600+ calories per healthy SLICE?!?

. G'morning friends ~ My rant requires no responses - it just aggra'd me so much that I wanted to share the info with all of you. This all started from another message board site I'm a member of. The topic was listed as the Top 10 Food Choices that should be avoided at ALL costs. Of course, I zero'd in on that and started clicking and reading. I specifically zero'd in on the Breast Meat Chicken Strips and the LowCarb Cheesecake, because Ive been known to gravitate to either of those choices. It's amazing how the food industry can mislead the consumers merely with "innuendos and implications". You hear the words CHICKEN or LOW CARB or NO SUGAR and the mind is trained to immediately think "that's good for us". So in turn, we might even order the chicken strips for a meal and the low carb no sugar dessert as a rare and healthy treat, right? WRONG!!!! Just those TWO items have almost my entire daily allowance of calories for MAINTENANCE!!!!! I need to maximize at 1,500 calories to maintain and NOT gain, those two items come in at 1,250! As a long term post op, it's NOTHING to eat both of those choices in one sitting. Trust me on this, with time, your pouch can, does and WILL stretch - our bodies are designed to heal, fix and RESUME life as normal and with time and it DOES. Think of it as a balloon, once you blow into it, even after the air is released, although much smaller it NEVER resumes it's original size. I've always viewed the 6 carb-sugar free Cheesecake at "The Cheesecake Factory" was the devil disguised as an angel - the link(s) below just kinda proves it. Anyone that's ever eaten out with me will tell you - I prefer to order the "real stuff" over the "fake stuff" any day of the week. Ive always been of the mindset that what they take out they substitute with other stuff so the calories tend to equal out at the end. Case in point? The Infamous 6 Carb-No Sugar Cheesecake has 610 calories per SLICE. http://www.calorieking.com/foods/food/carbs-calories-in-the-cheesecake-factory-cheesecakes-6-carb-original_Y2lkPTMzMjExJmJpZD0xMDEwJmZpZD0xMjE4NDYmcGFyPQ.html The ORIGINAL 10 inch slice of plain cheesecake? 630 calories! http://www.calorieking.com/foods/food/carbs-calories-in-the-cheesecake-factory-cheesecakes-original-10_Y2lkPTMzMjExJmJpZD0xMDEwJmZpZD0xMTY3NzEmcGFyPQ.html What that boils down to is you're paying a LOT more money for a much SMALLER slice of cheesecake for ONLY a 20 calorie variance. So technically - bite for bite, the FULLY loaded [with carbs and sugar] plain cheesecake has less calories. I realize that some people are diabetics and or have adverse reactions to carbs or sugars ... well, I (and most) don't. I'll just continue to save my money on the high dollar crap that boasts it's lower in sugar and carbs. Especially since they fail to mention the calories are still JUST as high as the other stuff. It's a flippin' racket and unfortunately, in our desperation to be THIN and HEALTHY, we (Americans) keep buying into it. Handing over our hard earned cash, lining their pockets and STILL gaining weight. Go figure. Anyway - if any of you are still awake and want to read the link that started my tyrant, it's below. "Ten Foods You Should NEVER Eat" -- http://www.cspinet.org/nah/10foods_bad.html Bottomline - don't let the food industry blindly lead you to the cash register. Read the labels or google the menu's on line, you might be in for a rude surprise. It goes back to the old adage "Calories in -vs- Calories out" which should NOT be confused with "Cash Paid Out" ...paying more does NOT always mean better. Although the example I used was a "dessert" I think it's safe to say, this pretty much stands true for many many food groups/items. Enjoy your day ~ Lei .

Morning sunshine, Great post. I think what we need to do is save $ and calories, and order ONE of those yummy fully-loaded treats and all grab a fork LOL Oh how I miss the days when a bite or two was just enough! Wendy

Hey, didn't a post nearly like this get pulled recently??? LOLOL Just sayin!!! Hee hee!! Thanks for the post........hope you are enjoying your company!! XOOXOXOOXOXOOXOXOX Sharon

Hey girlyfriend! Yikes, that's alot of calories and fat! That is too amazing that the low-carb cheesecake only has 20 calories less than the fully-loaded stuff. You're right ~ what a racket. I remember in the past buying a pack of the Snackwell Devilsfood cookies and eating most of the bag at one sitting because 'they're such a much better choice!!' The food industry people should be ashamed of themselves. Eileen =)

Hi Lei, Well you know me, I have to respectfully disagree. My take on the whole situation: I've ordered the 6-carb cheesecake at Cheesecake Factory many times and have never been disappointed or felt cheated. I would take a slice home and cut it into thirds, which in reality was about 100 calories a serving, most of the calories from fat. I did not try to tell myself I was eating something "good" for me, just because it had less sugar - I knew it was a special treat. One of the main reasons I had WLS was because I had been diagnosed as pre-diabetic, and was told I could keep from developing full-blown diabetes for maybe 20 years, if I controlled my diet. When I want something sweet, a sugar-free alternative to the real thing is exactly what I need to control blood sugars, and to abate the carb cravings I get from refined sugar. And 4 grams of sugar, as opposed to 42 grams in the real thing, would not cause me to dump. I just can't get into this victimology of blaming the manufacturers when all it takes is reading the labels and doing a little math. (Geez, I'm beginning to sound like a Republican, heaven help me.) I don't eat any kind of cheesecake now, because 3 years after surgery, I am not malabsorbing fats anymore, and 9/10 of the calories from cheesecake are from fat (regular and no-carb, alike). But if I do decide I just have to have a taste of cheesecake, I will probably still go for the low-carb. I think it's delicious! luv, Carole

I'm definitely with you on this one, Carole! We love low carb cheesecake and in fact make our own for special occassions/parties. Kathy

Thank you so much for putting this up! I bought on of those Marie Colander's things on the bad list. I don't know if it was that exact one or not. But those dishes are more expensive than the lean cuisine and weigh****chers, so I only got it that one time I had a coupon. I dont even remember if it was any good! Remember back a couple of years ago when Hardee's came out with the Monster Burger? It was all over the news that Hardee's had a burger that was 1400 calories. It was in the paper, and on tv there for like a week. Bad Hardee's your making a bad burger. Well, at that time, and even to this day, Ruby Tuesday has a burger on their menu that is 1650 calories. (at least I think its still on the menu) Its just our mentallity that fast food is BAD and if you go to a "regular" restaurant, (without a drive thru) it MUST be better. Ruby Tuesday's has a salad bar, so they can't be bad can they? The reality is, ANY restaurant has its BAD items on the menu. Things we should always avoid, even if we haven't eaten in a week. We just have to look a little deeper, ask questions and determine what is the best choice for us. Leland

Dang !!!!!!!!!!!!! No wonder those Burger King fries are the best. Yes...a bite or two of the real thing is probably the best way to go all around. Yesterday was my birthday..The big 38 and i couldn't rest until I had that birthday cake. So...we went to Farm Fresh and I got a tiny tiny ..think it was 1/8 sheet cake. (Could have feed 1000 Gastric Bypass patients..hehehe) I did very well on the three micro bites. It was later on when I went back for the kill that I funked my family out of the house...Oppppppppppsssss..won't do that agin. Well, at least i will TRY not too. hehehehehehe Thanks..that ws a great, informative post !!!! Hugs, Dana