Monday, December 20, 2010

Eat This, Not That

Most of you have probably heard of the popular books, Eat This, Not That, but like many of my friends you may not have had time to actually read them. I am usually very health conscious when it comes to feeding my family. However, every time I read one of these books, I gain surprising new insights. Eat This, Not That, is a great resource to have (especially if your family eats out often). Unfortunately though, you may discover some information you just did not want to know. For example, the cheese fries at Outback contain 2,900 calories. That is more than the average person’s daily intake of calories! I will admit, I love cheese fries, but that may be just too many calories.

Did you know that there is an omelet at IHOP that has 1,890 calories (Colorado omelet)? That is the same as eating six Egg McMuffins! If you are at IHOP and want an omelet, opt for the Garden version that packs only 430 calories. Another fattening breakfast food is the donut. I’ve never figured out how donuts became a breakfast food, but Americans love them. If you must eat a donut, the book suggests that you opt for the glazed donut instead of the cake donut. The difference is 100 calories and 8 grams of fat!


When ordering a salad, we often get a false belief that the meal is good for us. More often than not, salads served at restaurants are far from healthy. Take California’s Pizza Kitchen’s Thai salad for example. This salad contains 2,238 calories! This salad not only has two types of dressing, but also fried wonton strips. Eating this salad would be equivalent to eating 6 pounds of grilled sirloin steak! Wraps are another food item that portrays healthy eating. However, with the large tortilla and added dressings, they are loaded with calories. T.G.I. Friday’s BBQ Chicken Wrap has 1,720 calories. On top of loading the wrap with fattening ranch dressing, Friday’s also include an extra scoop of mayo. According to the book, this wrap is equivalent to eating three Big Macs!


Tomorrow I will continue this post with some foods that are good for you. What crazy calories have you been consuming (remember Christmas Baked Goods Calories don't count;)? It can't be as bad as the Caribbean Jerk Nachos I ate last weekend! Grab a latte, put up your feet, and join the discussion!

3 comments:

DANA said...

I always read your posts! Love them! I wanted to invite you over to my $50 American Axpress giveaway that ends christmas Eve!

http://danajeanward.blogspot.com/2010/12/50-american-express-giveaway-ends.html

Debbi Does Dinner Healthy said...

I've heard some of these horrible stats before. It's amazing what is out there. Yes, we can blame the restaurants but they are just dishing out what America is buying. Even if you don't know the exact stats on that plate of cheese fries, you still would get that in front of you and KNOW that it was not only horrible for you but way high in calories. There is only SO much denial you can be in. I think people just don't care or they wouldn't keep buying it and the restaurants wouldn't keep supplying it. If Chili's just started serving "healthy" reasonable food, the amount people would dramatically decrease. So while many of us DO care and want to be aware, I think the majority of America doesn't care and they just want "good, delicious" food when they go out.

Okay, enough of a rant. :-)

debmc said...

I just had that Thai salad last Thursday and it was delicious. Sometimes, taste is worth it. But I did only have the half not the large portion. Remember, Applebee's has a weight watcher menu but, seriously, how many order from it? Lastly, the best way to avoid fast food calories is to avoid fast food restaraunts. I don't go for my health. I go for the cravings, but rarely.