It’s great if you have a personal nutritionist, isn’t it? That means you have an authority figure who knows what you should or shouldn’t eat, depending on your diet. Whether you’re just reducing calories for weight loss (or weight maintenance), avoiding sodium to help with your high blood pressure, or following a keto diet with low carbs, your nutritionist generally can help.
When it comes to advice, it’s best to trust your nutritionist than follow the generic advice you find online. And when it comes to fast food, most nutritionists will say the same thing. Avoid visiting fast-food joints in the first place.
But that’s just impossible to do in the long run. Sooner or later, you’ll find yourself in a fast-food joint, and then in all likelihood you’ll ruin whatever diet plan you’re on.
So, what happens when you’re at Hooters? Aside from admiring the servers, you may want to cast a sharp eye at the menu and identify the items you really don’t want to get. That is, if you don’t want to enrage your nutritionist.
The prices (as you can see on PriceListo.com) are reasonable, but you have a higher price to pay with the wrong orders. Thus, let’s take a look at your list of suspects:
Fish and Chips
This comes with 1590 calories. That’s really bad, especially when you consider that this order comes with more calories than the worst of the burger options at hooters. If you’re trying to lose weight, then this single menu item basically provides your entire day’s allotment of calories.
Sure, you get 42 g of protein. But you also get 101 g of fat with 17 g of saturated fat, 235 mg of cholesterol (that’s more than ¾ of your daily cholesterol allotment), 1,290 mg of sodium, and 128 g of total carbs.
You’re basically get a whole day’s worth of fat and carbs, while the sodium level isn’t good if you have high blood pressure issues.
Chicken Philly Cheesesteak
Yes, the Philly Cheesesteak is a classic. And if you’re looking for a high-protein option, then it’s hard to beat the 68 g of protein you get here.
But you may want to avoid it, especially with chicken. Surprisingly, it has more calories with chicken at 1,500 calories, than what you get with the beef version (which comes at 1,400 calories).
The sodium level is insane as well, since it comes with 4,420 mg of sodium. That’s really bad, considering that regular folks (those without heart or high blood pressure issues) are advised to limit their sodium intake to just 2,300 mg at the most. That means you’re getting 2 days’ worth of sodium in one go.
This also comes with the highest carb level among the other high-calorie sandwiches at 116 g of carbs, plus the 25 g of saturated fat is the same level of saturated fat you get if you consume an entire bucket of fried chicken. Think about that for a moment.
Western BBQ Burger
This is another high-calorie option, and it even has more calories than the Chicken Philly Cheesesteak at 1,510 calories. That’s more than the calories you’ll get by eating a whole tub of vanilla ice cream.
We just listed this below the Chicken Philly Cheesesteak because the sodium level is lower. But that doesn’t mean the sodium content is good. You can’t say that about a sandwich with 3,500 mg of sodium. That’s about a day and half’s worth of sodium in a single sandwich.
The saturated fat level is also at 29 g, and if you’re keeping score that’s higher than with the Chicken Philly Cheesesteak. It doesn’t really matter that you’re getting a whopping serving of protein at 65 g. The bad stuff negates all the good of the protein.
Fried Chicken Caesar Salad
Perhaps you’re thinking that a regular Caesar salad should be healthy enough for anyone. But that’s not true of the Chicken Caesar Salad at Hooters. While you only get 320 calories with the Chicken Garden Salad, with the Chicken Caesar Salad, that increases to 890 calories.
The 2,630 mg of sodium also doesn’t help your health at all, since that’s more sodium than you ought to consume for the entire day. In contrast, the Chicken Garden Salad only has 590 mg of sodium. That’s a lot more reasonable, which is why that’s the salad you should order instead.
Tater Tots
Looking for a nice side dish? Then look beyond the Tater Tots, since they’re not nice at all. Not when an order comes with 1,310 calories along with a whopping 3,140 mg of sodium. You also get too many refined carbs as well. These are the “bad” carbs you just want to avoid.
In general, you just don’t want anymore fried food when you’re looking for a good side dish. Stick to fruits and veggies, and the Side Garden Salad is a great alternative. That’s basically the smaller version of the terrific Chicken Garden Salad.
Final Words
Don’t go for any of the desserts, if you know what’s good for you. After all, with the appetizers, main dish, and side dish, you should feel full by then!