9 of the Unhealthiest Chain Restaurant Meals
Before scarfing down these dishes, ask yourself if you’re up for a long, long run.
It’s no secret that runners love their postrun meal. But the just-released annual Xtreme Eating roundup from the Center for Science in the Public Interest reminds us how easy it is to overdo it. The report details the worst chain restaurant meals in terms of calories, fat, sodium, and sugar. Hate to break it to you, but an easy three-miler won’t even begin to cover the damage.
“We have not seen a shortage of extremely high calorie foods from restaurant chains,” Lindsay Moyer, M.S., R.D.N. and senior nutritionist of CSPI, told Runner’s World. “We’re in the middle of an obesity epidemic and restaurants just keep piling it on.”
While these restaurants have certainly taken eating to the extreme, dining out often means overeating.
Related: Eat healthier with the Runner’s World Meals on the Run Cookbook—150 recipes that take 30 minutes or less, from the RW Store.
“You usually get at least 1,000 calories for an appetizer, entrée, or dessert,” said Moyer. “If a restaurant offers a healthy or lower-calorie menu, order from it. It’s absolutely the only way to know what you’re getting.”
In an effort to help people better understand what they’re consuming, the FDA has ruled that by May 2017, restaurants with more than 20 locations will be required to list the caloric content of their menu items.
To make your meal healthier, skip out on appetizers and start with a salad instead (go easy on the dressing), and look for dishes packed with veggies and whole grains. And ask your server: restaurants will often make healthy substitutions like cutting back on cheese or making a burger into a lettuce wrap.
Below, we've listed the CSPI’s worst meals, along with the number of miles you'd need to run in order to burn them off. One mile burns, on average, about 100 calories (fewer if you’re smaller). For a more personally accurate calculation, check out the Runner’s World Calories Burned Calculator. Spoiler: most of these dishes would require marathons, or even ultramarathons, to run off.
Applebee's
Build Your Sampler: two to five appetizers or bar snacks
• Spinach & Artichoke Dip: 960 calories, 9.6 miles
• Boneless Wings with Classic Buffalo Sauce: 680 calories, 6.8 miles
• Cheeseburger Egg Rolls: 630 calories, 6.3 miles
Total: 2,270 calories, 22.7 miles (And you haven’t even reached the entrée!)
Related: 25 Great Snacks for Runners
Maggiano’s Little Italy
Marco’s Meal For Two: complimentary rolls, an appetizer or flatbread, or two side salads, two pasta dishes, and dessert (plus two more pasta dishes to take home)
• Mozzarella Marinara appetizer:1,530 calories, 15.3 miles
• Taylor Street Baked Ziti (with Italian sausage): 1,400 calories, 14 miles
• Fettuccini Alfredo: 1,560 calories, 15.6 miles
• Warm Apple Crostada dessert: 1,180 calories, 11.8 miles
Total: 5,670 calories, 28.35 miles per 1/2 appetizer, entree, 1/2 dessert (and that’s not counting the complimentary rolls and takeout dishes—yikes)
The Cheesecake Factory
Fried Chicken & Waffles Benedict: Belgian waffle topped with crispy fried chicken strips, poached eggs, and Hollandaise, served with maple-butter syrup and (usually) a side of breakfast potatoes
Total: 2,580 calories, 25.8 miles (and four days’ worth of saturated fat: 86 grams)
“[The Cheesecake Factory] always has the worst contenders,” Moyer said. “This is actually the 16th item that’s been in [our report].”
Related: Eat like an Olympian with Shalane Flanagan’s new cookbook Run Fast Eat Slow: Nourishing Recipes for Athletes in the RW store.
Dave & Buster’s
Short Rib & Cheesy Mac Stack: Mac and cheese with short rib on thick slices of sourdough with a side of “crispy seasoned tots.”
Total: 1,910 calories, 19.1 miles
“[This is] an example of combining two bad foods into one disaster of a dish,” Moyer said.
Sonic
RT 44 Grape Slush with Rainbow Candy: 44 oz. of “Sonic’s craveable, icy slush made with sippable candy!”
Total: 970 calories, 9.7 miles (3.7 miles for your candy, 6 miles for slush)
“It’s like drinking 1 ¼ cups of pure sugar,” Moyer said. “Who would ever think of doing that?”
Related: 7 Things That Happened When I Cut Out Sugar for a Month
Romano’s Macaroni Grill
Cremini Pork Shank: Braised pork shank, marsala wine sauce, caramelized onions, mushrooms, and roasted parmesan potatoes (clocking in at two pounds of food)
Total: 1,800 calories, 18 miles (add another 4.8 miles for the complimentary Rosemary Peasant Bread)
Uno Pizzeria & Grill
Whole Hog Burger: Hamburger, sausage, bacon, prosciutto, and pepperoni (more than a pound of meat!), with four types of cheese, garlic mayo, and pickles. Served with fries and onion rings.
Total: 2,850 calories, 28.5 miles
“This blows your sodium limit for about a week,” Moyer said.
Jersey Mike’s Subs
Giant Chipotle Cheese Steak: grilled steak, American cheese, peppers and onions, drizzled with spicy chipotle mayo
Total: 1,850 calories, 18.5 miles
Buffalo Wild Wings
Dessert Nachos: crispy flour tortilla sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, loaded with ice cream and gooey breaded cheesecake bites, all topped with chocolate and caramel sauce
Total: 2,100 calories, 21 miles (Would you like a marathon for your dessert?)
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