Cheesecake Factory - Trying to be sensible...

  

Here is the deal... My wife & I decided to start eating healthier, and this has been a tough situation since we never eat at home (Read: eat out for every meal except an occasional BBQ).  This is a huge lifestyle change that was dictated by some health issues, but it is becoming difficult because of habits with friends & family for over 20 years.  Needless to say all the processed food has taken a toll on our bodies.  We have learned to eat frozen entrees & experiment with whole grain pasta dishes so far, and with the help of this site & food network, we hope to get our diet under control.

  

Now the dilemma... We have a family function to attend at Cheesecake factory, and know from the past that we can blow our entire Calorie/Sugar/Sodium allotment for a day at this single meal.  Does anyone have any suggestions for a healthy menu item?  I don't see any nutritional listings for them on any website, and I don't really want to enter everything in to a calculator & guess.  Perhaps someone has some experience with their recipes & could shed some light?  We just don't want to deal with any disappointment when we have had a fairly decent start to this effort.

  

Thanks!  

 

I dont know about how many calories are in each one, but i mean is it worth just taking that day to just eat what you want? I was panicing about going to TGI fridays in a weeks time and i got some useful help  from one of the members and they told me to give my body a day to stock up on things that i had been keeping out.

It looks like youve sacrificed alot for your health and maybe you should jsut reward yourself every now and again for the good hard work youve been putting in?

Hope this helps 

A recent thread about Cheesecake factory and the food there: http://caloriecount.about.com/forums/post/769 15.html

I might agree if we were more active, but I fear one night of splurging could put back on the 3 & 5 pounds my wife and I have lost.  We have not started our fitness plan yet, so one night could be devastating?  We have spent the last 10 years not exercising at all.  I can not remember the last time we played a sport, walked any distance, or exercised at all.  Now we have to wait for medical clearance to even start walking any distance.   

Our Doctor is helpful, but his goal would probably be, to keep us out of restaurants entirely for now, but it would be unreasonable to disregard our family and friends while we struggle with our lifestyle changes.  Not to mention the food at home can only get so interesting, after eating Rich Foods for so long.

 

I did find some of the negative threads on The Cheesecake Factory (including the one posted above), and we even browsed their online menu contemplating our options.  The stories of massive calories don't surprise us at all.  We love their food, and know the portions are an issue... We definitely plan on bringing home doggy bags. ;)  We want to splurge, but it also scares us to think we might be sacrificing the progress made thus far.

After everything I have read... The management salads sound like the best bet.  I just hope they will substitute some seared Ahi or Shrimp, for the Salmon.  I don't like Chicken, and we have been eating a lot of Salmon lately... it is getting old. 

 

Thanks for the encouragement.  I think we maybe (regretfully) boycotting The Cheesecake Factory after this too.  It seems like a temptation we could do without... at least for awhile. ;) 

I don't get the problem when people are worried about eating out. It's simple, just don't eat A LOT. Just eat a small amount, learn to say NO, you don't HAVE to eat a plate piled high with food, neither do you have to eat all of what you've ordered. It's that simple.

You can do this!

They always have a fish of the day selection, in addition they have salmon. You can get any of these dishes broiled, with broccoli as the side. You could probably eat the whole thing and not ruin your day. For dessert they have a Goblet of strawberries, the only thing to be careful of is the whip cream they serve with them, luckily it is on the side. If you don't want fish They have a chicken dish I think it is called lemon herb chicken- yummie, but it is like 1/2 of a roasted chicken, one piece is just breast meat and all you will need. They also use to have a medallions- 3 peices of broiled chicken served w/ sauteed veggies. That might be OK too.

Good Luck.

http://www.dietfacts.com/search.asp?searchKey =cheesecake%20factory

There you go dear

in addition to all the extra cals you save by not eating out,  just think of the extra money you will be able to take a holiday. set a goal like a cool trip every 50lbs or 20 or something,  i find eating out mainly a waste of money and calories, eating at home can be really simple just stick to a few things, if you eat the same things alot you find less satisfies you

Why don't you two split something?  They have those Weight Management salads now, you two could split one of those and then get an appetizer to split as well.  There are a couple of decent sounding appetizers that don't sound as though they'd break the calorie bank.  The VIETNAMESE SHRIMP SUMMER ROLLS, the THAI LETTUCE WRAPS, or the AHI CARPACCIO all sound like good choices.

And for dessert, I agree with the poster above, get the goblet of fresh strawberries.  And heck, ask for a side of whipped cream for dipping if you want!  Splurge a little :)   

I totally agree.  You don't even have to order a Weight Management Salad if you really want something else.  If you simply split it, that's half the calories for both of you!  You could always skip the desert and appetizer too.

if you are as 'large' as you say you are and you are worried you will gain 3-5 lbs back, then you are going to need a heck of a lot of calories to do that. Say you need 3300 calories/day + ~4lbs*3500cal/lb, that means you would have to eat 17,300 calories at the cheesecake factory. That means, you would have to eat 17 slices of cheesecake to just come close to gaining that back. Basically, what I'm saying is don't worry about gaining back the 3-5 lbs, but also watch what you eat there, as in, try avoiding dessert and fried foods. Avoid seconds, empty calories... you know... just 'calorie pinch' while you are there. Someone said sharing a meal earlier, that's a great idea. I hope your family is supportive too, that helps a bunch. Remember 17K+ calories to gain back about what you lost. That's basically ~30 entrees there given that the avg entree is 800 cals. I go to the cheesecake factory and get myself a cheesecake like once a month. Mmmm, it's good. I know my ways of small splurging at bad places with bad food is bad, but my goods outweigh my bads which means I wont be losing weight as fast as i would without it, but i am still losing the weight. Plus, I get to eat bad foods and keep my mentality more 'free' and not so much in a 'prison' per say.

I went there for my birthday once. I ordered the roasted chicken with carrots. I think it came with another side, but I got double carrots. Anyway, I peeled the skin off the breast and ate that, plus about half of the butter/oil drenched carrots. You might want to order the carrots without butter or oil, which I should have done. But they were reeeaaally good.

 

I went home with lots of leftovers. A thigh, leg and more carrots.

i am a big fan of the chicken marsala or the chicken merdiera i think it is called, not sure but they are both grilled and served with spinach mushrooms and side veggies....opt for the brown serving off bread instead of the white, and just remember...food is a social thing, you can splurge now and then....

Well, We ended up doing something completely different, which was a little stressful.  We decided to go to a Mexican Restaurant called Moreno's.  We totally Love Mexican food, and the night probably could have been filled with Calories, but we somehow brought some caution with us, and exercised restraint.

 

I had a Tostada. My wife had a Ceasar Salad (with dressing on the side.).  We enjoyed Celebrating with everyone, but decided to forgo dessert.  I had a Margarita, and my wife, a Coffee with some Kahlua instead.

We left satisfied, and were pleasantly surprised that we could Toast the Birthday, and not be bored while everyone ate Flan, and Chocolate cake.  And neither one of us exceeded are Daily Calorie limits.  Amazing!!!  This was a great night, and showed that we really can do this! 

 Thanks to Everyone for the encouragement, and for all the great advice. 

Original Post by xgregorio:

if you are as 'large' as you say you are and you are worried you will gain 3-5 lbs back, then you are going to need a heck of a lot of calories to do that. 

Actually, I never said I was large.  In fact I am considered a healthy weight.  However, I have to turn about 15-20 lbs of fat into muscle accoeding to the doctors.  I am watching Calories based on my burn rate, which doesn't seem like much due to the fact I can not exercise much until my heart gets stronger.  I am the type of person that has always ate what I wanted (previously between 3000-4000 calories a day... mostly fatty foods.), but actually do not always eat as often as I should, so Dieting is a chore only because I have to spend more time planning the types of food I eat.  My biggest concern is watching Fat & Sodium intake.

My Wife has a much different situation.  She has about 1/4 of her total weight to loose, which is, in my estimation, much harder to do.  My wife loves to eat, and her Calorie intake is about 1/2 of mine.  She has similar restrictions on her exercise, but because of joint & back stress, and a seizure disorder.

This all hit us last year, and needless to say it is a much different lifestyle than what we are use to.  We try to stay positive, using this site, and accomplishing some of our mini-goals is bringing hope & maybe even some enjoyment?

hmm.. imagine that?!  

  Thanks again.