Whole Foods & Fatty Foods
Happy Friday, guys!
Whole Foods
First things first — I was charmed by all of you entering the Whole Foods give-away! It was a chance for me to take my own non-scientific poll on what healthy foods and items you guys are lovin’ and also a way for me to, sneakily, learn about some new blogs out there! Buahah! Ok, cross your fingers! The winner is **drum roll**
Andrea at Andreas Wellness Notes! Yay! Please e-mail me your address and I’ll send right away!
Fatty Foods
Remember when I revealed here that The Cheesecake Factory had released the nutritional information for its menu items? And we all gotta a little bit pissed, crabby and cranky? (And check out Elina who wrote about it here, too).
Well…I don’t know if this is old news to you guys, but I’m going to run with it anyway. The boyf and I went to the beach, he was hungry afterward, and so we headed to Claim Jumper. Even though CJ is one of my fave restaurants, I knew I had yummy food at home to devour, so I opted out of ordering anything. While the boyf was choosing his meal, I perused a little guide called The Saloon Guide (NOT the menu) that was placed inside a little holder behind the drinks menu. Lo and behold, the back had the NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION posted! Claim Jumper has notoriously avoided posting calories. How did I not know this info. had been released? How did it take serendipity (or doom) for me to find it? There was no press release distributed (you’ll see why), no big televised announcement (ditto), so what gives? Well, my friends, it’s even worse than The Cheesecake Factory.
Here are the ones that made my jaw drop and made the water works want to pour out (don’t worry, I didn’t actually cry, but I heard a voice inside my belly scream, “NOOOOoooooOOOOOOooooo”):
- Asian Pear & Glazed Pecan Salad (starter/appetizer size): 841 calories, 12 g sat. fat
- Citrus Chicken Salad (large): 2548 calories, 33 g sat. fat
- Citrus Chicken Salad (small): 1497 calories, 21 g sat. fat
- Cobb Salad (large): 1829 calories, 41 g sat. fat
- Both nacho appetizers and artichoke dip appetizers: All 3 are over 2200 calories each
- Appetizer combo: 3525 calories (however, says less on online menu), 58 g sat. fat
- Ham & Spinach Quiche: 3348 calories, 108 g sat. fat
- Beef Ribs (entree): Over 4200 calories
Tragic. I mean, obviously, you go to Claim Jumper and know you can’t bank on eating a meal for less than 500 calories. And, obviously, if you’re health-conscious, you’re not going to order something that’s obviously fatty. But here’s where obviousness becomes ominous.
Did you really think it’s possible to consume over 2k calories in a salad with chicken breast? I mean you can guess that if you order it without the dressing it will be a couple (even a few) hundred calories less; but that is still one insanely fatty salad! How do they do it? Seriously – that is a feat of ingenuity. They must covertly stick slabs of lard in between the lettuce leafs. Look, I get it. Claim Jumper wants their salads to sell. They want people to think they taste good. But no one in her right mind would order this salad when she could get an entire cheeseburger for less calories (unless she was a vegetarian, in which case she might just order the 2k calories nacho platter!).
Another thing — do the stats for the burgers, etc., include the sides? If you search online, you will not find stats for the fries, however, on the hard copy guide, they were listed as about 800 calories.
Any good options? Few. Here are three:
- The Halibut Fish Tacos (Small bites appetizer = 2 little tacos): 358 calories, 1 g sat. fat
- Chinese Chicken Salad (lunch-sized portion): 517 calories, 10 g sat. fat
- Vegetable soup (bowl): 147 calories, 2 g sat. fat
All menu items listed online here. Pass it on.
If you remember from my post here, my favorite thing to order from CJ is the veggie burger with quite a few alterations. Without alterations, the veggie burger comes in at over 1k calories (found exact facts on hard copy, but nothing is listed online).
Do you guys feel like we should just expect that unless we’re eating at a specialty restaurant the foods are going to be made with the least amount of health-consciousness in mind? Is it the restaurant’s responsibility to take health concerns into account? To make the info. public and widely accessible? To offer healthy alternatives? My boyf repeated what Gary Hirshberg, Founder of Stoneyfield Farm Organic Yogurt, said in the movie Food Inc., and that’s that whenever we purchase something we are voting for it. I agree. But I also ask…what if we don’t even know what we’re voting for?
How frequently do you guys eat out? Do you have “restaurant food phobia”? Do you check out calories before you eat at a place?
I hope you have a wonderful Friday!
- The Cranky One
p.s. Go check out the cool new site Healthy Yum where people post photos of their delectable and healthy eats (hey, who can really get enough food porn?!)
Tags: calories, cheesecake factory, Claim Jumper, nutritional information, stoneyfield farm organic yogurt, Whole Foods
18 People have left comments on this post
loved the entire post and yet am compelled
to focus on one small piece.
and YES.
I do think that when we eat out we just need to assume it’s all pretty damn icky for us (say a grilled chicken breast at Fudruckers vs a grilled chicken breast at home) and move on.
especially in todays economy restaurants are getting the cheapest ingredients they can in BULK and passing that lovely notion on to us.
or at least thats how I roll
unless stated or preceded by reputation (organic rest.) I always assume I DONT WANNA KNOW WHAT IM GITTIN’
restaurants can definitely amp up the cals on normally healthy foods in a lot of ways — its scary, really, but i just try to recognize where most of the cals lie and make the alterations accordingly.. i.e. ask for balsamic dressed rather than ranch and ask for it on the side or ask fo a veggie burger without all the fixin’s… it’s defintiely difficult though, which is why i prefer to eat in the comfort of my own home.. saves moolah too!
happy friday girlfriend!
honestly i don’t know if i could add that many calories to a salad if i try…i mean 2500?!? that is seriously ridiculous.
ok, I really had a sad wave of emotions after I read I in fact WAS NOT the winner. Come on Annabel, I thought we were friends!
But then….
I read the calorie at that restaurant and no lie, i got tears in my eyes. How many people go and THINK they are being healthy because they are choosing a salad yet consume more then if they would have just gone to mcdonads and had a happy meal? Holy canolli Annabel, this really truly is very very very sad. UGH. My heart is just breaking.
No wonder our entire society is obese! We are seriously out of control!
Holy cow, those salad calorie counts are almost unbelievable! Why can’t a salad just be healthy? But I have seen this so many times with salads that I pretty much just avoid getting them because I know that more often than not they are deceptive calorie bombs. Whenever possible I look up calorie information before I go to a restaurant, and if I can’t find the info, I just assume I’m going to be consuming a lot of calories. If nothing else, all restaurants should be required to post their nutritional information somewhere so at least those who want to know can be informed. I’m glad some states are already passing laws to require this and hope all of the states will follow suit.
Eeks! Those are scary numbers!
We eat out at resturants MAYBE once a week. MAYBE. It used to be more like once a month but we moved to a new area and wanted to try out the new cuisine.
I used to check calories and always try and get what I thought was the fewest calories, but I don’t worry about it now. I go out to enjoy myself, splurge a little. I think that worrying about the calories is probably still back there in the back of my mind, but I try to ignore it and just have a good time. I always try and order something that I would never make myself to make it an extra special treat as well!
Hubs and I used to go out to eat pretty often – we both work long and weird hours and don’t often have time to cook at home for ourselves. However, now that I’ve been focusing on eating clean and healthy, I’ve been bringing all my meals and been finding it’s not as hard as I thought it was.
As for nutritional value – I do try to look up the info before we go, especially if it’s a chain restaurant. If there isn’t any available, I defnitely do the “grilled with dressing on the side” bit as well. I used to splurge on fries but holy heck, after reading that calorie count, NO MORE!
We rarely go anywhere but health food restaurants anymore. It’s just not worth it to blow a whole week’s conscientious eating on one meal. I must say, I’m totally appalled by those numbers!
I think we need to reinstate the dinner party at home. It’s cheaper and you control what goes in your food!
congrats to the winner!!
holy smokes.. 2000+ calories for a salad.. that’s insane!!
maybe andrea will buy me some polenta???
I just stay away from eating out most of the time. I have found that it is just too hard to find something I want to eat or something I am going to alter radically before it gets to my plate! My hubby eats different from me so he does not like the few “healthy” restaurants I would want to go to. Since I really rather eat my own stuff, it does not bother me to go to his place. If they have it, I might eat my protein at home first & then have a steamed veggie side or a sweet potato side while I sit with him. They used to always have dinner size steamed veggie platters on the menu years ago & I just think not enough people eat the healthier stuff to keep it on there. I wonder if people go out to eat specifically to splurge.. I don’t but maybe the majority do… what do you think?
That nutritional information is just ridiculous! What are they putting in their food?? Just sad.
Geez, more scary numbers?!! I’ve never been to that restaurant (I don’t think they have them around here) but I’ll be sure to stay away. I was just going to say that people vote with their orders, and unfortunately most Americans are excited about crazy large portions… so that’s why they make them this way! It is scary, though, to see that a seemingly healthy salad can pack on this many calories and fat. Yeah, didn’t realize I was voting for that! I used to have “restaurant phobia” when I was in a crazy diet mode, but I realized I enjoy eating out too much. I also started asking them to keep it low on oil and butter, and higher end restaurants also always have smaller portions. I think they pride themselves on quality vs. quantity (my moto exactly) so if you ask them to not drench it in butter, you’re likely not doing “too much damage” but are getting a great experience. I think eating out is about an “experience” for me, so that’s why places like the Cheesecake Factory, which are mearly about the food (and lots of it!) are just not my thing.
That’s why I will not order a salad out at a restaurant very often unless it lists the calorie counts. Cuz most of them are over 1k calories. And at that point, why didn’t I just get the burger and fries I was craving and not feel deprived? I still love eating out though – just can’t do it that often and have to plan for it.
What bothers me is Jason’s Deli has such a healthy rep and yet most of their menu is approaching or more than 1k calories, with the plain jane potato clocking in at almost 2300 calories. Seriously? They offer half portions, but that’s 1150 calories. And who thinks “dang, I had half a baked potato for lunch, better watch it the rest of the day”…
In a perfect world, restaurants would cook more like we do in our own kitchens…
Oh my gosh! I definitely have restaurant phobia. I can’t believe there were over 2000 calories in one the of the SALADS. Holy cow
Hey everyone, FYI, a new California law went into effect on July 1 that requires restaurants with 20 or more locations in California to provide nutritional information on all standard menu items. Right now, fast-food restaurants have to provide brochures at the cash registers, and sit-down restaurants have to provide info at the table via table tent, etc. Starting in 2011, all calorie counts must be printed on the menus themselves!
More information can be found at http://tinyurl.com/cutscl. At least now California diners can make more informed choices when dining out.
I’m so excited that I won!!!! Thank you!!!
I just emailed you.
Wow. Those numbers are incredible. You are right, you don’t expect the healthiest meal when you go out to eat, but you really wonder what they put in their food to come up with these numbers…
We don’t go out to eat very often anymore because it’s so hard to get a healthy meal (and it’s expensive). Even “innocent” looking and sounding food is loaded with fat, etc. I have a gallstone problem, so extra fat can make me really sick.
Thanks for the info…Maybe if we keep screaming at those owners they will listen. My husband and I spilt meals. It helps a bit but if you are really trying to lose the weight,I guess we can’t go to those places unless you know the calories first.