« Water Aerobics and Dea’s Knees… | Being a Girl »

Is It Just Me?

Why the heck is it so hard to eat healthy in a restaurant?

I went to Buffalo Wild Wings on Sunday (not my choice) and I couldn’t believe how unhealthy!  Yeah, they have salads on the menu.  I know better than to assume those are actually a good choice, though.  I wound up ordering a grilled chicken wrap, figuring the tortilla had to be a better choice than a bun.  I also wasn’t about to order a grilled chicken sandwich, hold the bun, seeing as I can go get a chicken breast anywhere.  So I asked if, instead of the usual side choices (french fries, coleslaw, etc…), I could have a side salad with lite Italian dressing on the side.  In other words, I was trying to be logical and sensible in my choices.

When my meal came, the salad was piled high with giant croutons and shredded cheese.  And I mean PILED.  Think titanic proportions.  I’m actually scared to think about what their entree salads look like!  So note to anyone going to Buffalo Wild Wings - if you order the side salad, ask for either no cheese and croutons, or get them on the side!

There was a positive to all of this, though.  The salad dressing was actually in a single serve pouch, which I assume is what they use with take-out orders.  That was nice since I actually trust the packaging a little more than a restaurant just telling me it’s lite dressing.  (Dea and I both have worked at restaurants - trust us, NEVER take their word for it!)

Am I the only one frustrated by trying to eat healthy out in the real world??

This entry was posted on Monday, August 3, 2009 at 4:14 pm and is filed under Restaurants, Weight Loss, Healthy Eating. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

| Print

4 Responses to “Is It Just Me?”

  1. Dea says:
    Tuesday, August 4, 2009 at 8:46 am

    You’re not alone at all. And reading about Applebee’s being sued over incorrect caloric information, etc, it’s even more frustrating. I don’t want to avoid restaurants all together because it feels like being overly restrictive.

  2. MeredeEnA says:
    Tuesday, August 4, 2009 at 11:17 am

    My husband is luckily on the same quest as I am and we’re both trying to make healthy eating a regular habit for our kids even when we eat out on weekends.

    I just have to say that just seeing the ads for Applebee’s makes us both cringe since all they advertise is meat covered in heavy cream or cheese sauces! That just doesn’t appeal to us, so we don’t worry about what to eat there…

    I am pleased to see places like Steak and Shake and Sonic adding fruit to their menus. I think they are hearing our tiny voices crying out for something other than grease and saturated fats to fill up on! Keep it up and maybe we’ll visit more frequently.

    I also found the book Eat This, Not That!, which covers what to order from where to eat more healthily (we got the kid version, but find it extremely enlightening - Spaghettios over mac and cheese? much less fat and calories in the Spaghettios, if you can believe that and at Applebee’s adults can have the Italian Chicken & Portobello Sandwich without guilt, if the information they provided the publisher is accurate!)

    Anyway, with a shared agenda maybe someone somewhere will start helping us with our healthy living goal!

  3. Dea says:
    Tuesday, August 4, 2009 at 11:22 am

    MeredeEnA - It’s so good to have people to go the journey with you. We try to eat healthier together as a family too. I didn’t know about the fruit at Steak and Shake - very cool! I am on a waiting list for that book - good to know it’s helpful! Thanks for the comment - and keep up the good work! :)

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.