Lets Do Lunch!

Since the New York City Health Code required Manhattan restaurants, and even mobile food stands, to post calorie information on their menu boards and menus, New Yorkers have been in shock over the high calories they were devouring daily without a clue.

I decided to apply the same level of caloric disclosure to lunch options in Harrison and see how we "weighed in" on the matter. (Spoiler Alert: If you want to continue to enjoy your daily restaurant fix guilt-free, you may want to stop reading now).

If you try to eat light and make your own salad at Harrison Bagels & More on Halstead Avenue, you may still be in for a surprise.

While a plain bowl of greens will only come to around 100 calories, just mixing in balsamic vinaigrette dressing can add another 210 calories to the mix. And that's not counting adding the delicious looking additional salad options the store offers, from chick peas to beets and corn, that are displayed right under your salivating taste buds. By adding in avocado, blue cheese and bacon bits, thereby switching that green salad to a cobb salad, you jump to a whopping 800 calories.

Putting that in perspective, if you just want to maintain your weight, - forget about losing it- an average sedentary women can eat just 1500 calories per day, and a male just 1800-2000 calories. That Cobb salad can account for more than half your daily caloric allowance. And just one hundred extra calories a day adds up to ten pounds weight gain a year.

If you head down to Quiznos and get a large Tuna Melt Sub including cheese and dressing, you will be consuming 2090 calories. You will have eaten nearly two days worth of calories in just that one sandwich.

Management at Trattoria Vivolo said their most popular lunch dishes are Chicken Parmigian and Penne Vodka. While the former will only run about 430 calories, the latter can easily run up to 1200 calories per serving.

Walk down Halstead Avenue and you run into several pizza stores including Harrison Pizza & Pasta, and Pizza 2000. Grabbing a plain slice on the run will cost you 230 calories. A bagel and cream cheese at one of the delis will be 500 calories.

New York found that Manhattanites get a third or more of their calories away from home. While residents eat out  considerably less in Westchester, even a quick run into Dunkin Donuts on Halstead Avenue once a week can affect your year-end weigh in.

Their popular iced caramel latte is 180 calories and add  a muffin and you are up to 740 calories for your snack – virtually half your daily calorie allowance.

But help is in sight.

Harrison food vendors are well aware of the rising interest in health and low calorie foods, and are providing more calorie conscious alternatives. Our pizza stores offer lower calorie vegetarian pizza toppings, the bagel store has increased its salad offerings, and even Dunkin Donuts has low calorie meal options such as their Egg White Turkey Flatbread.

So the choice is up to you.

You can take these calorie figures and change your choices when in town for lunch. Or, just revel in the fact that the New York City requirement for caloric transparency has not spread to Westchester and enjoy every mouthful in caloric oblivion.