Why do I dislike eating out?

[giza]

This is why, from Joe Consumer:

Take this example: On the Border Mexican Grill and Cantina, with branches all over the United States, offers Double Stacked Club Quesadillas: a combination of a club sandwich and quesadilla, “stacked with fajita chicken, cheese, crumbled bacon, fresh avocado… sour cream… and ranch dressing.” This entree has a total of 1,860 calories, 3,440 milligrams of sodium, and 52 grams of saturated fat! Their Ranchiladas, “fajita steak topped with ranchero sauce and Jack cheese” which come with two cheese enchiladas, Mexican rice, and beans with cheese contain 1,870 calories, 3,810 milligrams of sodium, and 46 grams of saturated fat. If you add a large soda, you’re past the recommended daily allowance of calories for the day in just one meal! Without a dessert or an appetizer!

Uno Chicago Grill outdoes them, however, with an appetizer that tops 2000 calories! Pizza Skins, a combination of pizza crust, mozzarella cheese, mashed potatoes, bacon, cheese, and sour cream, has 2,050 calories! This appetizer - meant to get you ready for your main meal - also includes 3,140 milligrams of sodium and 48 grams of saturated fat. And this comes before the meal!?

Adult males should consume about 2,500 calories per day and adult females should consume 2,000 calories per day. So yeah, it's about as scary as it sounds. I ate out a lot as a kid (both fast food and restaurant food), and it showed. Anyone who knew me in high school could tell what kind of shape I was in at the time. (Round is a shape, isn't it?)

I think I'm actually glad I work in the city now... I walk past several fruit stands on my way to work every day and can pick up enough fresh fruit for breakfast, lunch, and snacks. And there's like 3 Subways in walking distance too. It is all sorts of cool.

Also, the blog post I citied does give some tips for eating healthy when eating out, and refers folks to http://www.healthydiningfinder.com.

Finally, that article probably also explains this strip from Wulffmorgenthaler:

Comments

[drzarron.livejournal.com]

It's insane, isn't it?

Since Diana's surgery, we've have become very aware of food. Diana and I can eat comfortably at most restaurants by splitting meals.. and often have some left over.

I've lost 14 lbs since Mardi Gras by simply cutting out eating between meals and knocking my sizes down.

[triggur.livejournal.com]

I'm curious where the 2500 calories/day for men number comes from.

That seems like an awful lot. I used to hear the number being 1800-2000. Is the "normal" intake going up just because the average american's weight is?

[giza.livejournal.com]

Eh, it's the number I always read on FDA food labels and such. (I started reading them pretty religiously about 12 years ago when I was really interested in losing weight)

If you have other sources, please hit me with them so I can educate myself.

[lockemaison.livejournal.com]

On http://nutrition.about.com I plugged in my numbers. I am average male height 5'9" and around 30-40 lbs overweight. It says:

You need 2799.7 calories per day to maintain your current weight without exercise.
You need 2532.2 calories per day to reach your goal weight slowly and maintain that weight without exercise.
If you increase your current caloric intake to 3299.7 calories per day, you will gain one pound per week.
If you exercise for 30 minutes each day, you will be able to reach your goal weight with 2771.4 calories per day.

I cut out a bunch of numbers, it gives you tons of what ifs. I used to love learning about this kind of thing.

[zealianbadass.livejournal.com]

Agreed on that, but I had a look at that Water Intake calculator... that thing is DEMENTED.

[lockemaison.livejournal.com]

i think it depends on your height. 1800 actually seems low to me.
When I was losing weight in my 20s I read a book where it said between 2000 - 2300 if you're trying to lose weight, not if you are actually healthy and just want to maintain current weight The maintaining weight number was a little higher. But it's been about 6 years since I've read any healthy eating info so what do I know.

[triggur.livejournal.com]

height, build, activity, etc, sure. it takes more calories to sustain an overweight body weight than a skinny body weight.

But if someone eats X calories/day and maintains a body weight of 300lbs, and then loses 100lbs, X calories/day will probably make them gain again.

[lockemaison.livejournal.com]

Eating out is the reason I've gained my weight back. I was once a sturdy eat-at-home and exercise guy. I always ate within 50g of fat per day and 2500 calories. Among my friends I was the only one who could DDR with any efficiency, I went dancing every weekend, I travelled a lot, I was attracting women left and right, I had the energy to do anything. I didn't count fat and calories, I just estimated, that was good enough. I was thin and healthy and had lots of energy. Not anymore. Coworkers constantly going out to eat eventually got me to break down. Yesterday I counted how much money I spend on it, too.
When you have excellent friends like I do it's so hard to escape the temptation to hang out with them. Actually for about 2 years after I got my job I followed the regiment even though I was eating out every day. I ate healthy by both portion control and counting fat. Frankly, I couldn't keep it up. Nobody ever forced me to eat crap, I just couldn't resist anymore.
Fortunately for my weak willpower, recently my work schedule has changed, my coworkers have stopped going out so I am free to go back to the old me and I can stop eating out so often now. And I have done so, thankfully within the past few weeks I am getting back on track slowly but surely.

[greenreaper.livejournal.com]

To be fair, Pizza Skins is an appetizer that's meant to be shared. If it's shared with six people, it's probably not that bad - in relative terms, anyway (still almost as bad as a slice of cheesecake). Just don't eat it or the equivalent every day.

Honestly, though, I think even 2,500 is too much for a lot of people. I tend to eat only two meals a day, coming to around 1,000 calories each, and my weight's fairly steady. I simply don't get much exercise sitting in front of a computer all day. The fast food places here in the suburbs don't help, though it's certainly possible to get a good sandwich without mayo from Jimmie John's and make it last two meals.

[giza.livejournal.com]

Um, related question: how's your cholesterol and blood pressure doing?

[greenreaper.livejournal.com]

I don't know. Probably not ideal, but not terrible either.
I should BP with my kit when I get home tonight, it's been a while.

I take fish oil capsules (1g/day) to help with the cholesterol. And I stay away from McDonalds fries nowadays. The slice of cheesecake is a once-a-month kind of thing. :-)

[giza.livejournal.com]

Yeah, you should definitely get those checked.

My understanding is that even a healthy diet might not be enough if there is little/no exercise missing.

The good news is that walking 30 minutes a day 3 days a week qualifies as sufficient exercise. :-)

[greenreaper.livejournal.com]

That's the thing . . . walking? In Detroit?! Not good for your health. ;-) Though I do walk to the nearby mall, unlike some of the crazy people here who are willing to drive a quarter of a mile.

I'd probably be happier if I were ten pounds lighter or so, but it's hard for me to get hugely worked up about it. I'm losing weight, just not very fast.

[giza.livejournal.com]

Join a gym and walk on a treadmill. :-) That's what I do.

Plus, there are SO many ways to hurt yourself between using freeweights and the different kinds of equipment. It's quite a deal!

[shenryyr.livejournal.com]

I don't want to know these sort of things... my favorite mexican restaurant tastes too good to be edible.

[sirfox.livejournal.com]

6_6 i love the ranchiladas at On The Border. Granted, i usually divide the platter across its length, and take one half home for a later meal.

How about some numbers for alcoholic drinks, just for parity with food. After all, all that rum, vodka, beer, and etc is all made from starch and sugar.

[chipotle.livejournal.com]

In my experience, chain restaurants tend to be worse about this, just like prepackaged foods you cook at home tend to be worse than stuff you make yourself. On the flip side, just like you can choose prepackaged foods that aren't really that bad, you can make reasonable choices at chain restaurants; you just have to do a bit of research. To pick on the fast food chain that shares a name with me, the typical burrito I used to get at Chipotle -- "fajita-style" carnitas with the corn salsa, sour cream, cheese -- was over 1200 calories. But if I get the crispy chicken tacos with the red or green salsa and sour cream or cheese (but not both), it's under 700. And, once you have even a general idea of what kinds of calories various ingredients add, you can make educated guesses even when you don't have the calorie information at hand.

Proportions of food have generally gotten larger over the last 20 years, because that's what Joe Consumer actually seems to want, despite what his weblog may say. :) Carls Jr. menu items are in-your-face about being huge and high-calorie ("see this third-pound burger? We've topped it with CHEESE, FRIED ONIONS and PASTRAMI! Take THAT!"), but the company has been pretty blunt about the reasons when challenged: a few years ago they tried offering lighter, healthier options and people stayed away in droves. When they started serving Thickburgers™ with Extra Lard, sales went up.

I don't actually mind going to McDonald's on occasion, even, but my typical meal there is a double cheeseburger (440 calories), either small fries or a side salad with balsamic dressing (250 calories or 60, respectively, and I could get both if I'm really hungry), and a small iced tea (0 calories!) -- which is either $3 or $4 before tax. Even at McD's, it's really just a matter of knowing what you're getting into. :)

[greenreaper.livejournal.com]

I usually go with the double cheeseburger and the McChicken without mayo when I'm at McD's - plenty of protein, and they're both on the value menu. If I feel like a treat, the parfait is a nice addition. Their fries have trans fat issues (probably why they taste so good ;-).

[chipotle.livejournal.com]

The trans-fat acid is a good point I hadn't thought about. According to reports last year McD's has found a trans-fat-free oil they want to roll out nationally, but their web site suggests they're having supply chain issues. (Which could be spin, but when you have over 13,000 locations in the country, I know that actually becomes a pretty big deal.)

[zealianbadass.livejournal.com]

I don't know what's sadder. The fact that almost double the daily allowance is what it takes to make me feel 'well fed', or that I can't afford to go out and try this stuff that's so caloric, satisfying, and supposedly terrible for me.

Home cooking's cheaper and generally healthier if you know what you're doing, but I'm still almost always hungry.

[crywolf.livejournal.com]

I have a high metabolism and am a bit on the hyperactive side, and not only can but must eat a lot. It's even worse if I do something like exercise. I just avoid the crap (mainly high fructose corn syrup and mono-and-diglycerides) as much as possible, and eat small portions slowly until full, to avoid overeating.

If you don't already have a crockpot, I highly recommend it. A batch of chili I made recently lasted nearly a week, usually eating two bowls at a time.

[zealianbadass.livejournal.com]

heh, I don't have a crockpot, but I'm really good at all sorts of hearty soups and stews. I usually freeze the rest.

I'm more than a little active myself, plus I used to cook for a living, so I have that down; The trouble is I've some demented guilt issue I seem to have with being full. I think I've been hungry for too long.

Eating to stay healthy's useless if you're still hungry afterward, because then the most important part of your diet (your opinion of the result) is unsatisfactory.

[giza.livejournal.com]

Fiber can help with that, because it takes up space and can help you feel "full". That's why I eat an apple before eating a 6 inch hoagie from Subway for lunch. It used to take a single 12 inch hoagie in order to feel as full.

Avoiding processed foods (especially processed sugar) will help, too. Processed sugar is broken down by the body quickly and will cause your blood sugar to spike briefly and then plummet. That's bad for other reasons (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pod4jIKT_kA) (or so I am told) besides affecting your appetite.

[zealianbadass.livejournal.com]

...that'll teach me to click a link before I look at the URL. Feh.

[mapdark.livejournal.com]

In fact , wouldn't fatter people alter earth's mass?

then in turn that could alter it's gravitational pull on the moon and we would all die crushed under the moon .. OMG NO!

Ok .. not really :P

[kinkyturtle.livejournal.com]

Yeah, not unless the extra mass comes from space and we're all eating asteroids by the ton. :}

[frostyw.livejournal.com]

I've been entirely too conscious of this on my trip to Technicon this year. Before going somewhere, I started looking at its nutrition facts. Some places didn't offer one, and some places still offered nothing more than a blanket feel-good statement. Very few places actually offered charts, and those that did were eye-popping. I got so wracked up between finding a place I liked and a place where I wouldn't eat a day's worth of food in one meal, I got cranky and irritable. Finally, I just plunked my ass down at BK because I needed food, and it was right there. I caved, but eating food at least took the edge off the mid-afternoon crank so I could enjoy myself at the 'con. Now I find myself in a similar position for dinner, sadly, with a concert I want to attend going from 8 'til 10, and most decent places close.

Sorry for the ramble, just sharing some frustration maybe others are experiencing.

[wildw0lf.livejournal.com]

Wow, I don't think I could even eat those! That's just gross the amount of calories those have in them. I do eat a large lunch sometimes, but now almost nothing for breakfast, or dinner.