According to recent survey results by the National Restaurant Association 3 out of 4 American adults are trying to eat a healthier diet than they were a couple of years ago. That’s good news. However, it may not translate into fewer calories consumed when eating out. If anything Americans are eating just as much if not more.

There seems to be a misperception about healthy foods and calories. Healthy and low calorie are not necessarily one and the same. The sad truth is that no matter how careful you may be it is all too easy to consume more calories then you might estimate. Why is that?

The results of a 2008 study published in the Journal of Consumer Research suggests that consumers are more likely to underestimate the total calories eaten when they choose food that is perceived as being healthy as opposed to unhealthy. Although the research involved perceptions of food from fast-food restaurants, I suspect the same would hold true for other restaurants as well.

The participants in the study underestimated the number of calories in main dishes. Believing that they were eating fewer calories then they actually were, they went on to choose additional calories in the form of side dishes, drinks, or desserts. In addition, these extra dishes had up to 131 percent more calories if the main dish was perceived as being healthy versus unhealthy.

Image via Wikipedia Knowing the calorie count ahead of time would solve some of the problem. But that’s a lot easier said then done! What I try to do is keep in mind those restaurants that have healthier food choices along with lower calorie counts. (A Low Calorie Restaurant Food Guide) When it is just my husband and me that works reasonably well. Throw children, other family, or friends into the mix and it doesn’t work quite so well!

Just as may happen to you, I end up at restaurants without enough advance knowledge of the food choices and calorie counts. When this happens the truth of the matter is that I can and do misjudge the calorie count. I can think of a couple of examples of situations that I encountered recently.

A few months back, I was at Bruegger’s with family. I love bagels as much or more than anyone else! But I tend to avoid this restaurant because I have found most of the choices on the menu to be high calorie. (Some of the soups seem to be healthy low calorie choices.) The day I was there, I encountered a new sandwich offering called the “softwich”. As I recall there were a couple of healthy sounding possibilities with this new line, the Mediterranean Softwich (hummus, muenster cheese, sun dried tomato spread, lettuce, and red onions) and the Thai Peanut Chicken Softwich (chicken fajita strips, cucumber, peanut sauce, lettuce, alfalfa sprouts, and a little cream cheese).

I enquired about the softwich and it was explained to me that a softwich is basically a bagel but it is softer and not so dense. So I reasoned that it would have fewer calories then the typical large and dense bagel. I was wrong. It is actually larger than a regular bagel and has more calories not less! I should have asked for the calorie count. (At chain restaurants this information should be available.)

I chose to order a Thai Peanut Chicken Softwich instead of the Mediterranean. Fortunately, that turned out to be the better choice in terms of calories but it was still more then I would have liked.

Mediterranean Softwich (790 Calories - Ouch!)

15 grams saturated fat
11 grams dietary fiber
13 grams of sugar
30 grams of protein

(15 grams of saturated fat and 13 grams of sugar are a lot for a seemingly healthy sandwich!)

Thai Peanut Chicken Softwich (590 Calories!)

2.5 grams of saturated fat
5 grams of fiber
18 grams of sugar (Likely in the sauce which came served on the side)
36 grams of protein

I chose to use very little sauce on my Thai Peanut Chicken Softwich and as such knocked the calorie count down to maybe 500 calories or so. That was better but still a good 50-100 calories more than I had estimated. It’s just all too easy to do.

Another situation I encountered was with a “treat” I selected to go with my cafe latte (made with skim milk) from Starbucks yesterday. I can’t afford to eat sweets very often but there it was, a Berry Stella looking and “sounding” as healthy and tempting as a treat could be.

A new offering from sometime in July, the Berry Stella is a star-shaped bakery treat listed as having “whole grain goodness”. The small cake-like offering is topped with raspberries, blueberries, and whole oats. It caught my eye, seemed to be a “healthy” choice, and I simply couldn’t walk away…

How did I fare? Well that tasty little treat had 280 calories! Was it healthy? For a treat, yes. Low calorie? No! One Petite Vanilla Scone, on the other hand, has only 130 calories. However, the first three ingredients for the Berry Stella listed in order are oats, brown sugar, and whole wheat flour. The first three ingredients for the Petite Vanilla Scone are enriched wheat flour, vanilla bean glaze (basically sugar), and heavy cream.

Berry Stella is the healthier but higher calorie choice. So do you choose healthy or lower calorie? My recommendation is to go with the healthier choice most of the time. BUT if you don’t know the calorie count (if possible do ask!) and you are on a low calorie diet, then only eat half. Save half for later or share with a friend!

Have a great week, watch those calories and, whenever possible, eat healthy!