Your Favorite Restaurant Is Lying To You…

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I am not sure about the rest of the world, but studies show that the average American eats out (going to a restaurant or going through a fast-food drive thru) about 3 times per week.

Get this: there are about 12% of Americans who eat out at least 7 times per week!  (And we wonder why we put on pounds!)

Slowly, restaurants are starting to offer nutritional information to the public, so people know exactly what they are eating.

But, What If Their Information Is Wrong?

A new study, recently released by the American Medical Association, investigated a bunch of fast-food and chain restaurants in the US, and realized that many of them are actually giving TOO low of a calorie count for many appetizers and entrees!

And, even worse, the study shows this happens to some of the supposedly healthiest options on the menu…like salads and soups!

They both contain MORE calories and were more likely to be counted incorrectly for other things, like carbs and fat…this is NOT what you want from your salad!

A full 20% of the restaurants tested were off the correct calorie count by at least 100 calories or more!

The good news is that 60% of the restaurants tested were correct – there was a 20 calorie margin-or-error that the 60% of restaurants met.

What Does This Mean For Me?

I know you don’t want to blow your Cabbage Soup efforts, so you need to be careful when you head out for a night on the town!

Ask if the restaurant has their nutrition info listed…even semi-incorrect info is better than being clueless about what you’re eating!

As always, stay away from anything fried or covered in gravy….you know that’s not healthy even without nutrition info listed!  Anything grilled is a better choice.  So is ordered vegetables on the side instead of French fries…heck, even rice is a better, more filling choice than fries!

Also, if you are going to go all-out and choose whatever you want (and you should treat yourself once in a while) then portion control is your best bet.  Ask the waiter to bring just HALF your portion on a plate, and box up the other half…that way you feel like you’ve cleaned your plate and are full and satisfied.

What is your favorite restaurant, and do they print the nutritional info for you?  Is this something you worry about at a restaurant anyway?  WOULD you look if ALL restaurants had to list their information?

Comment below, I’d love to hear from you!

Til next time,

Catherine

  • Anonymous

    The idea of taking half on the plate and half in a box is an excellent idea, start by putting in the box for later and finish on the plate. Great Idea, thanks.

    • http://www.cabbage-soup-diet.com Catherine Soup

      Right! That way you feel like you’re finishing your plate, but you’re not!

      • Taru_ever

        hi can i put chicken cubes in my brown rice on day 7

  • Rhondanagam

    I’am always worried about the calories in a restaurant! Makes me angry that they don’t have more of a selection. I know they have a selection but just wish there was alot more. I will be looking and asking for the nutritional list for sure. Thanx for the info Catherine!

    • http://www.cabbage-soup-diet.com Catherine Soup

      Thanks for reading!!

  • Terry

    Thank you so much for this information. I’ll be sure to use it wisely. Could you possibly send me a new copy of your great diet. I lost mine. Id appreciate it very much. It really works for me. Again, thanks for your input. tgwerntz

    • http://www.cabbage-soup-diet.com Catherine Soup

      Terry, shoot me a quick email at catherine@cabbage-soup-diet.com and I’d be happy to re-send the material!

  • Carmen9975

    Its so true. I lost 10 lbs then went and ate out and – boom – next day I weighed 3 lbs more. I HATE that. Im back on the CSD today. Hope all goes well.

    • http://www.cabbage-soup-diet.com Catherine Soup

      Hope so too, keep in touch!

  • Silvia Neves

    I had dinner at TGI Friday yesterday and they list the calories for the salads. The one with the least calories was heavy on bacon, how can that be low calory?
    So I chose the mediterranean salad, which was tasty with olives and grilled chicken. Even though it was a salad I asked for a box and grought half home. Even if I don’t eat it today, I didn’t eat it all yesterday and that was good.

    • http://www.cabbage-soup-diet.com Catherine Soup

      Bacon doesn’t have THAT many calories, just can be fatty.

  • adventuregirl

    Having voluntary or mandated nutritional information available on menus would undoubtedly turn the tide of what many people choose to order, once they are aware of
    a meal’s nutritional value. Imagine feeling a little dissatisfied with your physique and
    being faced with a choice between a 400 calorie meal and a 1200 calorie one. Eventually this awareness will result in restaurants finding new recipies to offer customers delicious
    and well-balanced choices, while the poor choices will become the slow sellers.

    • http://www.cabbage-soup-diet.com Catherine Soup

      Hope so!!

  • Rose1969

    I went to Longhorn Restaurant and ordered a Strawberry/grilled chicken salad with pecans and feta cheese and Raspberry vinegarette dressing. It was 2 cups and I thought it was a wise choice!! When I googled it later I found out it was 950 calories!! Never again!! That blew my day since I was on a 1200 calorie diet. I am now trying the Cabbage soup diet and hope to get back on track!!!

    • http://www.cabbage-soup-diet.com Catherine Soup

      Wow! And that’s a restaurant that actually posts their counts, too!

  • Joe

    Hi Catherine This soup really works what I need is similar other diet food which I can eat how much I like. This time I am more wathing what I eating becaues loosing weight its not easy and time with cabbage soup was same but it was worth it. Thank you for advice.

    • http://www.cabbage-soup-diet.com Catherine Soup

      You are welcome, Joe!

    • http://www.cabbage-soup-diet.com Catherine Soup

      You are welcome, Joe!

  • Ramona_corcino

    wows, I lost 9 pounds then after that I lost another pound by just keep eating healthy and drinking 64 oz of water. Thank you for the information that is going to help me when I’m going for vacation so I now what to do.

    • http://www.cabbage-soup-diet.com Catherine Soup

      Ramona,
      You’re right, you need to keep eating well and drinking plenty of water to keep losing the weight. Think about a long term program, like The Diet Solution or something that is long term AND personalized to you!

  • Elsabond

    Thanks for the update. Pizza Delight in Nova Scotia Canada is bad for this. They had a chicken flatza on their menu and said it contained on 4 grams of fat. In reality, it had something like 14 grams of fat. This upset me because I was seriously watching fat content but I was even more upset about the fact that someone who is on a fat restricted diet for medical reasons, i.e. pancreatitis, could have ended up seriously ill.

    • http://www.cabbage-soup-diet.com Catherine Soup

      Wow! I hope they’ve changed that menu!

  • Margaret Liethen

    Yes, I would like it if all the restaurants would lidt the nutritional value, including salt.
    Margaret

  • Gilly Boo

    The cabbage soup diet is not healthy and it does not keep weight off, shame on you for encouraging it.

    • http://www.cabbage-soup-diet.com Catherine Soup

      A diet of fruit, vegetables and proteins are healthy to me. This diet isnt safe long term, and you notice all over the site that its stated not to do it longer. The diet should transition you into eating healthier over all, and you’re right, it doesnt keep the weight off if you go back to cheeseburgers 3x per day, its you that works to keep the weight off after you drop it if you eat right.

      • http://www.cabbage-soup-diet.com Catherine Soup

        I do appreciate the feedback though

  • Noha

    Thank you catherine for your information. I wanted to ask you in the cabbage soup diet where some days fruits are not allowed (e.g.the day of beef and tomatoes) what should we take for breakfast so that we don’t ruin the diet?

    • http://www.cabbage-soup-diet.com Catherine Soup

      Try to have some soup as early as you can! Have your morning coffee or tea (with skim milk or lemon and no sugar) and try to have some soup, or start with some soup broth. Or blend some soup in the blender and have a breakfast smoothie of juice! I know its a little odd but its only a few days :)

    • Daphne Mennell

      I looked at that day with some questions, and then I remembered that some people have a honking big breakfast with steak and eggs….. so a bit of BBQ’d steak for breakfast with a nice cut up tomato. actually went down quite nicely!

  • Anonymous

    My husband and I just finished our 7 days. After the first 5 days, we had both lost 8 pounds. So the diet really works. Then on the last 2 days I lost nothing and felt really bad. I had to take an afternoon nap and go to bed at 8 pm on Sat and Sunday. My husband suffered the same outcome. Our future plans are to go on the diet for 5 days only. It’s not worth the down feeling for the last 2 days. Especially with no loss in weight those 2 days . We had no trouble staying on the diet although the bananas and skim milk day was gruesome. I did use some ingenuity on that day. I took the bananas and milk, added some Torina sugar free coconut syrup, a scoop of ice and blended it in my high powered blender. It was like a milkshake. I actually felt guilty. But I lost weight the next day.

    I have IBS. The treatment I use is a natural one. I take a teaspoon of Manuka Honey 2-3 times a day. I omitted the honey the week of the diet because it has 60 calories a tsp. I will not be able to do that should we do the diet again. Simethecone or Beano is not an option for me since I would have to take 3-4 tablets before or after every meal

    Thank you

    • http://www.cabbage-soup-diet.com Catherine Soup

      Good idea, catering to your own needs as you go through the program. You need to get in touch with the wants and needs of your body, and thats usually fresh fruits and veggies for all of us. Thats really what the diet should do. Look up “3 day” cabbage soup diets, perhaps that’ll be more manageable, you’ll find programs on the web.

    • Boricua

      I tried the cabbage CSD and lost 10 lbs the first week, it works if you continue to monitor what you eat at home in the office and especially if you eat out. I’m happy with it.

  • Tencha1175

    We just finished the cabbage soup diet for at my house three of us did it.. My daughter lost 8 lbs, my fiancé 5 and I lost 7 lbs.. It’s a great diet.. Will be doing it again

  • Nonkoliseko Mbopa

    I have finished my day 7 yesterday, and I was amazed to see this morning that I have lost 5.2 kg in 7days. Your soup diet REALY works. I’ve tried other soup diets before with different ingredients, but it never worked and I didnt like the taste, but this ONE? HOO! it works. I feel good about myself, now that Im not on the soup diet, I’m gonna watch what I eat. I would eat small amounts, and avoid any junk food. Thank you Catherine!!!

    • http://www.cabbage-soup-diet.com Catherine Soup

      Fantastic! Thanks for writing, these are my favorite comments of all. I am thinking of making a “review” page with comments about the diet. Can I uuse this comment??

  • Linda from Washington

    I definately would look at the nutritional information if it was listed.

  • Linda from Washington

    When I did the CSD recently I lost 9 pounds! I had been stuck at a plateau for what seemed like forever so I was really pleased at the outcome! I might do it again in a couple of weeks but I am on a lo g term diet plan as well.

  • KathyPG

    I just finished my CSD on Sunday, it was hard at times I cheated with a couple mini crackers during the week and on the last day I had a piece of bread! But I did loose 7lbs, I feel so much lighter and I am so much more conscious of what I eat and I feel guilty a lot if I know a snack is unheathy…I love my size so much now I am trying to stay heatlhy, included exercise as well.
    So its good to have home cooked meals as much as you can, and eat lean healthy food on the outside.
    Thanks so much for your inspiration Catherine, its only after I read your book I convinced myself to start and I will do it again!
    xoxo
    Kathy

  • Louise Montreuil

    Thank you for doing what you do. I just finished the diet and lost 7 lbs. I was temted to go to Timi”s but I did not. came home and ate some soup feel good now

  • Grayrod1312

    I had just lost 140 lbs. The other night I had a binge night and the next day was my grand daughter’s birthday. I ate spaghetti and meatballs, for the first time in a year, and ate a cupcake. I ended up gaining 7 lbs. I just happened to see the cabbage soup diet on the internet, and remembered using it years ago, with great success. I go out to dinner every saturday the only time I ever eat out), so I timed the start, so that I would have day six on saturday (beef and veggie day). After I finished the seven days, I had lost the weight I gained, plus an additional 2 lbs. I love the soup, and went through 2 1/2 batches. On banana day, I added a couple of tablespoons of 0 fat plain yogurt to the soup, and it was great. I’m back to my regular regime, but will keep the cabbage soup diet in mind if I ever need it again. I am going to add cabbage soup to my regular regime to help warrant of binging in the future.

  • Mary Cachia

    I didnt lost 10 pounds in my cabbage soup week diet and i didnt cheat. What went wrong???

    • http://www.cabbage-soup-diet.com Catherine Soup

      Mary, weight loss is very individual. Some people lose 3-5 pounds on the diet, some more. It depends on your starting weight, how closely you stick to the diet, how much water you drink etc. Did you see any loss at all?

  • Mary Cachia

    I started 82 kgs and now i am 78.7 kg. Still i am very satisfied with the CDS but you know i tought i would loose 10 pounds. Well i will try it again.

  • Nordiapt

    hey catherine can i eat pumpkin on my 2nd day of cabbage soup diet?

    • http://www.cabbage-soup-diet.com Catherine Soup

      You can have a serving instead of potato on Day 2, but not all week

  • Barb Cregan

    what is the point of doing this diet and when you are done even if you monitor you gain back .. reality is you have to eat you cannot remain on this type of diet forever.. I am so disappointed I did ok on the diet .. for 5 days caved in on 6 but ate responsibly and I gained next day.. I cannot afford to yoyo like this this is not what I want my life to be.. I love the diet but it is way too strict.. I will stick with healty eating and loose my 1-2 lbs a wk ..

    • http://www.cabbage-soup-diet.com Catherine Soup

      The point is that you should use this to move to a more moderate program. You’re right-if you eat like this for a week, then go back to a fast food diet, those people will certainly gain the weight back, its only logic. This is only a 7 day diet, so for most, it is easy to follow. I am sorry it didnt work as you wanted.

  • Nlwickham

    The first three days are the easiest, but I stuck it out and lost 5lbs. I am watching what I eat and have lost even more but I will not weigh myself as I have an appointment at my doctors in a few weeks and want to be surprised at my weigh-in.
    Thank you for your help.
    Nancy

  • Raymondbrooks38

    After doing the CSD, would the soup be advisable for a meal replacement daily or as a snack without any adverse effects and weight gain.

    • http://www.cabbage-soup-diet.com Catherine Soup

      It’s a great idea to help maintain the loss. If its not as filling as you’d like it to be now, add some protein – lean chicken or beans are good choices

  • Modigati Lesufi

    Thank You Catherine. Your cabbage diet is working. To be honest with you, it feels like i eat normal food i used to eat. I started late, towards the end of the week.

    I can see progress already, wow.

    Grazie mile

  • Taru_ever

    can i put chicken cubes in my brown rice which is on 7th day

    • http://www.cabbage-soup-diet.com Catherine Soup

      That would be a lot of salt, try to go without

  • Taru_ever

    can i put chicken cubes in my brown rice which is on 7th day

  • Charmaine

    What an excellent idea sounds like a plan..my friend and i started the diet last sunday we have one day to go but we have both decided to limit our potion sizes,tomorrow we have been invited out for lunch but i phoned the restaurant and stated we were both on a diet would they be so kind as to prepare our dietry needs and they have complied.
    Is’nt that cool.

  • Wandampeters

    Thank you for all your information catherine..i will definately keep a closer eye on what i eat in the future.

  • Specialk

    KB: I like the cabbage diet I have lost 5 lbs and I am planning on doing this
    diet after every two weeks until I’ve reached my desired weight. The only thing
    about eating half of your food and taking the rest home is 9 times out of 10 you might
    get tempted to eat the rest later that night. So if you have a spouse or mate then it
    would be best to give it to them or just don’t take it home. Maybe by sharing your
    food could save you some extra money also if you’re worrying
    about not getting what you paided for!

  • Kathy

    Can you drink V8 or some type of vegetable juice on the no fruit days. I was at a loss as to what to eat on those days. I don’t have a juicier so can’t really make my own.
    Also can you have fruit on the last two days?

    • http://www.cabbage-soup-diet.com Catherine Soup

      You’re eating veggies on the non-fruit days, so just eat them raw for the best results. You can only have what is specified each day, so no fruit days 5-7.

  • Patricialaczynska

    That’s a great idea with taking half portion home, thank you Catherine :)

  • Rbark

    My favourite restaurant is Olive Garden, I love their food, never did look to see if they put the calories on the menu. I will have to look next time we go, we live in Canada but do go to the US, a couple times a year and are heading to Florida for a month, have to really be careful what we put in our mouths while we are there, as you can get carried away with eating out.

  • Myra

    My husband and I finished the CSD diet yesterday. He lost 10 lbs, I lost 7 lbs. We are happy with that. He always loses more than I do, so I expected it. We had done CSD many years ago and it was much much better this time. Soup was better and more variety. We did as others and made Banana Smoothies on Day 4. The worst day for us was the brown rice. It was horrible! Next time we will do Day 3 again in place of it. The only problem we had, was this morning……both of us were weak and nauseous. We ate cereal and/or a breakfast bar and a banana. Felt better a few hours after eating. I think this was caused by low sodium and no sugar, because we were never hungry the whole week.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/UZWQBNG2UG2H3CQUUAOU7JXC3M sharon

    thank you so what can i eat

  • Norma

    I went on the CSD and lost 3 pounds. Even though some people say that is very little, I was pleased since I have a very difficult time losing weight to begin with. I do feel that I lost alot of inches because my pants are lose and my abdomin is smaller. I also liked the way it cleaned out my system. I will be doing this diet again starting the Monday after the Super Bowl. Hopefully I’ll lose more weight.

  • Sof91

    I’m on my last day of the diet and have lost 8lbs! Now I’m really worried about this next coming week. My parents are having a big birthday party with a bbq and homemade cupcakes, then the next day it’s my boyfriends birthday party so there will be food and cake etc.. then it’s his actual birthday and I’m taking him out for dinner then the next day it’s out 4 year anniversary and valentines day! I know that it is a sure way to put all the weight back on. I know that I won’t gorge but I’m worried that even having things in moderation isn’t going to help! Do you have any advice? I have one week until then so should I try and slowly build up my calorie count back to normal (because I don’t need to lose any more weight anyway, I’m 8stone 7lbs) so that my body doesn’t get a shock with the upcoming weekend?!

  • Robnette Allen

    I made myself stick exactly to the diet and was a little disappointment that I only lost 5 pounds, but glad at the same time that 5 pounds are gone. I am not feeling hungry now that I have finished the diet, so I’ll just be eating half of what I was eating in the past. Maybe I’ll get lucky and get rid of a few more pounds.

  • Charmaine_dias

    I tried the diet two weeks back and was able to loose around 3.5 kgs. I was a little bit dissapointed since I did not cheat and thought I would loose max 5 kgs.

    It was a great way to loose off the weight, I now eat healthier and have joined aerobic classes to stay fit and loose some more weight.
    I noticed you mentioned a 3 day plan? Could you please send it to me? have you had success with such a short term diet?

    Appreciate if you could let me know

    Thanks
    Charmaine

    • http://www.cabbage-soup-diet.com Catherine Soup

      The 3 day version is just a quick cleanse version of this, so do Days 3 then 6 and 7. Dont have any milk, carbs, sugars, only drink water. You’ll lose another 2-3 pounds, probably.

      • Charmaine_dias

        Thanks a lot, will let you know how it goes

  • Lalies01

    I can’t even think of eating in a restaurant until this is over. I tried finding the proper blog for questions to no avail. I’m very tired and my calorie intake is higher than I want it to be given that the soup is 200-300 calories per cup. I have added 6oz. pieces of chicken breast that I cooked on the stove top without oil flavoring with garlic, spinach and tomato. I also ate soup at that meal. It was great but I’m still very tired. I’ve doubled the amount of tea I’m drinking. Oh, and I haven’t lost anything yet (day 3) and my belly is still very rounded. How quickly should I see results?