Caught out at the Food Court

Susie Burrell often has some interesting things to say in relation to nutrition and diet.  In a recent article for The Age, she calculated the calorific content of some food court favourites and the results may shock you.  These are seriously heavy meals that we may incorrectly consider to be light or a lunchtime snack.  

A few of  the BIG surprises:
Chicken Schnitzel Roll = 974 calories and 57.4g fat.
Pasta container = 695 calories and 16g fat.
Stir fry noodles with veggies and oyster sauce = 932 calories and 50g fat.

This doesn't mean that there aren't healthier choices at a food court - but the allure of the greasy, large noodle dishes or the great big foccaccias may override our desire to eat healthy and make the custom sandwich and sushi places almost invisible.

How to overcome this? Well, eating at home before going to the mall is one idea.  Just like the old adage that one shouldn't go supermarket shopping on an empty stomach, maybe we need to hit the mall with a satisfied tummy.  That could result in both a saving of calories and a sizeable chunk of change.  Or try pausing, breathing deeply and thinking to ourselves "Yes, I could have anything I want to eat but I am choosing to have a more healthy option in order to improve my well-being"  That pause can take the "mindless" out of the eating process.

What do you make a bee-line towards at the food court?  Is it a "whopper" in calories?  Or do you grab some sushi handrolls instead?  Inquiring minds want to know!!