There’s no denying that eating out on a regular basis can do horrible things to your diet. Making your own food at home is, for the most part, going to be a healthier option than ordering out the same item at your favorite restaurant. Many of us get overwhelmed by the choices and ultimately succumb to ordering something too heavy that makes us feel like we just blew an entire week’s worth of exercise.
Not to worry though, the next time you go out to eat with your friends or family, just be sure to steer clear of these terrible choices that pack on the calories, sugar, and fat. What to look out for from any restaurant is when there are multiple menu items that are contained in one meal, like mozzarella sticks on a cheeseburger. A cheeseburger is not devoid of nutrition, but a cheeseburger topped with mozzarella sticks and a side of french fries is going to run you hundreds and hundreds of calories and an unhealthy amount of fat.
Worst Offenders
The Cheesecake Factory
The Pasta Nepoletana
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is an organization based in Washington DC that advocates for healthier food choices in the United States, and they found that this pasta creation from the Cheesecake Factory is one of the worst pasta dishes you can order in America. For those that want to throw caution to the wind and go for the Pasta Nepoletana, you’ll be served a creamy parmesan cheese pasta topped with several meats like pepperoni, meatballs, sausage, and bacon. Just one serving of this dish is estimated to be around 2,310 calories and a mind blowing 4,370 milligrams of sodium and 79 grams of saturated fat. To put that into perspective, the average adult woman should only be consuming 1,800 to 2,400 calories, 16 grams of saturated fat, and 1,500 mg of sodium each day.
California Pizza Kitchen
Waldorf Chicken Salad
Just because you may order a salad at a restaurant does not mean you will actually receive a healthy meal that will keep you on track with your health goals. According to Eat This, Not That!, this salad is basically like eating 4 Hostess cupcakes because of the incredibly high sugar content at 55 grams of sugar. Not only that, this seemingly harmless salad is packed with 1,310 calories and 1,840 mg of sodium.
UNO Pizzeria
Whole Hog Burger
If you’re watching your caloric intake, it’s not likely you will end up ordering this colossal burger, but it’s good to keep in mind what the absolute unhealthiest menu item in America is. This single burger comes with over a pound of meat between sausage, pepperoni, hamburger, and bacon is at a heart stopping 2,850 calories and 6,610 mg of sodium.