News from The Gap™

Extreme Eating

This section highlights some of the outrageous calorie examples confronting us today. Remember... although The Gap makes weight and health management more challenging, the support of the HMR Program for Weight Management™ can help you to achieve your goals in the face of these obstacles.

According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), restaurants are now serving ever-larger portions of food to entice customers to start eating out again. According to CSPI’s chief nutritionist, “It used to be you got a single entree, and now in some cases, you’re getting three entrees on your plate.”

Their list of “Extreme Eating 2009” included entrees that were not only extremely high in calories, but had more saturated fat and sodium than most people should eat in three days! Some examples included The Cheesecake Factory’s Fried Macaroni and Cheese (1,570 calories), Philly Style Flat Iron Steak with Fries (2,320 calories) or Chicken and Biscuits (2,800 calories) and Applebees’ Quesadilla Burger with Fries (1,820 calories). Although these examples are extreme, the nutritionist noted, “That’s the point. The typical restaurant entree, appetizer and dessert contain about 1,000 calories apiece.” Even though you may get a lot of food for your dollar, the cost to your health is probably not worth it!