Mr. YOL and I just spent a lovely weekend together at a hotel. We did not come home with any souvenirs unless you count one of the mini-soap bars that we didn't use. But, of course being on a mini-vacation necessitated us eating out every meal. Not wanting to eat myself into oblivion, I tried to make good choices. After all, I had my newly purchased "Eat This, Not That" book to look at while at the restaurants. We were gone a little over two days, so that meant six meals eaten out.
Which of the following menus do you think is better?
Breakfast Day #1(McDonald's):
Diner A:
Egg McMuffin with hashbrowns, coffee with 2 creams and 2 sugars
Diner B:
Pancakes with no butter and one syrup, yogurt and fruit parfait and small orange juice
Lunch Day #1 (Chick-fil-a):
Diner A:
Original Chicken Sandwich, Waffle fry and sweet tea
Diner B:
Chargrilled chicken cool wrap, cole slaw, and lemonade
Afternoon treat (it is vacation after all people!) Day #1 (Chick-fil-a):
Diner A:
Fudge Brownie and Ice Dream Cone
Diner B:
Small chocolate milkshake
Dinner Day #1 (Applebee's):
Diner A:
Caesar salad, large house sirloin and loaded baked potato, water
Diner B:
Oriental Chicken Salad and Diet coke
That was it for day #1. So, which of the two diners ate better? (Hint: one of them ate almost 600 more calories than the other one)
Now, on to Day Two!
Breakfast Day #2(Dunkin Donuts):
Diner A:
2 chocolate frosted donuts and a small cappucino
Diner B:
A reduced fat blueberry muffin and a small cinnamon swirl coffee
Lunch Day #2 (Chipotle Mexican Grill):
Diner A:
Burrito bowl with beans, rice, tomatillo salsa, cheese, sour cream and guacamole--1/2 order of chips and salsa
Diner B:
Chicken burrito with beans, corn salsa, and cheese --1/2 order of chips and salsa
Dinner Day #2 (Olive Garden):
Diner A:
Salad and one breadstick, stuffed chicken marsala and a bottle of Michelob ultra
Diner B:
Salad and one breadstick, chicken and shrimp carbonara, and a strawberry bellini
Ok, so who did better on day #2? Diner A or Diner B?
Now. I have to make a little confession. These menus are not what we ate this past weekend, although it very well could have been. We tend to eat at non-chains if we can to support small businesses, and our hotel had a free breakfast so we didn't have to eat out. I think when all was said and done, we did better than these two.
I made these menus to show you how you can go in radically different directions eating, and how sometimes things seem healthy (or seem unhealthy) but really aren't when you are eating out. In the spirit of Eat This, Not That, here are the calorie counts for the two diners for the two menus I created in red. I got nutritional information from the restaurants themselves. I didn't include anything but calorie counts, but if anyone wants me to, I can post the sodium, fat, proteins, and carbs later.
Breakfast Day #1(McDonald's):
Diner A:
Egg McMuffin with hashbrowns, coffee with 2 creams and 2 sugars (520)
Diner B:
Hotcakes with one syrup (no butter) , yogurt and fruit parfait and small orange juice (840)
Lunch Day #1 (Chick-fil-a):
Diner A:
Original Chicken Sandwich, waffle fry and sweet tea (820)
Diner B:
Chargrilled chicken cool wrap, cole slaw, and lemonade (940)
Afternoon treat Day #1 (Chick-fil-a):
Diner A:
Fudge Brownie and Ice Dream Cone (540)
Diner B:
Small chocolate milkshake (600)
Dinner Day #1 (Applebee's):
Diner A:
Caesar salad, large house sirloin and loaded baked potato, water (1190)
Diner B:
Oriental Chicken Salad and Diet Coke (1310)
Breakfast Day #2 (Dunkin Donuts):
Diner A:
2 chocolate frosted donuts and a small cappucino (540)
Diner B:
Reduced fat blueberry muffin and a small cinnamon swirl coffee (560)
Lunch Day #2 (Chipotle Mexican Grill):
Diner A:
Burrito bowl with beans, rice, tomatillo salsa, cheese, sour cream and guacamole--1/2 order of chips and salsa (945)
Diner B:
Chicken burrito with beans, corn salsa, and cheese --1/2 order of chips and salsa (1085)
Dinner Day #2 (Olive Garden):
Diner A:
Salad and one breadstick, stuffed chicken marsala and a bottle of Michelob ultra (1375)
Diner B:
Salad and one breadstick, chicken and shrimp carbonara, and a strawberry bellini (2160)
Grand total Diner A: 5930 calories in two days, (3070 day #1, 2860 day #2)
Grand total Diner B: 7495 calories in two days, (3690 day #1, 3805 day #2)
Although a lot of what Diner B ate seems healthier, at the end of the two days Diner B actually ate 1565 more calories than Diner A. That's nearly half a pound! And both people ate more daily than the 2,000 calories recommended.
Pretty unbelievable, huh?
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