The Worst Food in America

Men's Health has a great/troubling story in the current issue (cutie John Krasinski is on the cover!) called The 20 Worst Foods in America. Offender Numero Uno? Outback Steakhouse Aussie Cheese Fries with Ranch Dressing.

As the author points out, these babies pack 900 calories, 182 grams of fat and 240 grams of carbs in all their deep-fried, cheese-smothered, bacon-topped glory.

Other top baddies?

* P.F. Chang's Pork Lo Mein (1,820 calories, 127 grams of fat, as many carbs as five servings of pasta)

* Uno Chicago Grill Chicago Classic Deep Dish Pizza, personal size (2,310 calories, 162 g fat, 4,470 mg of sodium -- all equivalent to downing 18 slices of Domino's Crunchy Thin Crust cheese pizza!)

* All of the moms out there will love this: Macaroni Grill nabbed the Worst Kids' Meal Award with their Double Macaroni 'n' Cheese, which MH says is "like feeding your kid 1 & 1/2 boxes of Kraft mac 'n' cheese."

This reminds me of a story I wrote for Women's Health a few years ago called Restaurant Revolution, where I literally ate my way through 10 chains like Chili's, Outback and TGI Friday's, all in search of the healthiest offerings at each. (Read it here. It may take a while to load.) A tasty assignment? Of course! But it also opened my eyes to the caloric atrocities of Chili's Awesome Blossom, Red Lobster's cheddar bisquits and more. I also learned first-hand that if an establishment deems a certain dish "healthy," it may very well be the most fat bomb-like item on the menu (Read about my encounter at Cheesecake Factory while ordering the Miso-Glazed Salmon, which our team of nutritionists agreed would be one of the three healthiest options. Not so much.)

Do any of you see items on the Men's Health list that you've indulged in, on a regular or even biannual basis? I used to eat at Chili's all the time so I'm sure I've downed a few gazillion calories' worth of ice cream there. P.F. Chang's almost always sends me to the bathroom for hours, so I stick with brown rice and veggies there. As a Chicagoan, I apologize for the pizza debacle at Uno's, but I just can't give up deep dish veggie from Art of Pizza as an occasional PMS treat/must-have. A girl has to draw the line somewhere.

Comments

2310 calories?? In a single meal??

How is that even possible???

ugh. I'm guilty with the Chipotle grilled chicken burrito. I will not be doing that anymore!!!

Ay yi yi. Being a vegetarian, I haven't eaten most of those dishes (and being not dumb, steered clear of the awesome blossom all on my own). I wish they had included a Worst Vegetarian Entree on their list though - 'cause there are plenty that are just as evil!

Ediets has an interesting article right now about how Chefs "sabotage" your healthy food at restaurants.

And Leslie, PF Changs makes me "run to the bathroom too", sadly. Badly enough, in fact, to use the men's when there was a line for the ladies'. Now that was one surprised fella. Especially after I did what I had to do... Probably thought I was some kind of intestinally distressed she-male.

To the same topic (magazine food lists), did you see the recent copy of Fitness Magazine where they listed the "Healthiest Foods"? In that issue, they had a small blurb condemning high fructose corn syrup. What killed me was that some of the so-called healthiest foods CONTAINED high fructose corn syrup. Slightly hypocritical, methinks.

And may I just add how supremely proud I was of myself to see the Men's Health Editor-in-chief on the Today Show this am talking about this VERY SUBJECT? I am so ahead of the curve, I tell ya!

PS I also get the chicken burrito from Chipotle, Workout Mommy. The calories astound me but I will say, I'm always full of energy for my workout the next day!

You know, you really learn all the dirty little secrets once you go to culinary school. But actually, its not just the chains that have calorie bombs, the "diet detective" (charles platkin) did research in N.Y. top swanky resturants and their meals too were shockingly high in fat and calories (i cant believe what he did, he said he and his wife stole the food from the fancy establishments in little ziploc bags to be nutritionally analyzed!)

I too am guilty of the Chipotle mistake-- as recently as today's lunch! Okay, though, to my credit... I did ditch the tortilla, asked for light rice, and asked for extra fajita veggies. I'm still betting I came in at over 1000 calories though. One thing I did notice however was that no mention of protein grams was made in any of those selections.

I just try not to eat out. When PMS strikes I allow *1 meal* that week that is loaded with fat/calories. I usually get 2 supreme tacos from Taco Bell, or order Chinese (szechuan shrimp...yummm..).
You are rarely ever guarenteed a 'healthy meal' at a restaurant! It's awful! :(

I'm English, and I can hardly understand ANYTHING in this article!