My brother and I went to the Souplantation for lunch yesterday. Souplantation is a soup and salad bar.

Thinking we would get a low calorie lunch, loaded with veggies and fiber, we were so excited. . . Little did we know that we had fallen into a dietary disaster.

Soup and Salad bars are great alternatives to any restaurant, but if you don’t watch it, your meal could become worse than just ordering hamburger, fries, and a shake at McDonalds.

Now, you are probably thinking, how can you go wrong with a salad? These little suckers are so deceiving! Just because there are veggies on your plate, doesn’t mean it’s healthy when they are swimming in a pool of ranch dressing and loaded with cheese and croutons.

And salad bars usually don’t just come with a salad. At Souplantation you get the bakery, soups, and dessert all added into your meal. Who can resist those cute little muffins screaming, “Pick Me, Pick Me?”

Seconds anyone? Because salad bars are coined healthy, people usually enjoy going back for seconds. I always use the excuse that I need to get my money’s worth. But really, one large full plate is more than enough. Going back for round two can sabotage your diet and lead you into further temptation when you walk by those muffins screaming your name… don’t torture yourself like that!

Healthy and all, these types of places deceive people into think that they are eating healthy, so they go on a free for all. . . eating everything in sight. It’s dangerous people! They really should have a warning sign up or something. I had to rolled out of the restaurant by the time I was done.

Here are some tips that will help you stay within your daily calorie budget when eating at a Salad Bar.

* Go in with a plan! Know what you want to eat and what you want to avoid

* Skip out on the pre-tossed salads! These salads can have hundreds of calories and fat

* Get the dressing on the side and dip your fork into it instead of drowning your poor little veggies

* Skip out on croutons and bacon bits. These bad boys are loaded with fat and unnecessary calories

* Watch out for pasta salads. They usually are not as healthy as you think

* Choose a vegetable soup if soups are available

* Get only one side to your salad

* I would say skip the bakery all together, but who am I kidding… limit yourself to one and skip the butter and honey.

* Opt out of the ice cream and head towards the fruit and jello.

Question: What is your favorite Soup and Salad Bar Restaurant and what do you enjoy to eat there?

I love Souplantation / Sweet Tomato… they are the same company.

The blueberry and bran muffins are my favorite. The best part are the tops!

WARNING: You might not like what you are about to read

No wonder Cheesecake Factory has held out on releasing their nutrition facts! These numbers are outrageous! One plate is worth a few days worth of calories. If you are looking into a healthy, low calorie meal at Cheesecake Factory, good luck. Even the salads add up to 1,200 calories.
A part of me wishes that I never found the nutritional contents for this place… it ruined my favorite sandwich.
The Navajo sandwich is over 1,228 calories and 1,909 mg of sodium. Watch out for the beef ribs, they hit a spiking 2,306 calories.
Very few meals can be found here with less than 500 calories, even the weight watcher salads. The oversized portions might be the cause of this! One plate can easily serve two people. The next time you hit up Cheesecake Factory you might try splitting your favorite meal with a friend or significant other.

So what should you order when going to the cheesecake factory?

So should we even go to the dessert section? Everyone loves cheesecake and nothing beats cheesecake from the cheesecake factory itself! Forgive me now before I ruin the fun of this cheesecake!

Adams Peanut Butter Cup Fudge Ripple Cheesecake has 1,326 calories… WOW!

The Original Cheesecake has 707 calories

The Low Carb Splenda Cheesecake has 570 calories… for a little over 100 more calories, you might as well go for the real deal!

Strawberry shortcake has 878 calories

So what should you get for dessert?

… and America wonders why diabetes is growing at a rapid pace! ! ! ? ? 

 You might just want to put down that fork or lettuce and reach for a hamburger when eating out on a diet. Salads can be a low calorie, nutrient rich meal but chefs these days have loaded them with hundreds of calories and fat, making them one of the worst foods on a menu.
Here is a list of the worst salads in America from “Eat This, Not That” by David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding

1. Chili’s Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken and Caesar Dressing: 930 calories, 71 g fat (13 g saturated),1,840 mg sodium

2. Chili’s Boneless Buffalo Chicken Salad: 1,070 calories, 78 g fat (15 g saturated), 4,440 mg sodium?

3. Quiznos Chicken with Honey Mustard Flatbread Salad 1,110 calories, 74 g fat, (14.5 g saturated) 2030 mg sodium?

4. Macaroni Grill Seared Sea Scallops Salad: 1,320 calories, 91 g fat (25 g saturated), 2,860 mg sodium?

5. T.G.I. Friday’s Pecan Crusted Chicken Salad: 1,360 calories, Fat: Unknown (The company won’t disclose this number.)?

6. Chevy’s Fresh Mex Tostada Salad with Chicken: 1,551 calories, 94 g fat (37 g saturated) 2,840 mg sodium?

Before you never eat a salad again, there are some ways to turn this sabotaging diet meal into a healthier one. Here are some tips to cutting calories in salads:

- Ask for dressing on the side and dip your fork into the dressing before the salad
You would be surprised at how salad dressing can make a salad’s calorie content sky rocket

- Choose salad dressing without oil or a vinegar-based dressing, such as Balsamic.

- Substitute salad dressing for salsa, citrus juices, or other organic vegetables

- Skip out on added calories such as croutons, nuts, or chip strips

- Go light on the cheese