So today we went to the Cheesecake Factory.

Since we walked in right before the lunch rush, we were able to seat ourselves at the bar and see the platters going by for the other diners.

At one point, a manager type walked by with two dishes large enough for a colony of birds to bathe at ease and length.  Disgusted and delighted, we asked what those massive platters were and we were informed that those were a California salad and a Barbecue chicken salad.

So salad, right?  That’s healthy.  Except.

There was easily half a pound of onion rings in one plate, and at least six chopped-up rashers of bacon in the other. 

Does that still mean it’s a salad?  Or a cholesterol trap?

And as we sat to eat and watch passersby, and wonder who ate the “salad”, we realized the answer is simple: most of the patrons who walked into the restaurant were overweight to obese.  And those who aren’t heavy, are just greedy –us included.  Whatever we couldn’t eat (and believe me, we tried), we took home.

Portions are ridiculous these days.  This is not just a Cheesecake Factory problem –which was, by the way, quite a tasty place– but a global problem.  All around us, people were not just eating those gigantic portions almost whole but also getting dessert.  When they don’t get gigantic portions, they feel gypped. 

Gigantic portions make you eat more.  Eating more makes you gain weight.  Weight lets in the door for more weight, and so the cycle goes (I’ve already put on like 5 lbs. alone this pregnancy, and it SUCKS).

A thousand-calorie salad with a cheesecake chaser?

Sometimes there are no words.