I recently was hired at the Cheesecake Factory and today was my first day—orientation to be exact. As we were going through the papers and booklets, obviously most of the talk is going to be about customer care.

As we all know, it is becoming more of a nationwide thing for restaurants to present nutritional information on their menus. This is definitely something our manager talked to us about.

Our manager mentioned that in just 1 slice of cheesecake, there could be about 1,400 calories in just once slice. Some dishes can have 1,950 calories just in their Sunday brunch. Knowing that most people go to the Cheesecake Factory for cheesecake specifically, think about it for a second. A Sunday brunch and a slice of cheesecake is 1950 calories + 1400 calories = 3,350 calories in just one sitting. That is also excluding any drinks consumed other than water. They also provide every table with bread and butter before beginning their meal.

For older adults, they only need to consume about 1,600 calories per day. Most children, teenage girls, and active woman only need about 2,200 calories per day. If women are breastfeeding or pregnant, they will probably need more calories. 2,800 calories are recommended for teenage boys, men, and extremely active women.

By no means am I saying that there are not healthy alternatives. Most food on the menu do not reach 1,900 calories per serving; however, with the right combination of menu items, you are consuming close to double of your calorie intake in just one sitting—and that’s only brunch!

When asked by one of the students in training what we are supposed to do if someone mentions how many calories are in a specific item, we are told to respond with something positive such as “it may have , but it will be the BEST calories you’ll ever have!” I am not disagreeing with that…I thoroughly enjoy most of the food that I have tried there. However, is that great taste or craving worth all of the calories?

We were also told that if we planned on “eating light” that we should not indulge in a piece of cheesecake. Something off of the appetizer menu would be much better since there are not as many calories. Although I doubt that people are consuming Cheesecake Factory foods on a daily basis, it would be interesting to see a “Super Size Me” version of chain restaurants.

Although I am looking forward to my job, there will always be guilt in knowing how many calories I am consuming when I decide to treat myself with a piece of cheesecake, even if they may be the best calories I will ever consume!

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