I just got burned on a road trip over the Labor Day weekend. I found myself in a seafood restaurant where the only thing I could afford in both price and carbs (or so I thought) was a stuffed seafood platter:

1/2 lobster stuffed
4 stuffed shrimp
1 stuffed clam
broccoli
small salad

I intially figured this meal at around 12-15 carb grams (OK for me, I am on OWL) but I didn't really know what was in the stuffing - I assumed mostly crabmeat. It must have been really bread heavy or there was sugar somewhere because two days later I had gained ONE POUND. The rest of the day was 12 grams. No other meal I had could have caused this. It was a delicious, wonderful, meal of course - but I paid the price. Please be careful in restaurants, there is really no margin for error. My total for the day must have been well over 30.

If a restaurant meal says "stuffed with crab", ASK if it is REALLY crabmeat or that "imitation crab" or sealegs stuff. It can be shaped into sticks, legs, cakes, and other shapes. Or ground up again and used for stuffing because it is MUCH cheaper than real crab meat.

The imitation is made from a small fish called pollock - caught off Alaska among other places. After being ground, it is flavoured by the addition of a broth. The broth is made by boiling crab SHELLS to extract the flavour and adding SUGAR & some other stuff like wheat. Then they add red colouring which may also contain sugar. It is very high carb for its size.

You're right - diner beware! At least now you know a question to ask first.
That pound will soon be gone.

Good grief! Thanks for that Tofi, that sure sounds like the culprit. We gotta watch out for any 'imitation' food I guess...

JeffE

I also wonder if some stuffings, including seafood, might also have bread crumbs or cracker crumbs. Not sure if a restaurant would use those items, but I know I did when making salmon cakes at home.

I'd imagine one could find fillers (like bready type stuff) in all kinds of foods at restaurants.

Ginger in MD

Hi Jeff,

The old saying, "buyer beware" has new meaning, doesn't it? Thanks for the warning. If we decide to cheat, that's one thing, but it's really annoying when you cheat without know it.

You might be interested in this site....
http://www.dwlz.com/restaurants.html

It's a list of several restaurants with a breakdown of their menus. Not all show carbs (the list was originally intended for WW--poor fools), but its gradually being updated.

judy