One of the strategies we’ve used here chez Freberg to maintain our weight loss is to really limit the number of times we eat in restaurants. It seems virtually impossible to find a restaurant that knows what a steamed veggy is, or where portions aren’t huge (a big downfall for us “clean platers). With the current economy, a lot of people are cutting down on meals out and opting instead for cooking at home and brown bagging their lunch. My first thought was, wow, if this depression doesn’t kill us all, we may come out the other end a bit healthier!
Now with news from Brian Wansink, we can’t consider home cooking to be a perfect solution to weight loss, even though it saves us buckets of money. Wansink analysed recipes in the classic American cookbook Joy of Cooking, and found that portions and calories had increased in recent editions. The restaurants are not alone.
I think the moral of this story is that we have to use our own judgment regarding portion size, and not pay a lot of attention to what a restaurant or recipe tells you. We have found Nutritiondata.com to be a very helpful resource–you plug in your recipe, tell them how many servings you think it is, and then it literally prints out a nutrition label like the ones found on packaged goods.
A Mere 1100 Calories Per Slice
So, when Mr. F was preparing his fantastic Boston Cream Pie, and told me that it was 8 servings, I was able to tell him he needed to rethink a bit, as nutritiondata.com said that each of those servings would be about 1100 calories…..Okay, that’s why we’re really good six days per week, so we can have what is fondly referred to as our weekly “yahoo” meal.
10 Comments
jforsberg · March 4, 2009 at 4:48 pm
As a college student I’ve gotten quite used to cooking for myself in order to save money. As our economy plummits it seems that the prices of healthy ingredients have risen! It’s hard to maintain a balance of cost-effective and healthful meals with a busy schedule and small budget! Portion control plays a huge role in healthy eating whether at home or at a restaurant and I’m excited to try/use the website that you recommended in my home!
kpeters · March 5, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Portion control is always a struggle, especially when it involves delicious food. Seems quite absurd that we live in a world where 1 serving equates to 1100 calories. I am thankful that there are many ways to control this, such as portion control, and healthier ingredients. But it still seems to be a never-ending battle to eat delicious food while not gaining weight.
Asnyder · March 6, 2009 at 11:59 am
I used to eat out all the time when i lived back home. Now that i have come to college i cook all my meals and have become more aware of what i am eating by reading the nutrition labels. However i have realized that is very expensive to buy all the ingredients to make a healthy meal. It seems so much easier to just go buy a meal. I find that at time when i have spent 30 to 45 minutes preparing my meal i don’t even want to eat it anymore and therefore i don’t eat as much as i maybe would have in a restaurant. For some reason food always tastes so much better when other people make it!
KellyThornton · March 8, 2009 at 2:06 pm
The way I look at it, if you eat out, you spend way too much money, yet if you try to eat healthy by cooking at home, you still spend a lot of money. I think if people really want to eat right, they will put the money issues aside and purchase the right food and ingredients. Whether you go out to eat or stay in and make a meal, you ultimately have the choice of what you want to eat. If you want to make a cake at home, you have to understand that has the same amount of calories if you bought it from a store or restaurant. I feel like people have this mindset that if you eat out, you will automatically eat unhealthy food and if you eat in, you are eating healthier. I think people need to understand that it is their choice on what to eat. You have to weigh your options.. if you want to eat healthy, you might need to spend more money or spend more time in the kitchen. Either way, people need to be educated on what foods are healthy and unhealthy. That will allow them to go out to restaurants or cook at home but still eat right.
katyupchurch · March 8, 2009 at 7:13 pm
I think that it’s sad that to eat healthy at home, you have to pay just as much if not more than you would if you ate out. I heard that one business that is actually thriving in our declining economy is McDonald’s because you can get more that enough food for a meal for a cheaper price than getting good foods at a grocery store. Its sad that the most expensive items on my grocery store list are the fruits and veggies for the week! A bag of grapes is like $5 and a bag of cookies can get as cheap as $2. When you don’t have the money what choice do you have?
Christinawright · March 8, 2009 at 9:08 pm
I try to always pick things that are somewhat healthy to eat when I shop at the store. I am constantly turning over labels and seeing how much fat, sugar, etc. is in my products, but it’s next to impossible to get really healthy food in this country! Everything is filled with artificial preservatives and even the things that you think are healthy sometimes aren’t. I was reading this article from this book (I think it was called “Eat this, Not that” or something) and it had a list of like 20 of the top items people buy that they believe are healthy, but are really pretty bad for you. One that stood out to me was yoplait yogurt. I was so sad to realize that even though it is low in fat, it is extremely high in sugar (like 28 g. in one!). I never noticed! I just assumed it was good for me because it was yogurt! It just goes to show how hard you have to work to really stay healthy and maintain what goes into your body!
raquelart22 · March 9, 2009 at 7:36 am
I have never been a person to really analyize how many calories I eat in serving of something. I enjoy cooking when it’s not required for me to cook, for example I cook five days a week and the other two I snack throughout the day, but I am not a fan of eating out. Because eating out is expensive and you pay $8 plus for one meal, and if you were to cook that meal it could last at least two meals (dinner & lunch for tomorrow) instead of just one meal for the day. Maybe I have this mind frame because my mother always cooks (majority of the time) and I love a home-cook meal. However I’m not going to make it a habit that I’m the premenit cook when I get married, because I only enjoy it when I feel like cooking.
ewalter · March 9, 2009 at 8:28 am
I really enjoy eating out and found that I have little to no time to make my own meals. I have found that what works best for me when I eat out is to not eat everything I order and pay attention to when my body tells me I’m full. Also try to order the healthiest thing on the menu.
I really enjoy eating out and find that I have little to no time to make my own food. The thing that I have found that works the best is to simply not eat all the food I order andpat attention to when my body tells me when I’m full.
jpham05 · March 12, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Eating out is always tempting after a long day of work. It’s nice to sit down and have the food brought to you instead of cooking it. I do notice though, that when I eat at restaurants the portions are very large and the meals seem to be unhealthier than I’d like. I worry about sanitation sometimes too, even if the restaurant seems fine. Eating at home does save money, and I am able to be more creative with my food. It’s easier to watch what I eat when I’m able to go to the grocery store and choose for myself, instead of being tempted by a burger on the menu. I’ve also found that a bowl of chopped various fruits is an excellent snack if I’m craving sweet!
Sierrasmargon · May 11, 2009 at 8:39 pm
I agree with those that said how depressing it is when we go to buy food at grocery stores and find ourselves spending a fortune on veggies and fruit. I find also that when I cook for myself…I always cook more than I really need and not really thinking about it…end up eating it all. Also I feel as though I dont even really know how healthy I cook..or for that matter how unhealthy I cook cause I always use butter and or oil when i do.
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