What should I eat at restaurants/ fast food?

sweetpea129

On the nights that i dont want to splurge, I stick with grilled chicken or a salad. No fries. Usually they will let me replace the fries with steamed veggies or fruit. If not then i get the fries to go and bring them home for the kids as a treat.

bcattoes

Eat whatever you want, stay within your calorie goals and you'll be fine.

Gonna have to QFT

Edited to add: and even if you go over your calorie goals once in a while, it's not a big deal in grand scheme of things. An occasional night out, blowing past your calorie goals won't derail and true effort and hard work you put in.

Gonna have to QFT :bigsmile:

While I agree that this is QFT, I believe the OP was asking for general suggestions on how to do this. It's not always easy, especially if you like to frequent non-chain restaurants.

wadedawg

You can get a sirloin steak with a side (or two) of broccoli about anywhere, and come in under 500 calories.

mtogle09

Paleogogo APP on iTunes and Android is awesome!

http://paleogogo.com/

stumblinthrulife

I eat the same at restaurants as at home - whatever fits my macros and calorie goals, preferably with a decent serving of vegetables if possible.

If nothing fits the bill, I get as close as I can, and think no more about it. If I go over one day out of 30, I'm not going to sweat it. That's how eating disorders start.

Mya_Tala

The book "Eat this not that" has a list of different restaurants they have looked at and it will tell you eat this on the menu instead of that. Granted not all restaurants are listed but there's a lot of popular ones on there. It's very helpful when you're on vacation and everyone wants to stop at say burger king. None of it's healthy but it'll tell you what's the least horrific of your choices.

twinkiemon

I go to BK or Mc D's at least once a week.

At BK I get a Whopper Jr (to cut calories you can ask for no mayo, but I like mayo so...yeah...) - (340 cals - 290 w/o mayo), I get a side salad (40 cals) and only use half a pack of dressing which is more than enough for a salad this small (cals here will vary depending on the dressing) and water (or sometimes the low calorie lemonade stuff they have).
At McD's it's always a Happy Meal - 4 chicken nuggets, apple slices, that mini fry they give you now (you can opt to get a 2nd bag of apple slices if you want) and lowfat milk - 410 calories. If I've been good that day or worked out extra hard I might get a 170 calorie ice cream cone for dessert.

For sit down restaurants, a lot of them are coming out with specific menu items under 500-600 calories. My favorite is Applebees - they have a LOT of selections on their healthy menu and I've liked everything I've ordered off of there - my favorite is probably the Napa Chicken and there are enough veggies that you feel full at the end of the meal. Less than 550 calories.

stumblinthrulife

I go to BK or Mc D's at least once a week.

At BK I get a Whopper Jr (to cut calories you can ask for no mayo, but I like mayo so...yeah...) - (340 cals - 290 w/o mayo), I get a side salad (40 cals) and only use half a pack of dressing which is more than enough for a salad this small (cals here will vary depending on the dressing) and water (or sometimes the low calorie lemonade stuff they have).
At McD's it's always a Happy Meal - 4 chicken nuggets, apple slices, that mini fry they give you now (you can opt to get a 2nd bag of apple slices if you want) and lowfat milk - 410 calories. If I've been good that day or worked out extra hard I might get a 170 calorie ice cream cone for dessert.

For sit down restaurants, a lot of them are coming out with specific menu items under 500-600 calories. My favorite is Applebees - they have a LOT of selections on their healthy menu and I've liked everything I've ordered off of there - my favorite is probably the Napa Chicken and there are enough veggies that you feel full at the end of the meal. Less than 550 calories.

And here we have a great example of someone who will probably hit their goals, probably succeed in keeping it off, and who I'm sure continues to enjoy food even as she is losing weight. The approach may not be for everyone, but I have to say it's probably the healthiest method psychologically.

bcattoes

I go to BK or Mc D's at least once a week.

At BK I get a Whopper Jr (to cut calories you can ask for no mayo, but I like mayo so...yeah...) - (340 cals - 290 w/o mayo), I get a side salad (40 cals) and only use half a pack of dressing which is more than enough for a salad this small (cals here will vary depending on the dressing) and water (or sometimes the low calorie lemonade stuff they have).
At McD's it's always a Happy Meal - 4 chicken nuggets, apple slices, that mini fry they give you now (you can opt to get a 2nd bag of apple slices if you want) and lowfat milk - 410 calories. If I've been good that day or worked out extra hard I might get a 170 calorie ice cream cone for dessert.

For sit down restaurants, a lot of them are coming out with specific menu items under 500-600 calories. My favorite is Applebees - they have a LOT of selections on their healthy menu and I've liked everything I've ordered off of there - my favorite is probably the Napa Chicken and there are enough veggies that you feel full at the end of the meal. Less than 550 calories.

And here we have a great example of someone who will probably hit their goals, probably succeed in keeping it off, and who I'm sure continues to enjoy food even as she is losing weight. The approach may not be for everyone, but I have to say it's probably the healthiest method psychologically.

Um, what? How is this person more psychologically sound than other posters.

stumblinthrulife

I go to BK or Mc D's at least once a week.

At BK I get a Whopper Jr (to cut calories you can ask for no mayo, but I like mayo so...yeah...) - (340 cals - 290 w/o mayo), I get a side salad (40 cals) and only use half a pack of dressing which is more than enough for a salad this small (cals here will vary depending on the dressing) and water (or sometimes the low calorie lemonade stuff they have).
At McD's it's always a Happy Meal - 4 chicken nuggets, apple slices, that mini fry they give you now (you can opt to get a 2nd bag of apple slices if you want) and lowfat milk - 410 calories. If I've been good that day or worked out extra hard I might get a 170 calorie ice cream cone for dessert.

For sit down restaurants, a lot of them are coming out with specific menu items under 500-600 calories. My favorite is Applebees - they have a LOT of selections on their healthy menu and I've liked everything I've ordered off of there - my favorite is probably the Napa Chicken and there are enough veggies that you feel full at the end of the meal. Less than 550 calories.

And here we have a great example of someone who will probably hit their goals, probably succeed in keeping it off, and who I'm sure continues to enjoy food even as she is losing weight. The approach may not be for everyone, but I have to say it's probably the healthiest method psychologically.

Um, what? How is this person more psychologically sound than other posters.

I wasn't making a comparison to other posters here. Just saying that in my opinion the most psychologically healthy approach to eating is to not feel guilty about the particular foods one eats, but to instead practice moderation to fit the foods one enjoys into one's diet.

Gidzmo

When I go out with friends to a restaurant and they have absolutely no healthy items on the menu, what do I settle for? : (
I don't want to throw all my hard work off track but I can't avoid going out with people either because they take offence.
I'd pack my own food from home to be honest but that's not awkward for the person i'd be going out with, haha.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Most of the larger chain restaurants in the US now have the calorie contents on the menus. If you're stuck and don't have this information, the following code words will help: grilled, steamed. baked, broiled, or fresh.

2013sk

Depends where you are going...

Restaurants...., chicken or fish dishes / salads/ meat with veg

Fast food.... Mcd's/ KFC/ nandos/ I personally would go for any of the chicken dishes and cut out the chips