Why is it we seem to gain more weight than we figured it should be when we eat out? For a while, I would order Rose Reisman meals when I was eating at The Pickle Barrel. It was always such a surprise that I received such a large plate of food and it was so low in calories. Perhaps if Rose had made it herself it would be more diet friendly.
I was surprised to read that on average "lite" meals were 18% higher than average than they claimed.
A lot of it depends on the chef. He or she in the kitchen may decide the food doesn't look the way they would like it to and so some give larger portions. I suppose you have to know this yourself with your own measurements like the palm of your hand being the right amount for the protein portion in your meal. As well, the chef may not follow the recipe exactly and decide to add some enhancers like oil, butter, cream or sugar. I suppose you have to make a special request and ask how it is made.
I am reminded of the egg white omelette I ordered the other day that was fried in oil and had extra sides I didn't order. Don't you love going out to breakfast in Florida and ordering an egg white omelette and get home fries or grits on the side or maybe even bacon or sausage? Well, maybe the grits are more Florida but the rest can happen anywhere. If you are in the deep south, you will receive it with biscuits.
There is one lady at Weight Watchers as thin as a pin but is only there to keep her 13-year-old daughter company. When asked how the group made meals light she piped up and talked about using muffin tins to make her pizza light for the kids that arrived after school. She was asked to bring in the recipe for all to share. Mom had spent many years in Atlanta and brought in a book from Georgia with the recipe she was using. There were no calories, fat or other details shown. She just thought it seemed lighter. When she described it to me, I asked whether she used phyllo dough as a base and she said, oh no, that wouldn't be sturdy enough to hold the contents. When I looked at the recipe, the base was the biscuit base you could buy in the refrigerator section of the grocery store. She filled it with ground meat and cheese. She didn't bring copies for the group and it was probably just as well. I figured by the time she put in all those ingredients, she would be better off to serve a thin-crust veggie pizza. I asked her how she maintains her weight and she said her family can't believe how small her portions were. Go figure! She knows zippo about nutrition.
Many people I know order grilled fish in the restaurant because they think it is lighter in calories. Sometimes it gets a pat of butter on top before it leaves the kitchen door or do we really know what they put on the grill. When I ordered my stove top, I ordered a grill in the centre. What I received was a flat surface and not one with slats to drain off the fat. When I asked the manufacturer they told me that was their grill and the one I wanted was called something else.
The other sneaky calorie curve ball are the free sides that come with the meal. It isn't easy to eat out.
It might be easier to not look at the menu and just order what you want and the way you like it. Most good restaurants have the standard things in the kitchen and will accommodate you.
Anyway, I am off for vacation for the next week and will probably be eating most of my meals out. I will have to be extra judicious in my choices. Now that I know what I know about so called "lite" meals on the menu, I think I will circumvent them and go for the main menu items done my way and watch out for the bread basket and all the other sneaky sides that appear as part of the service.
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