Sunday, March 14, 2021

Just a thing that I've noticed.

 Since I've been counting my calories, there is a thing that I've noticed. Tim and I went out for dinner, for the first time in months. I picked the place because it had salads. I like salads a LOT. I eat salads a LOT. But when I looked at the salads on the menu, I was shocked to see that my favorite salad was 1500 calories! 

Who knew? Not me, at least not until I started keeping track of my calories.

Yesterday, working away at the retirement property for much longer than we planned on (it was just so nice outside, and we were really getting the job done), Tim decided to go to a fast food place down the road for a hamburger. It bothers me that I am starting to feel guilty about food, but I took a deep breath and told myself I was being ridiculous, that I could balance out the calories by having a salad at supper time. 

In the drivethru, I was much relieved to see that Tim's fast food choice  also offered salads.

But...theirs had 1200 calories!

Yikes again! I had an unsweetened iced tea and a hamburger. for at 1/2 the calories and STILL felt a little worried. 

So, that night, for supper, I made myself a salad. A big one. 20 calories for two cups of spring mix lettuce, 30 calories for my roma tomato, 8 calories in my cucumber, 5 calories in the mushroom, and my splurge of bleu cheese sprinkles added another 100 calories. I use a vinagrette that is 60 calories for 2 tbls. This is a big salad for just under 300 calories. 

How on earth do restaurants sneak in all these calories? This is very confusing to me.

8 comments:

  1. It's a conspiracy to keep people fat and puzzled! I've lost 80 pounds. I basically have lived on meal replacements for the past 18 or more months. My stomach feels better when I consume only liquids. I have gastroparesis and since losing weight, my diabetes is under tight control. That alone makes me feel like I've accomplished something spectacular. Restaurants stuff things like nuts, seeds, bacon, etc into a lot of their salads and all that does is add to the caloric intake. People see the word "salad" and immediately assume it's low calorie and like you, many times they find out just how wrong that assumption can be.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've heard this about restaurant salads. I think it's mostly dressing, and also buttery croutons and nuts and cheese, but God only knows what else might be in there.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The dressing must be really rich or the nuts or croutons add a lot. The number of calories still boggles my brain though.

    ReplyDelete
  4. As others have said, it is the hidden fats in dressings etc that tend to add the calories. I always have salads with no dressing and if it comes with croutons or cheese etc I just leave those on the plate. I think that if the raw ingredients are fresh then there is no loss of flavour by leaving out the calorific additions.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Lemon juice and honey doesn't contain many calories. Unfortunately it's the salad dressings that can make a salad delicious. I'm mad for hot red hot chilli sauce.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I am astonished about the calorie count in salads. I suppose it is the dressing but how oil and vinegar could add up to so much, I don't know. Mayonnaise, yes, I can see that.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I look for where they secret the sugar, too. It's insidious. Big business.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Once upon a time, Sue and I thought we were being virtuous by ordering salads at a fast food place. We later discovered that they had more calories that the burger.

    ReplyDelete

I'm glad you're here!

A Better Day

 First of all, I want to thank every single person who recommended 'Puckoon'. Oh my gosh. It has been a long time since I laughed so...