Best chain restaurants for low-cal meals?

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erixitl
erixitl Posts: 22 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi guys. I was wondering what your favorite chain restaurants are for low-cal meals. My boyfriend loves to eat out. He's been very tolerant so far of eating at home so I can stay on track, but I can tell he'd like to incorporate some more meals out back into the routine. The times that we have gone out, he's been great about asking me where I want to go so that I'll be able to find something that works within my calorie count (I'm on a 1200 calorie allotment). I'm just trying to get some more ideas of places that might be reasonable. Obviously portion control and looking up calorie contents ahead of time is a must...just wondering what you all have found.

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  • Tanyaclare
    Tanyaclare Posts: 23 Member
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    Nando's they do loads of chicken, and they also do some great salads without dressings, and they put all there calories on the web so you can plan before you go!
  • biddy249
    biddy249 Posts: 76 Member
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    Applebees has a good offering of low cal meals. I too am searching for some addtional options.
  • kendie_mac
    kendie_mac Posts: 11 Member
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    I have a few favorites. Subway & Panera Bread are good lunch places. My favorite dinner places so far Red Lobster & Logan's Roadhouse are great because they have a healthy eating section with great food. On the Border (if you have one) is probably my favorite. I could mix & match, but for lunch the Chicken Salad w/ mango citrus vinegarette is only 290 cal. & for dinner Salsa Chicken is around 550, but it could be closer to 400 if you sub out the rice for an extra serving of veg.

    Of course, as always, no matter were you go be careful with the "extras" like bread, chips, etc. The biggest help for me is doing my research before I go, read the nutritional info. & pick me meal within my calorie range when I'm at home, not hungry, not tempted.
  • Jesea
    Jesea Posts: 374 Member
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    Last night we planned to go to lunch with my husband's sister. They chose a place, and I went online to figure out what I should order, especially since I just got started and didn't want to blow it. At the last minute, she changed her mind and we ended up at Red Robin, with no plan in place for me. I ended up ordering the Simply Grilled Chicken Salad, without the cheese, ate 1/2 and hoped for the best. I was thrilled when we got home to find out that the half I ate was less than 400 calories! Although the smell of burgers and fries made it really hard, the salad itself was tasty. I did snitch a fry or 2, though ;)
  • Tari_D
    Tari_D Posts: 121 Member
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    Frankie and Benny's has a special section on it's menu of low calorie options including yummy chocolate pancakes which are 200 calories I think. I'd definately recommend there.
  • _Shelley_
    _Shelley_ Posts: 206
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    I had a good chuckle over this the other day when my friend and I met at Chili's for lunch. I was super nervous going in, as I know their food is BEYOND bad for me and I'm a sucker for chips & salsa.

    They now have a "Light" menu that comes with a barcode scanner for the nutrition facts. I laughed when ALL of the items, except one (petite sirloin with brocc and corn (which I subbed for rice)), were over 600 calories! 600 is NOT light. Nope nope nope. I bet you can guess what I had haha.

    It is hard to find good food at those chain places but subbing out is very helpful.
  • Lesa_Sass
    Lesa_Sass Posts: 2,213 Member
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    The best thing for you to do is pick out some of your local favs and look to see if they have the nutritional information on their website. That is what I do. This way I know what I am getting myself into. In most restaurants in my area, I know more about the nutritional values of the food than the servers do.

    Also, if you incorporate some exercise into your day, you get a few more calories to eat. :)

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