Cheesecake Factory

EDIT: Oh, shoot! Nevermind! I did another search after posting and saw that there was already another topic similar to this. Sorry about that! Mods can delete this if they want...

I am so completely astounded right now. My friend wants to go out to dinner and a movie tomorrow night in celebration of her birthday, and she was thinking of going to Cheesecake Factory. So since I'm struggling to get back on track with my diet, I decided it would be a good idea to pick out what I'll eat beforehand and look up the nutrition information. Apparently the Cheesecake Factory has been pretty secretive about its nutrition, but I found this here:

http://calorielab.com/news/2007/07/28/calorie -pusher-comes-to-town-the-cheesecake-factory- hits-rochester/

Now I can see why they've been so secretive! Obviously I knew that the calorie content in the food would be very high. But I was definitely not prepared for this. Some of these are absolutely mind-boggling! 1,510 for a salad?? Several pastas that are MORE THAN 2000 calories each?? Before I got into dieting, I used to eat an entire thing of pasta! I can't even imagine how many calories I had been consuming from a single meal. In a single serving of an appetizer, and this is if you split it with four people, there are over 800 calories! And this is in addition to these overwhelmingly high-calorie main courses and drinks!

And I can't even bear to look at the dessert section. I like carrot cake. And it surely sounds like it would be way better than those fatty cheesecakes. Ummmm...no. One serving of carrot cake? That will cost you 1,549 calories. That's already higher than the amount of calories I'm allowed in an entire day! And how can carrot cake be worse than the fudge cake??? AND worse than all of the cheesecakes! Am I missing something here?

Anyway, I hope this hasn't been posted before. I did a quick search and I didn't see anything. I just had to express my absolute shock and disgust at how bad some restaurants can be. I like looking at those lists that are usually posted on the yahoo homepage that name America's worst foods. I can understand milkshakes and over the top burgers being on there, but I certainly never expected pastas and salads to be THIS bad. An 800 calorie cheeseburger is considered terrible, yet you could eat 3 of those and still be consuming the same amount of calories as one pasta from Cheesecake Factory!

So I'm pretty much done with my rant, lol. But feel free to discuss other gut-busting restaurants and what you would order if forced to eat at one, and other tips and tricks to try to keep the calories down as much as possible! I know some people immediately put half of their food in a to-go box. I guess that would help at most places, but that could still mean over 1000 calories for some of these choices! What do you guys think?

That all sounds ridiculous- its definitely eye-opening. Wowww. Off the top of my head: I was disappointed the other day when I found out that Harvey's chocolate shake is like 730 calories in that tiny 12/14oz? plastic cup... I really wanted a milkshake. It has been so long and I used to get them from Mcdonald's a lot *sigh* That is so not worth it. bummer. I drank some water.

Oh and I had never realized before how much sugar/carbs are in lattes... I thought it was just like milk and coffee and how bad could that possibly be...? Maybe the actual calorie count isn't that high but I hate wasting calories on drinks. lol.

Oh, me too! Usually I drink water, diet soda or coffee with stevia. I would much rather use those calories for food, seeing that I love to eat xD

Woww, 730 calories for a small shake?? Hmm, maybe make one at home instead? I found this absolutely amazing ice cream that's only 32 calories for a 1/2 cup serving, as opposed to other ice cream that's 130+ calories for the same amount! Using that, along with skim milk and other ingredients, you could probably make a better tasting milk shake for what? 100 calories?? I forget the name of the brand, but if I found out I'll definitely post it here if you want! Mmm, now I really want to make a milk shake, lol.

I am not at all surprised because their portion sizes are huge. I mean, they could feel 5 people. I guess you just have to eat no more than a 1/4th of what you get. A cup of soup is 300-700 calories. That's what I'd get, and eat some bread and butter. Just make sure you order one that isn't cream based or have too much cheese. Also, all of the small size salads look good, except for the caesar. Or the grilled Mahi or Tuna, as long as you don't eat the sides with it. Although it is hilarious that a side of fries is one of their lowest cal items, when ususally that's what you have to watch out for! only 500 calories.

i would say to just remember that the foods are very rich and the portions are very huge.  i'd ask for dressing on the side if you go with a salad but i wouldn't bother trying to find the lowest calorie dish, either.  just eat slowly, drink water and take home left overs.  split dessert or skip dessert.  don't waste any calories (or money for that matter) on drinks.

enjoy small portions of left overs over the next few days with something low calorie, like veggies.  that's what i'd do anyway, i find restuarant food terribly salty to eat in large amounts.

It's ridiculous how many calories their meals have.  They should take part of the responsibility for America's obesity.

Anyway, what about ordering something from the kid's menu?

S.

Hey, Yeah the portions and calories in this restaurant are crazy! I ate there once and got pasta. I didn't know at the time how bad it was. I think cerealaddiction's ideas about eating slow and small portions from what ever you order sounds smart.

I think if i were faced with this I might actually eat something before going out so i wouldnt be very hungry then later order whatever I wanted there, but eat redicoulously small portions and take most of it home and feed it to relatives, lol. At least I would enjoy a little of it but I don't think eating a whole meal with that many calories would be worth it.