Even the jolly green giant would run from this mess....

If you were attempting to dine at a pizzeria while keeping nutrition and Calories in check, you probably wouldn’t eat an entire Large Meat Craver’s Pizza, would you?

However, healthier sounding options such as a Miso Salad or a Waldorf Salad would probably make their way onto your table.

Unfortunately, you’ve just sent your attempt at healthier eating into a doomsday spiral. Both of the aforementioned Salads, and most salads on restaurant menus, contain over 1000 Calories.

About 1500 for the two above, the same amount as the entire Meat Craver’s pizza.

Here are some more menu shockers from popular restaurant chains:


Red Robin

Fajita Fiesta Pollo Salad- 1000 Calories- As many Calories as a bacon cheeseburger
Cobb Salad- 879 Calories
Chicken Tender Salad- 1322 Calories
Mighty Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken-1059 Calories





Wendys

Wendys Mandarin Salad with Grilled Chicken Filet- 500 Calories- 5 More g of fat than a medium order of fries
Chicken BLT with Homestyle Filet- 790 Calories-The Caloric Equivalent of nearly 2.25 double stack cheeseburgers
Southwest Taco Salad-640 Calories
Grilled Chicken Caesar- 490 Calories





Taco Bell

Taco Bell’s salads contain more calories than anything on the menu, excluding Volcano nachos, which have a mere 90 Calories more.

Chicken Ranch Taco Salad-910 Calories
Fiesta Taco Salad-900 Calories
Chipotle Steak Taco Salad-770 Calories

Olive Garden

Side Salad- 350 Calories -Offered free with every meal, the side salad contains nearly as many Calories as a meal should (around 400-450 Calories).
Grilled Chicken Caesar- 850 Calories- The same amount of Calories as an order of lasagna, or two orders of linguine with marinara sauce.





Applebees

Buffalo Chicken Salad-1350 Calories
Grilled Shrimp and Spinach Salad-1040 Calories
Santa Fe Chicken Salad -1360 Calories- the Caloric equivalent of nearly 3.5 orders of steak topped with grilled shrimp.

So what should you order then? The menu is again a mystery but here’s a few good rules of thumb for ordering out:



If it’s crunchy, there are probably a lot more Calories. That crunch comes from either A) Deep frying B) Breading or D) Excessive fat. All lead to extra Calories- and not just a few: a lot of them. Chips, crispy chicken, breaded chicken, taco salad bowls, tortilla strips, nuts, croutons, wonton strips, and soy nuts are all prefect examples of Calorie loaded crunchy ingredients. The only large “crunch” you should be hearing is that of vegetables.



Ask for the sauce on the side and apply it sparingly yourself, or forgo it all together. Even if it sounds healthy, like raspberry vinaigrette, balsamic vinaigrette, or honey mustard, all can add anywhere from 200-400 Calories to your order. For example, the Fajita Fiesta Pollo Salad from Red Robin contains 1000 Calories when ordered with dressing. By skipping the dressing, nearly 300 Calories would be shaved off your order.



Skip the extra bread. And this doesn’t just mean the bread basket at the beginning of a meal- the small rolls served at restaurants usually contain 120 Calories- and that’s if you eat them without butter. Chips at a Mexican restaurant contain hundreds upon hundreds of extra Calories, with free refills causing excessive consumption. Bread offered on the sides of salads and breadsticks with pasta dishes is also a no-no: serving sizes of pasta are usually 4-5 times what an actual serving of pasta should be. Fancy sounding breads like focaccia, ciabatta, and wraps also contain hundreds more Calories than plain sandwich-style bread.



Think of cheese as its own separate food group: If you can help it, don’t consume meat AND cheese at the same meal. Cheese contains the same amount of Calories per ounce as meat, so if you consume them together (such as in a pepperoni pizza, or in a Panini) you’ll be consuming a lot more Calories than if you just went with one or the other. When ordering pizza, make it an all-cheese affair, or cheese and vegetables. As for sandwiches, choose between meat or cheese, and request that one be left off in its preparation.

All of this being said, there’s a reason people think “healthy” when they think “salad”. And that’s because salad is healthy. In its natural form. And the meat covered, cheese laden, sauce drenched, tortilla crisp-covered concoctions served up at restaurants aren’t it.

I eat salad every day, but I never use it as a meal. I maintain a very high activity level every day, engaging in distance running and other vigorous activities, so a low-calorie vegetable salad would not be enough to sustain my activity or maintain my weight.

I eat a large salad every night as a “snack”, and do so because I enjoy both the taste and the health benefits that salad provide.

If you are attempting to lose weight without feeling famished, all vegetable (no meat or cheese) salads with low fat, low Calorie salad dressing are a great way to fulfill your hunger for a negligible amount of Calories, because you can eat vegetables (excluding starchy vegetables like potatoes and corn) in very high amounts. Therefore, these vegetable based "snacks" will keep you full between your actual meals.



This is an example of a salad consumed by myself. It contains spinach, beets, cucumber, red and green bell peppers, bean sprouts, broccoli, and cauliflower. I used Bernstein’s Light Cheese Fantastico dressing, which contains 25 Calories per 2 Tbsp, and I probably applied about 3 Tbsp.

With this combination of vegetables, I will be receiving high levels of Vitamins A (Spinach, Peppers, Carrots), K (Spinach, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cucumbers, Carrots), Folate (Beets, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Peppers), Iron (Beets), Vitamin C (Broccoli, Peppers, Cauliflower, Carrots), and Vitamin B6 (Peppers).
Below are a profile are a role that these nutrients play in the body.
Vitamin A- Healthy vision, bones, and immune system
Vitamin K- Blood clotting and bone health
Vitamin C- Acts as an antioxidant, synthesizes collagen, enhances immune function, synthesizes hormones, enhances iron absorption
Vitamin B6- Assists in carbohydrate and amino acid (molecules that combine to form protein) metabolism and the synthesizing of blood cells
Folate- Amino acid metabolism, DNA synthesis
Iron- Is a component of hemoglobin in blood cells, assists Enzymes.

Remember to eat your greens, but choose to do so at home instead of out at a restaurant- that way, you’ll be receiving all the nutritious benefits, without the excessive Calories and Fat.

Less Sinful Sweet Treats: The Starbucks Edition

So it’s probably pretty obvious that a Venti Caramel Frappucino with Whipped Cream (500 Calories) isn’t your best choice of drink orders at Starbucks.

But what about the pastries tempting you from their shiny glass case? Follow this guide to make smarter options at the Coffee Magnate. It’s a good piece of knowledge to carry with you- after all, the coffee shops are on every other corner. You’re bound to stop into one for an afternoon pick me up or a celebratory treat sooner or later.

Remember not to make these sweet treats a daily addition to your dietary intake- they’re Calorie-laden enough to add on extra pounds fast. Instead, work them into your recommended Calorie consumption for the day (go to mypyramid.gov to find out your own specific needs), or split them with a friend or coworker for a skinnier sweet treat.

Avoid these tempting (and potentially waist-expanding) pastries, and order the recommended alternatives to save Calories at the Coffee Counter.


Double Iced Cinnamon Roll 490 Calories- The cinnamon roll contains almost 25% of the Average American's Reccomended Daily Caloric intake. It also contains 140 more Calories than the Morning Bun due to its larger surface area and amount of icing. The Morning Bun is a more reasonable option, with its smaller size and cinnamon sugar dusting, adds up to 350 Calories.

Chocolate Old Fashioned Donut 420 Calories- Dense and deep fried; a Chocolate Donut will set you back nearly as many Calories as a double cheeseburger from a fast food restaurant. Instead, choose 2 Chocolate Mini Sparkle Donuts, at 120 Calories apiece (240 Calories in the suggested two piece serving). You’ll be getting a little more than half the Calories, but with two tiny treats, you may feel like you’re eating more.

Blueberry Scone 460 Calories- Scones are denser and made with cream, which yields to a higher Calorie content than the Blueberry Streusel Muffin. Choose the fluffier, Streusel topped option for a similar taste and a lesser 360 Calories.

Pumpkin Scone 480 Calories- The Pumpkin Scone contains 110 more Calories than a Burger King Whopper. Ordering Petite Vanilla Bean Scones (2 of them are 280 Calories), on the other hand, cuts 200 Calories from your original order. Slim it down further by only ordering one.

Double Chocolate Brownie 410 Calories-Swap the fudgy brownie for a fudgy cookie alternative. The Indulgent Chocolate cookie (320 Calories) will satisfy your chocolate craving, and contains 90 Calories less than the Brownie.

Classic Coffee Cake 440 Calories- This one is easy. Swapping standard Coffee Cake with its reduced fat version saves you 100 Calories. Reduced Fat Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake- 340 Calories.

CWU Edition: Healthy Eating at Wrap and Roll.

Sandwiches, wraps, and soups may seem like quick and healthy options, and they are quick…but the healthy part can go wrong fast if you don’t know how to order healthfully, or aren’t fully aware of what nutritional bombs are lurking behind the counter.

First….the bread.


Everyone probably knows by now that wheat is best. And that means Whole Wheat, not Wheat Berry. Whole Wheat contains only whole grain flour, whereas Wheat Berry contains part whole grain flour and part white flour. So Wheat Berry is one step up from White Bread.

The Olympic Bread Podium would look something like:

Gold: Whole Wheat Bread
Silver: Wheat Berry Bread
Bronze: White Bread, Sourdough Bread, Deli Rye Bread, Panini Breads
Dead Last: Hoagie Rolls and Wraps

Panini breads have basically the same amount of Calories as two slices of bread (195 Calories). However, since the Panini breads are almost always grilled, they have the added Calories from the oil used to grease the sandwich press. Any sandwich, wrap, or Panini grilled on the press has added Calories from fat (about 240 Calories is placed on the grill and your food item each time it is re-brushed). Avoid getting your sandwich grilled every day. The added fats and Calories will pad your waistline quickly, and won’t do much to add to your sense of fullness.

Hoagies and Wraps are both fairly high in Calories, hence their last place finish. Each wrap has 300 Calories, the caloric equivalent of three slices of bread, and that’s before meat, cheese, and sauces are added.

Hoagies are worse, at 340 Calories- the caloric equivalent of 3.5 slices of bread. If you can’t forgo the denser hoagie bread, request your sandwich on ½ of a hoagie roll instead, or skip the cheese on your sandwich to make up for the extra 140 Calories that wouldn’t be present in typical sandwich bread.

Then…the sauce.
Ok, so mayonnaise is bad. This we know. But it can’t be that bad right? Well, there’s about 200 Calories going on each time it hits your bread, along with 30% of your RDA (recommended daily allowance) for fat.

The same goes for Red Pepper Basil, which is more popular than Mayonnaise but just as fatty, at 180 Calories for the standard 2 Tablespoon serving.

Bistro Sauce, Caesar, and Honey Mustard follow in third and fourth for worst dressings, both worse than creamy Ranch, at a respective 160, 150, and 130 Calories per tablespoon.

Honey Mustard may sound healthy, but it’s nearly just as creamy and unhealthy as mayonnaise.

For lower calorie, lower fat options; try regular yellow mustard (20 Calories per 2 tbsp) , Dijon mustard (30 Calories per 2 Tbsp), or Italian (30 Calories per 2 Tbsp).

You may want to consider skipping the oil and vinegar at the end, too. Although vinegar contains no Calories, Oil contains a lot of them. Although oils contribute healthy poly and monounsaturated fats in the diet, 120 Calories per Tablespoon may be too many Calories to be added to a sandwich, especially if other oils and fats are being consumed throughout the day.

Now… the meat.
You have a basic 3 meat options (ham, turkey, roast beef), as well as three protein-packed vegetarian options (Hardboiled Eggs, Bean Spread, Hummus). And of course, there’s always old faithful…the PBJ.

Choose Ham or Turkey over Roast Beef, which contains the most Calories and fat. Beef is also considered “red meat”, which is linked to higher incidences of cancer and heart disease. Limit your consumption of roast beef and other red meat (burgers, meatballs, steak, ground beef, etc.) to a few times a week.

Many people use the bean spread and hummus as spreads in addition to meat, but they should really be used as protein sources. Hummus, made from Garbanzo beans and Tahini (Sesame seed) paste, delivers about 100 Calories per ¼ cup, and is delicious with a slice of cheese and some vegetables.

Plain hardboiled eggs on a sandwich are always a healthier option than egg salad, which is mixed with large amounts of mayonnaise. Chicken Salad, Turkey Salad, and Tuna Salad are also prepared this way. Because of the added fat, these “salad” mixtures contain double the Calories of the standard lunch meats.

Although Peanut Butter is an extremely nutritious option in general, the Peanut Butter carried in the dining hall contains Hydrogenated Oils, aka Trans Fats. Trans fats lead to heart disease, high blood pressure, and arterial blockage, so go easy on the Peanut Butter consumption, especially if you’re eating it from the dining hall.

If you’re buying it on your own dime, it’s a whole different story: buy a natural brand that is Trans Fat and Hydrogenated Oil free (check the ingredients label), and you won’t need to worry about all that scary arterial plaque business.



Queso, Fromage…Either way you slice it, or say it, it’s cheese.
Every item ordered from the sandwich line has two slices of cheese added, or a handful of shredded cheese. Although cheese is a Calcium-rich dairy product, it is also a fat, and should be consumed in moderation.

And for most American’s needed Caloric intake, that doesn’t mean two slices on each food item.

Shredded Parmesan, Shredded Cheddar, and Shredded mixed cheese all have around 100 Calories for each ¼ cup (about how much goes on a wrap). Sliced American cheese is the lowest Calorie option, but is also more processed, at 50 Calories per slice.

Cheddar contains 85 Calories per slice, Provolone contains 100, and Pepper jack and Swiss both contain 70 per slice.

The Cream Cheese spread contains 90 Calories per serving, and should be considered as a cheese, not a sauce or spread. If you enjoy it, but usually get it as a spread in addition to sliced or shredded cheese, decide which you would rather have, then skip the second cheese option.

Vegetables….the Sandwich line champions.


You can’t really go wrong here. The vegetables offered at the end of the line add crunch, flavor, and essential Vitamins and minerals to your sandwich with a negligible amount of Calories.











Would you like any soup with your sandwich?
For the most part, that answer should be a no. Tomato soup or plain vegetables soup (not “creamy” “pasta” or “rice” vegetable) are your best bets, and the only options around 100 Calories per cup. Potato and Broccoli Cheese do not count as vegetable soups- They are laden with fat and contain about 430 Calories per cup.
The Clam Chowder, popular for its Friday-Only appearances, should really stay as a Friday-only treat- it contains 330 Calories per cup, and the optional bread bowl contains nearly 600. That means a single meal of clam chowder in a bread bowl would provide about half of the Average American’s allotted Calories per day.
Nix the bread bowl altogether, or consume only ¼ of it with your chowder. ¼ of a bread bowl with a cup of clam chowder contains 477 Calories. If you go on bread overload and consume the entirety of the bowl, you’ll be in for a 930 Calorie meal. To put this in perspective, you’d have to consume 2 Big Macs from McDonalds to eat the same number of Calories.


Here is an actual meal from Wrap and Roll, along with some ways to make it healthier:


Original Order:
Garlic Herb Panini (195 Calories) +
Ranch Dressing (140 Calories)+
2 Slices Swiss Cheese (140 Calories)
Turkey (77 Calories) +
Assorted Vegetables+
1 Bag of Doritos (250 Calories)
Oil from Grill (Assuming the grill was lightly oiled, 40 Calories)
= 842 Calories.

Panini, reinvented:
Garlic Herb Panini (195 Calories)+
Dijon Mustard (30 Calories) +
1 Slice Swiss Cheese (70 Calories)+
Turkey (77 Calories)+
Assorted Vegetables
Oil from Grill (Assuming the grill was lightly oiled, 40 Calories)
= 412 Calories.
The lesson: Just by changing the sauce choice, skipping the chips, and halving the cheese, the Calories of this sandwich were reduced by more than ½.

Next time you’re at Wrap and Roll, be choosy about your order’s ingredients: You may save enough Calories to lose a few of those Freshman Fifteen, or at least save enough Calories for a visit to the ice cream stand later. After all, a single scoop of Cookie Dough Ice Cream does have fewer Calories than most of the sauces at Wrap and Roll.
But I’ll leave that one up to you.