When you read about the number of shameful calories in dishes served at some of the most popular chain restaurants, it makes sense why the scale is stuck. How do you know if you need the calorie bomb squad when dining at the local mom and pop restaurants? Some chain restaurants don’t divulge the number of calories in their dishes and most independent restaurants keep the calories a mystery. You don’t have to be completely in the dark when eating out on a diet.
Here are six common calorie bombs that you can recognize as long as you know the telltale clues.
Swimming in Oil
Don’t be embarrassed to check out what other people have ordered in the restaurant. If you see dishes swimming in oil, opt for something lighter. I love the Chicken Marsala at Carrabba’s but I always order the marsala sauce on the side. You can literally skim the oil off.
Layers and Stacks
Whether it’s a stack of pancakes, a stack of French toast or a layer cake, you know you are in trouble when your are dealing with layers or stacks of anything. Calories stack up quickly. Opt for a waffle instead of a stack of pancakes. Avoid the triple layer cakes or the deadly pies with layers of cheesecake or creamy filling.
Creamy, But Not So Dreamy
If a menu describes a dish as creamy, it’s bound to be fattening. Most cream sauces are made with cream and cheese. The worst calorie bombs combine cream sauce with pasta. Chicken carbonara and fettuccini alfredo are the worst creamy diet offenders. Creamy pies such as French Silk or Peanut Butter Cream pie are never light. Lemon cream cake at the Olive Garden, for example, has 610 calories and 35 grams of fat. Their Black Tie Mousse Cake has 760 calories and 48 grams of fat.
Fried and Unfriendly
It always amazes me when I go out to eat, how many of my dieting friends order fried shrimp, fried clams or fried chicken tenders. Sometimes they think they are being virtuous by having the fried chicken tenders chopped in a salad. Deep fried and breaded foods are diet killers. And portion control doesn’t work with fried dishes since no one ever has just two fried shrimp.
Bread and Butter
Back in the 1980s, before the low-carb mania, I worked a “water girl” at the fancy “Manor Tavern” in Monkton, Maryland. The restaurant was famous for being visited by George Washington. Back then people devoured bread before their meals. Whether you dip it in olive oil or use butter, bread is fattening. Fill up on soup and you will eat fewer calories during a meal.
Drinks with Fancy Names
Water, coffee or tea doesn’t sound exciting, but they are the best drinks to order while dining out. Add a fancy name and healthy green tea turns into a caloric Green Tea Frappuccino. A pitcher of the Peach Sangria, for example, has 1,010 calories at the Olive Garden, according to their website. You’d be better off sharing a real dessert rather than drinking it.
More from this contributor:
Five Unhealthiest Spanish Foods
How I Became A Retro Foodie
5 Unhealthiest Italian Foods