Italian Conundrums: Split the meal, Split the calories

 

http://www.publix.com/aprons/meals/MainDish/SimpleMeal.do?mealId=500&mealGroupId=10

     
      Wow. You always know when you eat any type of pasta that it is a relatively heavy dish. Whether it's covered in olive oil (no health there) or butter (not great either) or a tomato or white sauce, pasta is hard to stop eating and hard to recover from. Not saying there's anything wrong with a nice serving of pasta for dinner with fresh tomatoes, some cheese, and basil, but in most restaurants the portions are made for two people but advertised as being fit for one.

For example.
1. Olive Garden's chicken parmigiana

 

http://biggestmenu.com/rdr/FL/Orlando/Olive-Garden-Italian-Restaurant-Orlando-1595675/Tour-of-Italy-55741

     Breaded chicken, tomato sauce, fettuccine, white pasta sauce, AND enough Parmesan cheese to make the whole plate look white, all in one dish? Sound great, right? It also sounds like enough food to be split between three people, which would be the much better option when eating a dish like this... takes some of the hurt away from the 1,090 calories that comes on this plate! 

2. Olive Garden's fettuccine Alfredo 

  

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Recipes/recipe?id=8147099

     Ah, nothing better than a delicious, rich bowl of fettuccine with creamy Alfredo sauce. But when a dish like this is savored and eaten slowly, most people who have eaten regular meals during the day can only eat about 1/3 - 1/2 of a concoction like this. The white cream sauce is ridiculously rich, and a lot for our bodies to process. Top that off with all the carbs from the pasta, and you have another dish that would be better split by two than consumed by one. Plus, knowing that the dish alone is 1,220 calories isn't the best feeling to add to the bloated feeling you'd get by eating this whole thing yourself.

3. Macaroni Grill's eggplant Parmesan

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mortonfox/145237160/

      Eggplant is a vegetable, right? And tomato sauce... that's not too unhealthy. So there's a little bit of cheese, so what? As a whole, it's a pretty good-for-you dish! WRONG. This huge portion is only Macaroni Grill's LUNCH size. The dinner size is bigger than this. And if a whopping 1,240 calories (576 of those are from FAT) means the dish is healthy, then this meal is probably one of the better choices that the restaurant offers!

4. Domino's Thin & Crispy Pepperoni Pizza, size large

 

http://www.ehow.com/how_2193638_money-pizza.html

       One slice of a large, thin & crispy pepperoni pizza is NOT that sizable. It's pretty much an average pizza slice, and who ever eats just one piece of pizza, especially if the pieces are average in size? People who are aware that each slice of this pizza is 300 calories do. Although pepperoni tastes good, opt for a cheese pizza. If you are really craving that meat, order the smallest size available and do a half and half deal, half pepperoni, half cheese. That way, the most damage you'll be able to do is a maximum of 2 slices of pepperoni pizza (600 calories...EEK) because the smallest pizza is a 4 slice pizza. 

  

      So to sum this up, it's really just about portion control. If you feel like it's hard to stop eating what's in front of you even if you are full, ask someone before dinner if they can split it with you.  Make sure to get a salad or other healthy appetizer so your stomach doesn't feel shortchanged. And if there is no one to split it with you, mentally draw a halfway mark down your dish, and once you reach that point discreetly douse the other half with so much pepper you couldn't stand to take another bite. (Make sure to offer bites to your family and friends first before doing this).

**All calorie sums are found from www.caloriecount.about.com**