You can now find out how many calories and fat you are consuming at many of your favorite restaurant and fast-food chains!
The other day, I went out to dinner with some friends to The Cheesecake Factoryand found on the table a nutritional fact guide along with the menus. I was surprised to see that they had this type of information available. That is when I learned from our server that a new law had been formed that restaurants containing 20 chains or more, are now required to provide this information to their customers. I was thrilled to learn that this information is available so that people can make better decisions when ordering or will think twice about ordering dessert and drinks.
As I was scanning through the nutritional guide at Cheesecake, I naturally searched for the items that I love to order such as their “Spicy Cashew Chicken” dish and was shocked to find that the meal contained almost 1600 calories and loads of fat and sodium. I also checked out the cheesecake lists as my wife loves to get a slice at the end of our meal and share, and found that almost each variety of cheesecake slice was over 1000 calories.
So just imagine, after ordering an appetizer, the main meal and then a slice of cheesecake, it isn’t hard to hit over 5000 calories in one sitting! The average daily allowed calorie limit is 2000 calories. Now Americans wonder why this country is filled with the most obesity than the rest of the world, and the answer is staring us in our plates! Why can’t these dishes be made with healthier ingredients? And why are these plates so large?
As a personal trainer in Livermore, I offer nutritional advice to my clients by providing them with menus and recipes of their favorite dishes without all the fat and calories and without compromising taste.
Eating well doesn’t mean that it has to be packed with tones of fat and salt or sugar. It also does not mean that we have to engorge in it by eating way too much. Losing weight and staying healthy is about learning how to choose the right foods, learn how to prepare them, and learn proportion control. Luckily most restaurants will try to please their customer by cooking foods without as much oil and splitting portions into two if asked.
I am hoping that as these nutritional facts are offered in fast-food and restaurant chains, people will begin to order differently and that will push for a change in food preparation in these places. The next time you are about to order your meal ask for the nutrition facts guide and remember, you are eating to survive not surviving to eat!
