High Calorie Dishes to Avoid at Your Favorite Restaurants

Email this| Posted Nov 5th 2009 6:00PM by Sandy Maple

Filed under: Food + Libations, Diet + Fitness

High Calorie Dishes to Avoid at Your Favorite Restaurants">

Is your favorite fast food treat full of fat? Photo: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images

With all the hustle and bustle around the holidays, many families find it easier to grab a quick bite at a restaurant rather than cook up a meal at home. But before you order up at your favorite chain restaurant, you might want to do your homework first. That quick and cheap meal just might do some serious damage to your waistline. Here are some examples of the gut-busting meals and snacks being offered up at some of the big restaurant chains.

Chili's - Nothing gets you in the mood for Thanksgiving like a turkey sandwich. The Smoked Turkey on a toasted chile-pepper sandwich roll has 960 calories and 55 grams of fat. Add some fries with that and you will soon be buying bigger pants.

Starbucks - A 16 ounce Iced Pumpkin Spice Latte with whipped cream will add 380 calories and 17 grams of fat to your diet. Don't even think about ordering that cheesecake.

Marie Callender's - A slice of Pecan Pie with no topping at all has 920 calories and 14 grams of fat. At 460 calories and 7 grams of fat, a slice of Pumpkin Pie is a slightly better choice. But only slightly.

Applebee's - Chicken isn't always the healthier choice. Applebee's Fiesta Lime Chicken meal serves up 1,285 calories and 47 grams of fat. And skip that Sizzling Apple Pie with Ice Cream dessert. It has 1,086 calories and 56 grams of fat.

Dunkin' Donuts - A yummy Pumpkin Muffin has 630 calories and 28 grams of fat. Add a small Pumpkin Latte and you will add another 220 calories and 6 grams of fat to your morning snack.

Cracker Barrel - Stopping by Cracker Barrel for a little breakfast before shopping can be dangerous for your diet. Grandpa's Country Fried Breakfast with Hashbrowns and Steak has 1,750 calories and 20 grams of fat.

Of course, nobody expects you to completely deprive yourself of the foods you love this season. Enjoy your favorites and avoid piling on the pounds by splitting those high-calorie dishes or eating only half a portion and saving the rest for later. Better yet, check your favorite restaurant's Website for nutrition information before heading out to eat.

Addie 11-07-2009 @ 4:23PM

and you wonder why this country is full of sick, fat people! Wake up America, companies are killing you for the all mighty dollar! It's your life, start acting like it matters to you! REFUSE to eat this crap!!!

gary 11-07-2009 @ 6:25PM

I loved your response!! I am a certified executive chef and I know first hand that ALL manufactured foods are chemically enhanced and this is what has caused so many people to have all the medical conditions that were not around years ago. The flavor of McDonald's grilled chicken as well as KFC's new grilled chicken is chemically originated. FOLKS..you're eating shit! PLAIN AND SIMPLE, but at the risk of being called a food cop...BON F'N APETIT!! Enjoy all of the diseases these corporations are getting rich by! F ya's!

Benniece Roth 11-07-2009 @ 4:26PM

I could not agree with you more.

Dick 11-07-2009 @ 5:12PM

I see the food police are alive and well on AOL. God protect me from those who would attempt to protect me from myself. Why can't these well meaning pests just go away?

gary 11-07-2009 @ 5:21PM

You've been appropriately named!

SpiceMonkey 11-07-2009 @ 8:43PM

So, dick, informing people as to what is in what they're eating makes and idividual "the food police." Interesting concept, my guess is you're a Palin supporter too.

gary 11-07-2009 @ 5:31PM

I'm always amazed that some people, although enlightened, are so arrogant and unwilling to appreciate the truth and react accordingly. Guys like "THE DICK" here, think that there are food police that actually CARE about HIM exclusively or anyone else for that matter. When in reality, if you are a smoker do you really believe tobacco manufactures give a DAMN about your health??? They don't nor does anyone else. It is called education. EAT the pumpkin muffin with a latte everyday of your life for all anyone really cares, but know this much: Pfiser, Johnson and Johnson, etc. love when you have to piss your hard earned money on thier drugs and doctors get fat wallets on your bypass operations! DROP DEAD ALREADY!

Glen 11-07-2009 @ 5:35PM

I'll eat what I want to eat and if you don't like it you can kiss my ass!

eggcream 11-07-2009 @ 5:54PM

hey glen, you don't have to be such a dick!!

Addie 11-07-2009 @ 5:54PM

Dick, what a moronic thing to say! If you want to eat all the crap that's in most of the food out there then go ahead but don't say, the food police are alive and well on AOL! That just shows us how stupid you really are! Don't worry, I could care less what you put into your body!

britt 11-07-2009 @ 6:55PM

I don't see a problem with eating these foods. As long as it isn't every day. Its all about moderation and how many calories you eat total in a day. Not about how many calories one meal has. It also depends on how many calories you use. Michael Phelps eats like 13,000 calories a day. But then again he swims multiple miles a day. While another person sits at a computer all day and doesn't burn a lot of calories may only need to eat rabbit food or one real meal at dinner and a granola bar for breakfast. Also, people have different metabolism. So its an individual thing, not a nobody should eat this item of food because it has a lot of calories thing.

lisanie43 11-07-2009 @ 7:09PM

I usually order Starbucks pumpkin spiced latte with nonfat milk and certainly no whip cream. Why? Whip cream soaks in the flavor of pumpkin spice by blotting it out from the taste buds or by drowning it in a counterbalance of the latte's comfort zone. Also I like the intense flavor of the pumpkin spice. And I usually have a warm chocolate croissant to go with it. And just maybe I will take home a new york cheese cake for dessert the next evening. YUM!

SpiceMonkey 11-07-2009 @ 8:56PM

...and we can only imagine what you look like and the results of your latest blood test...

breezy 11-08-2009 @ 12:18AM

the whip only has around 30 calories, (a close family member has informed me about almost all of Starbucks treats because she works there) at that rate, if you're gonna take in all of the calories of the latte, you might as well take the whip. and at any rate, health is way important and the taste isn't all that beneficial after your grande sized latte. i mean seriously? after you've drank it, it hasn't helped you in any way whatsoever. just try their instant via coffee packets, they taste great, wake you up, and then have some REAL roasted pumpkin seeds with it. now THERE'S a healthy alternative. Starbucks is cool, but try and order healthy things when you go, like their steamed soy milk. it tastes like warm cookies even though it's plain soy milk hot.

SpiceMonkey 11-07-2009 @ 8:54PM

Better be more than a little moderation if you're eating a breakfast that's more than 1700 calories. The salt levels are left off of this article, but several of these items have enough salt in them to meet the requirement of two or three DAYS. Moderation is not the answer, getting your head out of your ass and paying attention to what you put in your body is the answer, along with education. Eat what you want, but don't bitch about being 200 pounds overweight and on your fourth heart attack with high blood pressure and diverticulitis when you're 40, that's like a smoker complaining because he got cancer... "I only smoked in moderation...."

Judith 11-07-2009 @ 8:59PM

Britt - it is ALWAYS you should not eat this because it has a lot of calories thing. God, what a stupid thing for you to say. A 1,700 something calories breakfast is more than your total daily intake - UNLESS you are burning it off like Phelps, or if you are a racehorse. The math is not difficult and I think even you could understand it. ONE pound equals 3,500 calories. Up or down - whichever way you want it to go. You want to lose one pound? That means a deficit of 500 calories A DAY FOR ONE WEEK. Want to gain one pound? Increase your calories by 500 calories A DAY FOR ONE WEEK! Oh by the way, give me the address of your funeral home and I will attend your services with a pumpkin latte and chocolate thingy whatever.

geeo 11-07-2009 @ 9:30PM

What is it about a computer screen that turns (supposedly) normal people into such nasty, judgmental little shits? Judging from some of these responses, you're all perfectly proportioned, disciplined soldiers when the brownies are passed. I'll just bet. Eat or don't eat, but better the fat that goes into some mouths than the crap that comes out of yours.

Jimbo 11-07-2009 @ 9:38PM

Gary, the "executive chef", has no life.

shoshana 11-08-2009 @ 12:50AM

And you, sir, must be ignorant to the dangers of what you are putting into your body. Gary probably has a significantly lower risk of heart disease and diabetes. Before you trash someone who leads a healthy lifestyle, type "obese" into Google Images and click your way through a few pages.

Cori 11-07-2009 @ 10:06PM

Sad face! I love pumpkin muffins!

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