SECTION FIVE: Week 7: Dining out
The questions below ask you to picture yourself in different settings and determine what would be the best
selection in each case.- you are at your favorite Mexican restaurant. which item would be the best choice?
a. A taco salad
b. A vegetable quesadilla
c. grilled chicken soft tacos with salsa and guacamole
The best choice would be the grilled chicken soft tacos. A taco salad typically has a fried tortilla as the
base or the shell to contain the contents, which can add several hundred calories. Even if you don’t eat
the shell, the salads are often loaded with cheese, sour cream and salad dressing. A vegetable quesadilla
may sound healthy, but the large flour tortilla has about 350 calories, and 3 ounces of shredded cheese
adds another 300. The vegetables are likely grilled in oil, so the whole quesadilla could cost you over
800 calories.- you are meeting a friend for coffee. you decide to skip breakfast so you can get something to
eat at the coffeehouse. what would be your best choice?
a. A low-fat muffin and some nonfat hot cocoa
b. half a toasted bagel with light cream cheese and a small nonfat latte
c. A slice of coffee cake and black coffee
Don’t be fooled by the low-fat label. Many low-fat baked goods have just as many calories as traditional
items – they often have less fat but a lot more sugar to make them taste good. Typical muffins can run
almost 500 calories because they are so huge, and the nonfat cocoa still packs a lot of calories because
of the sugar. A slice of coffee cake and black coffee sounds light because it’s relatively small, but it could
still run you at least 400 calories. A half a bagel with light cream cheese is only about 200 calories, and
the latte would give you some healthy protein for about another 90 to 100 calories, so this would be the
best choice.ANSWER KEY: THE INS AND
OUTS OF DINING OUT