Ignorance is Stupid

As I've demonstrated, packing a lunch and eating at home for dinner is somewhat of a challenge for me. I would say on an average of three nights a week I don't get home until past 8pm. This means unless I pack dinner, which I don't think I've ever done, I'm eating out two to three nights a week. So I decided to post my own tips for eating out mindfully. First I wanted to illustrate what I used to eat multiple meals a week maybe even a twice in one day. I knew what I was eating was bad for me but I was really ignorant to HOW bad it actually was.

Desiree's Old Regulars

Carls Jr.- A Big Carl with Crisscut fries and a Coke Zero = 1360 Calories, 87g Fat, 94g Carbs

Chili's- Half of the Skillet Queso and Chips for an Appetizer, and The Big Mouth Bite Burgers = 2340 Calories, 154g Fat, 164g Carbs

Wienerschnitzel- Two Chili Cheese Dogs and Chili Cheese Fries = 1220 Calories, 72g Fat, 167g Carbs

Cheesecake Factory- Chicken Costoletta = 1238 Calories, 35g Fat, 62g Carbs


On average I would say that I was eating something like this a least once a day, so I was eating almost a whole daily allowance of calories in one meal every day! Even if I made good choices the rest of the day I was probably eating over 2500 calories a day. So the world and my life aren't perfect and I still am eating out several times a week, less than I used to, but still something I do most weekdays. Given that fast food and restaurants are filled with nutritional pot holes, I find that the best tool is knowledge. If the nutritional info isn't available I won't eat there. Luckily, since several states passed laws requiring restaurants to post their nutritional facts for national chains, this information is pretty much widely available. Along with finding out the nutritional facts for everything I eat, I also am controlling my portion size. For example at Chipotle I get a chicken burrito bowl with black beans, fajita veggies, rice, salsa, guacamole and lettuce, which runs at about 635 Calories. So I only eat half of my burrito bowl. If I modify my order and leave out the rice and guacamole it is 355 calories and I can eat the whole thing.

 Desiree's New Regulars

Chipotle- ½ Chicken Burrito Bowl = 317 Calories, 28g Fat, 58g Carbs

Taco Bell- 1 fresco chicken burrito= 340 Calories, 8g Fat, 50g Carbs

Wendy's- Small chili= 220 Calories, 7g Fat, 22g Carbs

Togo's- ½ Turkey and Avocado= 320 Calories, 13g Fat, 37g Carbs

La Bou- House Salad with Half of the Dill Dressing = 210 Calories, 18g Fat, 7 Carbs

Food journaling has been really helpful in keeping helping to keep myself accountable. Doing some research into what I used to eat or for something I'm craving, finding out the nutritional information before I eat has helped me from making some horrible food choices. It has even helped me to stop craving some of the food I used to eat. I will never look at restaurant food the same way again.


P.S. if you add up all of the calories of my new regulars it's still less 900 calories less then what I used to eat at Chili's