Do You Eat These Fattening Restaurant Foods?
Your diet has a huge impact on your weight loss results. There’s no way around it!
And if you’re eating many of your meals out at restaurants, or ordering takeout, then you’re going to want to keep reading because the average restaurant meal contains more than 1,200 calories.
The truth is that most people have no idea just how many calories are in restaurant entrées, and this contributes to frustrating weight gain. In fact, the following information may shock you.
Here are 5 fattening restaurant dishes to watch out for, along with tips to make lighter, healthier versions of these dishes at home.
Don’t Order This #1: Cobb Salad
Cobb salads are loaded with cheese, bacon, egg, and topped with a creamy dressing. Sure, you’re eating a salad, but that salad is likely to contain more calories than a burger.
At-Home Version: Making a lighter Cobb Salad at home is easy and quick. Start with a dark lettuce, like spinach or arugula, to get the most nutritional value. Top it with hard boiled egg whites, baked turkey bacon, light cheese, avocado and drizzle lemon juice and vinegar for dressing. This at-home version has dramatically lower calories while still providing you with a satisfying, tasty dish.
Don’t Order This #2: Spinach Artichoke Dip
When it comes to appetizers, spinach dip is filled with veggies so its calorie content is often underestimated. Don’t be fooled: just half a cup of this creamy dip will set you back about 350 calories. And if you finish the bowl yourself then you’ve just taken in 1,000 calories in dip alone, not to mention the chips or pita bread you scooped it with.
At-Home Version: That delicious creamy spinach flavor can be recreated at home by using low-fat milk, spinach, some olive oil and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. A quick Google search for ‘light creamed spinach recipe’ will give you plenty of recipe options that are much lower in fat and calories than the restaurant version.
Don’t Order This #3: Chicken Tenders
Fried chicken of any kind from a restaurant is going to be loaded with more fat and calories than you’d believe. Even a serving on the kid’s menu will tip the scales at over 800 calories.
At-Home Version: Making faux fried chicken at home is easy and surprisingly delicious. Whip up a few eggs with some Dijon mustard, garlic powder and onion powder. Dip your skinless, boneless chicken tenders in the mixture and then coat with almond flour, thyme, paprika and salt. Bake at 350 degrees F for 35 minutes or until no longer pink, flipping once halfway through. Turn on the broiler for the last couple of minutes to make it nice and crispy.
This at-home version will save you hundreds of calories that would have ended up around your waist.
Don’t Order This #4: Sliders
Sliders are so small, there’s no harm in enjoying a couple of, right? Wrong. Despite their petite package, enjoy a couple sliders and you’ll have taken in more than 1,000 calories.
At-Home Version: The biggest problems with the restaurant slider are the fatty meat content and the refined-carbohydrate bun. So at home you can remedy these two issues. 1) Use lean, ground turkey to create petite patties. Use your grill pan to cook them with minimal oil. 2) Instead of the carbohydrate-filled bun, use large pieces of butter lettuce to wrap around your patties. Add sliced tomato, low fat cheese and grilled onion and secure the whole thing with a toothpick. These at-home sliders are guilt-free!
Don’t Order This #5: Pasta
Eating a pasta-based dish at a restaurant is an invitation to gain weight. There’s no way to escape all those carbohydrate calories unscathed. The 1,000+ calories found in the noodles will quickly end up stored on your body as fat.
At-Home Version: There are two really easy and guilt-free ways to mimic pasta noodles at home. 1) Bake a spaghetti squash until tender, then scoop out the soft, angel hair-like strands and top with your healthy pasta sauce. 2) Using a vegetable peeler, create long strips of zucchini and top with your healthy pasta sauce.
Cooking more of your meals at home, using the tips above, will save you many hidden calories and goes hand-in-hand with regular, challenging workouts in seeing you to your fitness goal.
Call or email today and I will schedule a time to meet with you one-on-one to strategize the quickest and most effective route to getting you to your fitness goals.
Lighten Your Meal
We all have our favorite things to order when we eat out or get take-out. As you’ve seen above, these items can be made at home, in a much healthier way.
This is cool because it allows you to eat the same foods that you love, while losing weight and getting closer to your fitness goals.
It’s easier than you think. Make a list of your top 5 restaurant entrees and go online to search for healthier ways to cook them.
Protein Cookie Dough Dessert
You know those nights when you just HAVE TO HAVE some dessert? This is a guilt-free recipe for such a moment.
Just don’t try to bake it, because it’s not that type of cookie dough recipe. This is the type of cookie dough that is simply meant to be enjoyed by the spoonful. Yum!
Courtesy of RealHealthyRecipes.com
What you need
Servings: 1
Servings: 1
2 tablespoons natural peanut butter
1 tablespoon almond milk
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1 tablespoon lily’s chocolate chips (stevia sweetened)
1 tablespoon almond milk
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1 tablespoon lily’s chocolate chips (stevia sweetened)
Instructions
1. Place the peanut butter and almond milk in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds.
2. Stir in the protein powder. Add more milk if needed. Stir in the chocolate chips.
3. Enjoy immediately!
Nutrition
One serving equals: 319 calories, 17g fat, 17mg sodium, 9g carbohydrate, 3g fiber, 2g sugar and 34g protein.
One serving equals: 319 calories, 17g fat, 17mg sodium, 9g carbohydrate, 3g fiber, 2g sugar and 34g protein.
