Chew on this

Did you know that Outback Steakhouse's Aussie Cheese Fries with Ranch Dressing has 2,900
calories? And 182 grams of fat? And that even if you split the appetizer with 3 other friends, your calories for your portion are equivalent to a complete meal?

Did you know that Macaroni Grill's Spaghetti with Meatballs and Meat Sauce weighs in at a whopping 2,430 calories, 128 gms fat, 207 gms carbs and 5,290 mg sodium? Consuming 2,400
calories for 1 day regularly would result in a significant weight gain for most women, let alone
consuming 2,400 calories in 1 meal.

Men's Health editor in chief David Zinczenko (with Matt Goulding) has written a fascinating book
called "Eat This, Not That" giving the calorie counts, fat, carb and sodium content of many restaurant foods. Zinczenko calls the Aussie Cheese Fries "the worst food in America".

Want to know the worse Chinese entree to eat? The worst pizza? The worst breakfast?
(yes, there is such a thing!). Well, take a look at this book and you may be appalled by what
you've been enjoying at your favorite restaurant. Very eye-opening.

It's not all bad news-Zinczenko also recommends healthier options and gives the calorie counts for those dishes as well. You can check out Zinczenko's top 20 Worst Foods at www.menshealth.com/eatthis Clink on the 20 worst foods in America. I like his book-he gives a dish he says to eat in place of a dish he says to avoid (eat this, not that). The choices are side by side and it's simple to compare the nutritional information of both dishes.

If you eat out a lot, you owe it to yourself (and to your body) to know what you are putting in your mouth. You may decide, on the basis of this information alone, to make some changes in your dining choices. I use to eat out multiple times a week. Going to a restaurant was a treat for me. I enjoyed being waited on, sitting at a table, reading a book or visiting with a friend while someone else prepared my food. Very lovely. However, having someone else prepare my food meant that I didn't know how it was prepared and with what. Predictably I was quite overweight. After losing the weight and now in maintenance mode, I avoid eating out. When I do, I think about where I go, what I order and the portion size. I don't drink alcohol or eat desserts so I am able to avoid a lot of calories there.

Consider the typical restaurant scenario for dinner: most folks will have a glass of wine or a cocktail, some kind of appetizer or salad, bread and butter, their main dish and maybe a second glass of wine, coffee and possibly dessert. That constitutes a massive amount of calories, fat, sodium, carbs and sugar and represents one meal. What else did these people eat that day? It takes about an hour of vigorous exercising to burn off 300-500 calories depending on what you're doing. That fictional meal I just described could easily translate into 2,000 calories on top of the other meals consumed that day. That's 4-6 hours of exercising to burn off one meal. Wow. No thanks.

Check out the link and/or the book. Fascinating and appalling.

In health,

Laura