This past weekend I went down to visit my boyfriend, Matt, for his birthday. I tried to eat healthy(er) but in the end I wasn't uber successful, which is a major bummer since this coming weekend won't exactly be a super healthy foods time either since we'll be on vacation at the Cape. I was hoping to go easy this weekend in anticipation of the vacation, but when it's birthday time and everyone wants to go out to dinner, have cake, etc I find it pretty impossible.
I started off well enough (or so I thought) Friday. I came in around 1:30 PM and we both opted for a bite at Bruegger's which is a bagel chain that also serves Panera-esque stuff like salads, soups, and sandwiches. I opted for their Turkey Chipotle Club, which is super delicious, but as I found out afterwards laden with 800 calories and 51 (yeah, 50-freaking-1) grams of fat. I honestly thought it was a typo looking at their website. Not that I count sodium much, but it had a killer 1,840 milligrams of that as well. Add on the side Caesar Salad I split with Matt, and I clocked in at about 1,100 calories and 61 or so grams of fat for that one meal. Honestly, I almost would have been better off going to McDonald's and getting my old standby meal of a 4-piece McNugget meal and Double Cheeseburger which clocks in at about 960 calories and 46 grams of fat in total. Heck, I would have saved around 200 calories, 15 grams of fat and $5!
I think most people that go to these sorts of chain bakery/deli combos expecting that whatever they could order will be vastly more healthy than anything from a fast food place. While it stands to reason that chipotle mayo and a little bacon aren't exactly healthy, there's no reason that Bruegger's needs to make a sandwich THAT bad. It was delicious, yes, but I've had lower fat mayo that doesn't taste horrible. People always slam 'the fast food industry' for making America fat. I think it's the restaurant industry as a whole, to be honest.
Later than night, Matt chose Applebee's for his birthday dinner. We got Boneless Buffalo wings and their Potato Twisters for apps which I limited myself on as I ordered the Asiago Steak in an effort to be healthy and didn't want this to go to waste. For those of you unfamiliar, Applebee's has about 6 or 8 entrees that are 'under 550 calories' for the health conscious. Since I didn't want a salad and don't love seafood, that left me with the steak or a chicken choice. My entree was quoted at 390 calories with 14 grams of fat, including the sides of steamed veggies and potatoes. The steak itself was a little rough, texture wise, because I felt that it was kind of fatty and chewy but I applaud Applebee's for at least making the effort.
Saturday was a wash from the start, as Matt's buddy Louie was having a BBQ that consisted of home smoked ribs and pork tenderloin, coleslaw, potato salad, dips, and this delicious cheesy potato casserole. Topping it off there were brownies and homemade ice cream for dessert. Since we spent all afternoon and night there and I got my drink on, I didn't care much what I ate. There wasn't much in the way of better choices there save for some apple sauce and crushed pineapple to go with the pork.
By Sunday, I was pretty much ready to go back to salads and lighter choices, as I was tired of eating heavy foods and I was still prepping myself for the weekend ahead. It was just my luck that Matt's mom brought home all kinds of pastry and cupcakes for his birthday, but also that we went to hibachi later that night to yet again celebrate with friends. I managed to share half of a reasonably sized chocolate cup cake and avoided the other delicious confections, but I confess I did have filet mignon at hibachi and loved every friggin' bite!
So it's now Monday and though this weekend wasn't the best 'turn over a new leaf' experience, I've been trying to repent by ordering the lowest fat/calorie breakfast sandwich from Au Bon Pain with a water.
In my last post, I touched upon how frequently my boyfriend and I ate out and that I wanted to start cutting down on that bad habit. Looking up the nutrition information from what I ate this weekend just reaffirms this. I am honestly having trouble wrapping my mind around how many calories and fat are in typical restaurant foods. I definitely feel that the Food Industry as a whole needs to start making big changes. I hated the 'no trans fat' oil push (the oil they use at Dunkin' Donuts now to make their donuts with leaves a funky taste in my opinion), but beyond just making skin-deep changes like that what have they really done?
I don't fully blame these places for 'making me fat' -- it's mostly the choices I've made that have landed me here, but I do think that they could do a major overhaul of their recipes and methods and reduce a good portion of calories and fats without sending out bland or funny tasting foods. Especially in the example I gave with Bruegger's, there is absolutely no reason that that sandwich needed to have that amount of fat and calories in it. For Christ's sake there isn't even any cheese on it, so imagine what that would have added! I now support and appreciate places that have nutritional information easily available on their menus because I think that we need a wake-up call. Understanding exactly how many calories is in this or that dish can put it all into perspective, but I do recognize that sometimes, you just wanna splurge at the Cheesecake Factory. To me, it now makes way more sense to go all out and enjoy their tasty food instead of wasting a thousand or more calories on substandard burgers and unimaginative pasta bowls from TGIFriday's or Bugaboo Creek.
In closing, I'll definitely be looking for some exercise opportunities in the next few days to reduce the impact that last and next weekend are having on me. Curse me and my fat genes!
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