How to Eat Healthy at The Cheesecake Factory

The Cheesecake Factory is a chain of restaurants known for their large portions. Unlike most restaurant chains, the Cheesecake Factory does not publish nutritional information about their menu items, which makes healthy eating difficult without some advanced planning.

Difficulty:

Challenging

Instructions

1. Order a "weight management salad." There are a few different types of salads in this category, and they are reported to be "under 590 calories each." These might be a good choice because they offer a few servings of vegetables and grilled meat or fish. You can ask for oil and vinegar on the side rather than the low-fat dressings that are offered, since low-fat dressings are often loaded with preservatives.

2. Choose salmon. There is an herb-crusted salmon and a miso salmon. Miso is a traditional Japanese food that is fermented, and its health benefits have been common knowledge in Japan for hundreds of years.

3. Eat breakfast. The breakfast menu is large, and they serve it all day. Some of the breakfast entrées include chicken sausage, which is lower in fat than traditional pork sausage. You can also load up on the veggies in your omelet.

4. Share the dessert. Of course, desserts are filled with sugar and are not healthy, especially if you are trying to lose weight. However, depriving yourself if you really want something is generally not a good idea either. Why not share The Cheesecake Factory's cheesecake with a few friends; that way you'll get to see what all the fuss is about without feeling awful the next day.

Tips & Warnings

• You can find a lot of online information about cutting calories when dining at the Cheesecake Factory, but these choices aren't always the healthiest. You are better off eating real food--like real eggs instead of Eggbeaters and olive oil and vinegar instead of low-fat salad dressings. Eating heavily processed foods is never a good idea; you might save some calories, but you are adding stress to your digestive system when you ingest lots of chemicals.