Stay-Puft

I'm on the road this week, in a central CA town without a lot creative options for dinner. I was perusing some of the chain restaurant web sites, looking at the nutrition information posted and I was flabbergasted. There is so much fat and sodium in everything.

Here's what I found:

Macaroni Grill
Grilled Salmon: 81 g fat, 6,600 mg sodium
Spaghetti with Meatballs: 115 g fat, 5330 mg sodium
Grilled Pork Chops: 107 g fat, 4950 mg of sodium

PF Chang's (no sodium content listed)
Kung Pao Chicken: 80 g fat
Shrimp with Candied Walnuts: 80 g fat
Fried Rice: 69 g fat

Lonestar Steakhouse
Five Star Filet (9 oz): 60.3 g fat, 126 mg sodium
Lonestar Wings: 131 g fat, 1470 mg sodium
Grilled Pork Chops: 100.4 g of fat, 316 mg sodium

When did pork chops get so unhealthy? I thought pork was the other white meat. I thought it was very brave of these restaurants to post this information for the public. Of course, I've listed some of the worse-off items on the menu. The salads and some of the soups were reasonable, and I noticed that most of these restaurants did have at least one low-fat steamed fish or grilled chicken dish (though they all sounded quite unappetizing).

I've never been one to obsess about food. I like to eat healthy things so that I get vitamins and energy. More than being skinny and waifish, I want to be fast and strong. However, I don't always adhere to an athlete's diet per say. I rarely say no to buffalo wings, sweet potato chips or pudding. They're all so tasty, unlike chain restaurant food which is almost always mediocre. And that is what makes this whole thing so tragic. The food that is so bad for you also tastes so bad.

At a loss this evening, I wandered over to the grocery store and bought some frosted mini-wheats, a mini-bottle of 2 percent and a little plastic bowl. I fear that I will have to start packing this little blue bowl in my suitcase along with some cereal and a spoon, lest all my travel turn me into the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Woe-Man.