If you are on a diet or trying to shed some extra pounds, then the comfort food themed restaurants are the last place you want to be at. Even though the meals appear to be light, low on calories and healthy, the way they are cooked or the combinations they are served with are sometimes a ticking calorie bomb. Here is a top 10 list of the dishes and drinks you should avoid if you are on a weight losing program.
1. Smoothies
Hmm, what can be more delicious and healthy than yogurt combined with fruits, right? To be honest, plenty of other drinks, as the smoothies served at restaurants are often mixtures of ice cream, milk and sugar – a combination that easily leads to a high fat concentration with over 1,000 calories in a single glass! As a matter of fact, if you were to analyze the menu closer, you will learn that smoothies are typically listed as drinks for people who want to gain weight. If you really want a smoothie, then how about you purchase a natural yogurt and fresh fruits and make it yourself?
2. Onion blooms
Because onions are vegetables, most people believe that they are not only healthy, but also contain fibers and nutrients to keep hunger away. In reality, an onion has limited fibers (around 3 grams), a low amount of vitamin C and almost 100 calories. It is necessary to mention that the aforementioned values are accurate for the raw onion, because a fried onion or an onion used in a sauce composition can get to ten times those calories. If you enjoy this vegetable and want to include it in your diet, then an idea is to order onion rings without sauce or bloom.
3. Chicken salads
If you have been on a diet before, then you surely heard of the healthy, nutritious and light chicken salads. It is important to note that the dish itself meets all the criteria of an ideal diet food, as long as you skip the dressing and cheese. In addition, take note that the chicken salads vary from restaurant to restaurant, meaning that some include fried onion and bacon in it. Consequentially, you should ask the waiter to provide you with more details about the salad’s ingredients before ordering one.
4. Chicken wings
In all honesty, few people on this planet can resist that exquisite aroma of chicken wings. However, it is necessary to mention that the delicious chicken wings, irrespective if they are sweet or spicy, constituted the fine line between restaurant meals and fast food. They are not perceived as a true fast food meal, since they have a lower amount of calories than any other junk food. However, they have a substantially high amount of salt, usually more than you should have in a single day. Since chicken wings are hard to resist, the recommendations in this case is to make sure they are skinless and grilled.
5. Chinese food
The Chinese food is not only delicious and low on calories, but it also adds a bit of variety to weight loss diet. However, this does not actually apply to the Chinese food served in most restaurants in the Western world, where most meats are cooked in large amounts of oil. If Chinese food is your thing, then it is advisable to have it in traditional Chinese restaurants.
6. Grilled shrimp
If you think about it, there is practically nothing bad you can say about shrimp: it does not have a lot of fats, the amount of calories is within an acceptable range, it is rich in iron and high in protein. To put it simply, it is the ideal meal for a person trying to lose weight with a balanced diet and exercise. However, if you want to enjoy the benefits of grilled shrimp, then watch out for the dressing and sauces you eat it with. Most sauces typically served with shrimp are butter based. Butter provides a high amount of fats and salt, usually close to the one that a person who is not on a diet should have for the day.
7. Tuna salad sandwich
The real reason why the tuna salad sandwich made it to this top is not the salad itself, but because most people enjoy it with mayo and cheese. In addition to the mayonnaise and cheese, in restaurants the tuna sandwich is served with two large slices of bread. Basically, the restaurant bread, cheese and mayo alone have the potential to turn a light sandwich into an over 700 calories bomb.
8. Veggie and turkey burgers
Even though a skinless turkey burger or a vegan burger sound healthy and light, the truth is that their size, condiments and fat content is what truly gives its calorie and nutritional value. More often than not, a large veggie burger contains over 1,000 calories and around 70 grams of fat because of its size, specific sauce and the cheese that it comes with. However, this does not mean you should give up burgers altogether, but rather that you should order one without the topping and cheese.
9. Pizza
Everyone on a diet knows to stay clear of pizza, especially the house specialty or the pizza with everything. But, how about the pizza that you can make yourself? In general, whether your “light” pizza becomes a calorie bomb or not starts with the crust you pick for it. If you love pizza and simply cannot refrain from having a slice, then ask for the thinnest crust and avoid adding too much meat on it. At the same time, you could have a small portion of fresh salad before the pizza to calm your hunger down.
10. Eggplant based foods
Although the eggplant has very few calories on its own, it is also the vegetable that can absorb the most fats from meals. In other words, while a delicious eggplant salad with raw onions has less than 100 calories, combing the salad with parmesan, chicken and cheese will lead to a dish with over 1,000 calories.
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