupon said:

    Very good advice.I appreciate it.Although losing of weight is not so easy even the person should try it for once.Thanks for sharing.....

    September 7, 2008 at 11:46 PM
  16. top colleges said:

    Thats quite interesting. Thanks for the cool advice. I think to remain beautiful we must learn to maintain ourselves, and keep our diet healthy.

    September 8, 2008 at 03:04 PM
  17. complaints said:

    Really informative post.A proverb goes a sound mind lives in a sound body.So every one should maintains the care.Thanks for sharing this in your post with us.I agree with your all opinions given by you in your post.Waiting for your next post like this.

    September 13, 2008 at 01:33 PM
  18. teak furniture from Canada said:

    Great advise and very informative. Thanks

    September 17, 2008 at 11:23 PM
  19. San Antonio Attorney said:

    Thank you for the very good advice.

    September 23, 2008 at 10:41 PM
  20. mitch from garden furniture said:

    I’ve learned a lot from this article, great advice too!

    September 25, 2008 at 11:23 AM
  21. taxation jobs said:

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    September 28, 2008 at 02:33 AM
  22. Mayan Palace Riviera Maya said:

    A friend of mine told me that even if I’m in a diet, I can eat everything I want but just don’t eat too much on one meal. Instead, every 2-3 hours I can eat small amounts of food. Thanks for the great advice by the way!

    -M from Mexico

    October 4, 2008 at 03:37 AM
  23. Juan from USA said:

    Good information about weight loss. I think the main thing is portion sizes, eat often and almost always anything you want but just a little.

    October 5, 2008 at 03:51 PM
  24. che of teak furniture from Canada said:

    Requiring restaurants to put nutrition info is the right way to go.

    October 8, 2008 at 12:58 AM
  25. complaints said:

    good advice and we should also care of our self .... otherwise no can do it properly and don’t get any benefit. and yeah we must avoid to have pills cause they have side effect on our body.

    October 11, 2008 at 11:13 AM
  26. complaints said:

    good advice and we should also care of our self .... otherwise no one can do it properly and don’t get any benefit. and yeah we must avoid to have pills cause they have side effects on our body.

    October 11, 2008 at 11:14 AM
  27. Proxy said:

    Very good advice. Really informative post.A proverb goes a sound mind lives in a sound body.So every one should maintains the care. Anyway thanks for the links btw.

    October 11, 2008 at 01:09 PM
  28. Savory Tv said:

    Great insights.  I think it is important to treat yourself at times and go out to dinner and not worry about carbs etc. Portion control is key.  Sharing a meal is easy to do and saves money, often restaurant portion sizes are ridiculously large.

    October 18, 2008 at 06:14 PM
  29. VigorFit Total Gym XL said:

    Great post! Very informative. A healthy diet is very important for our bodies. We should really think of it as a lifestyle change more than anything else. A good work out routine is also very important. Studies have shown that while aerobic exercises burn calories right away, that after a good resistance work out your body continues to burn calories at a higher rate for up to 24 hours! For many of us, traveling back and forth to the gym all week long is just not an option.  In that case, looking at purchasing a home gym may be the perfect option. You can perform a total body work out on the equipment, by working out a few times a week for 20 minutes a day. All in the comfort of your own home.

    November 4, 2008 at 05:01 PM
  30. Mac @ Motorcycle Fairings said:

    I wish I could have this information 2 years ago when I started to gain weight. But I’ll follow the intructions and see if they work on me.

    November 11, 2008 at 01:43 PM
  31. Home Accents said:

    Yep, that’s me. The more I’m careful about what I eat, the more weight I gain. I thought that I loose the battle but there’s still hope!.

    March 3, 2009 at 09:19 AM
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    Weight loss refers to the loss of total body mass in an effort to improve fitness, health, and/or appearance.

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    Food is something that can make you happy but if there is no balance in eating you can suffer the consecuences

    April 7, 2009 at 08:41 PM
  35. personal trainer from US said:

    It will be great if the health ministries of various countries come up with legislation that restaurants are supposed to include the caloric value of the various items on the menu

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    While eating outside hygiene is the thing taken into consideration for healthy reasons.

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    I work out 6 days a week like a maniac. Lifting weights, body pump classes, spinning, jogging, everything. I weighed myself today and gained 4 pounds over two weeks. Yes it maybe muscle since I have been lifting more weights but my goal is to lose the body fat and lean up. My biggest weakness that is stopping me from doing that is FOOD. I eat everything in front of me no matter how bad it is. IE: I was at a super bowl party and had 6 slices of pizza, 10 wings, chicken fingers, sausage dip, etc etc, and I’m not a big guy. Does anyone have any tips for my problem of over indulging whenever food is readily available?

    June 19, 2009 at 06:26 AM
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