Dining fit at a greasy spoon: Luna Park Cafe

June 1, 3:57 PMSeattle Healthy Trends ExaminerAnnette Herrick

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Luna Park Cafe just off the West Seattle bridge

Luna Park Café, just off the West Seattle Bridge, is a wondrous greasy spoon. Omelets, burgers, and milkshakes are its specialty. The zany staff and jukebox make for a fun filled experience that will lighten your heart as you walk out the door.

Truth be told, you could easily gobble up 1500 calories in one setting. How can you get through a meal without blowing it? The goal at this restaurant is not to be perfect, pious, or anorexic.

Katie Schielke, whose goal is to lose 8 pounds, ordered the Eggs Florentine to replace her traditional choice of Eggs Benedict. Both of these come with an english muffin, poached eggs, and hollandaise sauce. The Florentine comes with spinach instead of ham. Her traditional Eggs Benedict could amount to about 800 calories. With her Florentine she asked for a side of fruit to replace the greasy hash browns. She was told it comes in sugary syrup, then asked for a fruit smoothie and found there’s sugar in that. So in the end she opted for a salad on the side. These changes totaled about 450 calories instead of 800. She could have also considered sliced tomatoes or oranges.

Another great option is the Lamma, an omelet with spinach and bacon. Hash browns and toast are on the side. If you substitute mushrooms for the bacon and ask for no toast you can save yourself 300 calories.

In both of these scenarios vegetables abound. The reason is three-fold. They take longer to eat and have fewer calories. You can walk out the door feeling good instead of sloggly!

Why try so hard at a burger joint? Consider how much you eat out. As a kid, did you go out to eat only for special occasions? If so, the whole idea was to treat yourself. Now, we are part of a culture of eating out daily, and it’s no longer okay to treat ourselves every time we go out!

If you have any great dining fit ideas you'd like to share, please push "add a comment" up above.