I am going to applebees for dinner... advice/support needed

SolidGoaled

I will definitely take a look at their 550 menu - and I threw in an extra workout today (burned 465 cals) just so I could have an appetizer, too.

Any ideas on what to enjoy and what to avoid?? I am doing so well - I don't want to blow it.

tara3103

I usually get a 6ox sirloin and a side of steamed veggies. I don't eat seafood, so having a steak makes me feel like I'm having a cheat meal, but its not too bad. Enjoy!

HolsDoinIt

their 550 or less steak w/ shrimp and steamed brocolli is awesome!! plus its good for you..

jessemerson86

Be careful of their under 550 calorie meals...they're loaded with sodium (most have almost the recommended daily totals in just the one meal). I suggest looking up their nutrition information and looking at both calories and sodium of the items that interest you then making your decision from there.

muth3rluvx2

Some of those 550 meals look danged good!! And shrimp doesn't have alot of cals so you can eat a ton of them! :-)

Enjoy your dinner - that's a good choice of place to go.

aks1985

oh sheesh applebees is a name i cringe about...each time i've eaten there i end up overloading on my daily calories...like to the point where one dessert is equivalent to my entire day's calorie intake.

nonetheless, i prefer the tilapia...its really nice...with brocolli. avoid the appetizers

ShellyMacchi

if you are watching your sodium, be careful, cause i found their low cal menu VERY high in sodium

EZGruv

I believe they have nutrition facts on their website. If not, ask for them when you get there.

in_it_2_win_it

I was just there last night.. there is an under 500 chicken entree.. that I had last night I can't remember what I had.. but it was chicken and cheese.. and onions and then had some veggies

tishamarieann

There is a tilapia with veggies and rice its got a spicy kick to it that is awesome, n the tilapia is huge the meal is barely 400 calories its one of the weight watcher meals!!1

KWSR16

I went a while ago for me and my fiance's anniversary and had the shrimp skewers and island rice (I think it is) and it was really good! Very filling. Plus I got to eat about 1/4th of our dessert...the Blondie!! MMMMM SO GOOD!! I would definately stay with the under 550 cal menu. They have their actual cal's and stuff on thier website. Check it out before you go to make sure you know exactly how much you can eat so your not guessing and end up going waaay over. (Its very easy to do at Applebee's sad day...its one of my favorite restaurants.)

Good luck and enjoy! :drinker:

agdeierl

I'm sure they probably are loaded with sodium. The last time I went there was a while ago, and I wasn't tracking sodium at that time. I got the asiago peppercorn steak. It was pretty good. I haven't tried the dijon chicken with portabellos, but it looks good too! If you get the steak, I would suggest asking them to lay off or go easy on the butter for the veggies, because when I ate them, I could taste that they were practically SOAKED in butter!

MelissaE27

their 550 or less steak w/ shrimp and steamed brocolli is awesome!! plus its good for you..

I agree this is really good!

dawnular

The 550 calorie chicken dijon and mushroom dish is really good. I put lemon juice on the brocolli instead of butter and it tastes great!

agdeierl

Oh and whatever you do, I would do your best to stay away from their spinach artichoke dip as absolutely heavenly as it tastes! It is deadly. Go check the nutrition stats on their website if you don't believe me!

hroush

I like getting the peppercorn steak with just veggies. That filled me up without having an appetizer. Another thing you can do is get a meal and then immediately cut it in half and only eat one side and take the rest home. It's half the calories and twice the goodness! My wife did this with the orange chicken and it filled her up twice over (probably could have been 3 times), but I don't know what the nutrient values are on that (not on under 550 menu).

cobygrey

I usually get a 6ox sirloin and a side of steamed veggies. I don't eat seafood, so having a steak makes me feel like I'm having a cheat meal, but its not too bad. Enjoy!

I love this dish!!!

agoessli

Check the sodium! When I went there with my coworkers I just ended up eating a house salad because it wasn't worth it to me to take in all that sodium. But...if you are going to treat yourself, which is definitely deserved once in a while, just make sure you check the sodium as well as the calories. Have fun!

MisdemeanorM

if you get the veggies be sure to ask them not to put butter on them. Lots of restaurants make the veggies then put so much crap on that you could have just had the french fries! I always verify with the server that it's just plain steamed not buttered or oiled.

I LOVE artichoke dip, but it's really high in cals so only go for a couple dips if you get it. I eat out in a restaurant so seldom (like once a month, though these last couple months have been bad since the hubby keeps getting take out :grumble:) that i usually splurge a bit when I do.

And whatever you get. Just eat 1/2 and bring home the other 1/2 for tomorrow.

They have some good salads too on their 2 for 20. Don't get the meatball pasta thing - tons of calories. I sometimes have the Oriental chicken salad, which can't be that bad since it's just crackers and 2 chicken tenders (i prefer fried) with sliced almonds. I get it w/out dressing though (which is probably the only thing that redeems the cal count) and squeeze on some lemon juice. Tasty!

amylary

the cajun tilapia is so so great and i do no rice double veggies and still about 320 calories for the whole meal and lots of protien !!!!! its in MFP database

lizdavis07

i went there last night and got the teriyaki chicken pasta on the low cal menu...i believe it was around 490 calories. Unfortunately, i didnt care for it very much, so i didnt even eat half of those calories. I guess that was a good thing though because i did splurge a little on the spinach and articoke dip my friend ordered...whoops

VictoriaV87

I didn't read everyones comments so if Im giving you repeat information I'm sorry. In Eat this Not that the Non-Diet weight loss solution the restaurant it has a chapter on what off their menue other than other items. so for Applebees:Eat the Steak & Grilled Shrimp for 390 cals. 6g sat. fat and 1890mg sodium or the Bruschetta Chicken Sandwitch 530 cals. 3.5 sat. fat., and 1500mg sodium or the Garlic Herb Chicken for 370 cals. 1g sat. fat and 1930mg sodium." Applebee's is one of the last chains that RUFUSES to offer comprehensive nutritional data for thier food". I've stopped going all together.

Hope this information helps...Goodluck : )

hroush

if you get the veggies be sure to ask them not to put butter on them. Lots of restaurants make the veggies then put so much crap on that you could have just had the french fries! I always verify with the server that it's just plain steamed not buttered or oiled.

Yup, made that mistake the other night :grumble: .

PoeRaven

The garlic chicken, steamed broccoli and red potatoes is delish and under 400 calories! :drinker:

MSDRIZZ

their 550 or less steak w/ shrimp and steamed brocolli is awesome!! plus its good for you..

Agree!

AlliBarlik

I had this meal last night. It was pretty good. Avoid appetizers and dessert. The veggies were good that came with it.

AlliBarlik

I had this meal last night. It was pretty good. Avoid appetizers and dessert. The veggies were good that came with it.

heyitsmekatie

so many good choices at applebees!!! i had their cajun tilapia on tuesday and it was delicious!! really low in calories and pretty filling too! also, their potato & steak salad is really good. their chicken paradise salad is awesome too! i don't think i've tried one of their low calorie meals that wasn't surprisingly tasty!

heyitsmekatie

There is a tilapia with veggies and rice its got a spicy kick to it that is awesome, n the tilapia is huge the meal is barely 400 calories its one of the weight watcher meals!!1

this is what i ate on tuesday! it was really, really good!

heyitsmekatie

if you get the veggies be sure to ask them not to put butter on them. Lots of restaurants make the veggies then put so much crap on that you could have just had the french fries! I always verify with the server that it's just plain steamed not buttered or oiled.

Yup, made that mistake the other night :grumble: .

plus, i think the "butter" they use tastes like crap!

Atlantique

I used to travel a great deal for work so that meant many dinners with clients at their choice of restaurant. Believe it or not, back in those days I had no weight problems!

What I would always do was to order a salad first and eat ALL of it (dressing on the side). Honestly, after eating that many greens, I didn't have much room for whatever entree I ordered!

But when the entree came, again, I ate the veggies first, every time.

For me, the huge amount of greens and veggies made it literally impossible for me to do much damage with any entree choice at all! I was just too full to have more than a few bites of the entrees, and when you're staying in a hotel, there's no 'doggie bag'.

Also, as I was eating, heartily, no one gave me any grief at the meals.