Restaurants :(

ScaredCaterpillar

It seems that being an adult means catching up with friends over dinner and drinks - both a trap for calories.
I always tell myself that I'm going to be healthy and order a salad or some grilled veggies and focus on my friends and not the food... but then I see the menu and it all looks SO DELICIOUS!

Portion size is my even weaker area. There's no way I can stop and take half home when a delicious bowl of pasta is sitting in front of me.

Do you guys have any tips on how to make sure you make healthy choices at restaurants? I've been trying to see the menu beforehand so I can talk myself into craving a delicious salmon salad, but it doesn't quite work. Weekends are my worst time for restaurants.

Or... what are healthy alternatives that you and your friends do instead of going out to eat? Movies? Bowling? Anything helps!

JohnMessmer

I have a great idea for portion control, ask for a to-go box when you order to be delivered with your order. Set you portion up first and place the excess in the box. This eliminates having to stop in the middle while all that yumminess is staring at you. Your friends probably won't care and if they seem to, just tell them there is no way you could eat all of that food :-)

laurenz2501

I have a great idea for portion control, ask for a to-go box when you order to be delivered with your order. Set you portion up first and place the excess in the box.

^^ what he said. Also, eat something small before you go out: a piece of fruit or a few slices of deli sliced turkey for some protein or something. just enough to take the edge off so you're not starving when you get to the restaurant.

purple_tux1

For many menu items, you can ask for a 1/2 order. Other than that, you will need to learn to say 'no' to yourself if you really want to lose weight. Temptation is everywhere.

mearlie

I have a great idea for portion control, ask for a to-go box when you order to be delivered with your order. Set you portion up first and place the excess in the box.

^^ what he said. Also, eat something small before you go out: a piece of fruit or a few slices of deli sliced turkey for some protein or something. just enough to take the edge off so you're not starving when you get to the restaurant.

I love both these ideas! And I think I will do the takeout thing and just TELL my friends the truth! I have no self control so I'm getting half my meal boxed up to prevent me from over-eating. LOVE IT! And it's a great idea to eat a little something ahead too. THANKS for the ideas, I'm glad you posted this thread!

RMLMoore

Sometimes when I know it's too tempting, I don't even look the the menu. Just order grilled fish or chicken with a side salad, dressing on the side or steamed veggies. If I limit the options, I seem to do better.

slkehl

Suggest restaurants with healthier menus or scout out the menu ahead of time.

delorispiper

With regard to other things to do besides going out to eat with your friends, I have what I call "Save me from my bad self" night, where we invite friends over to an evening of board games. My husband and I went out and purchased every game we could find. When our friends come over, we spend all night playing games, and it is great fun! I have nutritious snacks on hand, no alcohol because that will make you food inhibitions go out the window. Just an idea!

mizzjessie

Eating something before does nothing for me. It's the temptation of the bad things on the menu that is hard for me. I try to always ask for a to go box so that I can control the amount that I am eating at that time. I also try and always figure out what i am eating before and stick to that.

Jymm

Just got home for Appleby's. They had a good selection of meals under 550 calories. Ate at Ruby tuesday the other day they had the same kind of deal on thier menu. Not too bad I say. You could just order form the kids menu. The most insideous calories come from drinks, keep it at water and you'll have a better time tracking things.

j1wright

Don't look at the menu. Order what you know you can have. Go ahead and log it in MFP before you go.

My friend and I go shopping and get Mani's and Pedi's as well as going out to eat so we are not spending a whole bunch of time at a restaurant. Walking around shopping gives me a few extra calories since I have been walking around. If you only have time for food, ask a friend to share an entree.

redhousecat

hubby and I share one entree.

vabchloser

I enlist the help of my friends. The "real" friends are the ones that help. I say something like this, "I have no self control, please help me make a good choice and I'm only allowed one beer."

One of my very close co-workers will not even flinch and call me out if I order something "off plan." When we go out to eat, he will stand right there and tell me I need to pick something else. I know that sounds weird, but I will tell him he's right 90% of the time and change my order. Sometimes I tell him to back off...and he will...but he always helps the next time around. He's a good friend.

Troublemonster

One of the things I have liked about MFP is that it has taught me the consequences attached to certain kinds of foods. Having learned that I now look at the menu and order based on what items I know are going to be trouble, for example that big plate of pasta vs a grilled steak.

Another way to handle it would be to create a bigger deficit going into the meal, either kick your own butt at the gym pre-dinner or save up some some calories that day, or both.

If none of those are doable then you'll have to do the old fashioned "work your butt off the next day" at the gym to burn the excess you ate in the evening.

Filet mignon is a nice replacement for a ribeye and is most often offered in a reasonable portion size, as is sirloin.

martintanz

Many restaurants have their menus posted online. So if you know where you are meeting your friends, scope out the menu ahead of time and use MFP to figure out what the damage will be, rather than just winging it when the server is standing there taking your order. Just decide ahead of time what you will eat and stick with it.

If for some reason you find yourself at a bar, tavern, or restaurant on the spur of the moment, stay away from the "free" dinner rolls or chips a lot of places bring, avoid deep fried anything, pastas with creamy, cheesy, or oily sauces, and desserts. If you order a burger or a sandwich, never just let them bring fries. If you can substitute a salad or vegetable, do it because it will be hard to resist a plate of fries once it is sitting in front of you. When you order salad, always ask for dressing on the side so you can control portion size of the dressing.

And don't forget drinks. Some are loaded with calories, so use MFP ahead of time to determine what to go with, and how many. It is hard, but if you want to lose weight, you might have to stick with water, club soda, unsweetened iced tea, or black coffee while your friends are slamming down Mageritas, beer, or flavored martinis.

donnamariewilliams

Sometimes my husband and split a meal. Even if they charge a little more, you still have $$$ and don't eat as much. The trick for us is to find something we both like! :bigsmile:

Lyssa62

My best friend and I stick to one restaurant when we go to the cities and that's steak and shake. They have an awesome grilled chicken salad with light ranch dressing that is the best thing ever. If I were going to go out to eat somewhere else i would need to be able to see the menu beforehand..and just really try to go for undressed salads or unbreaded lean meat.


*edited to agree* KIDS MEALS !!!!!

hellohappylisa

Well I'm allergic to basically everything, so that helps a lot! hah! I usually order a burger with no bun or cheese, or chicken sandwich with no buns, or a salad with some crappy balsamic dressing, no cheese, croutons etc.

I hate eating out lol

TexasTroy

Im notorious for drinking half my body weight in liguid before the meal even gets to the table and then the other half of my body weight during the meal, lol. So drink plenty of water while at the table. I find that I hardly ever finish the meal cause im so full of water.

BSchoberg

Restaurant portion sizes are crazy! I try to (a) scout out the menu ahead of time... knowing what I want to order means not perusing the menu; and (b) order an appetizer as an entree - or suggest to the table that we order a bunch to share. Keeping the portions down is critical!

Seahawk27

I eat at least 15g of protein before I go out to eat, and drink at least 16 oz of water before I even look at the menu - by then I'm so full I barely want to eat! I also ask for a to-go container and I box up half before I start eating - out of sight, out of mind.

Sailorwind

I deal with this a LOT as I spend most of every weekend at my BF's and he doesn't really cook, so we basically eat out all weekend. I probably drive him crazy, but if we don't decide ahead of time where we are going to eat, I'll look up all the nutritional info on my phone at the table and hold up ordering. At first I was going way over every Saturday and Sunday, but with practice I have learned to stay within my calories on days I eat out every meal. Tricks I've picked up:

Try to remember the salad isn't always the best option, the dressings are frequently filled with TONS of calories. Balsamic vinaigrette and light Italian are usually the safest choices. Also, how much do you love/need croutons? If you like them but can also be happy without them, ditch the empty calories.

Tell them when they come to take your drink orders not to bring out bread or chips. They are MUCH easier to resist when they never land on the table.

Stay away from things with sugary glazes, like Teriyaki sauce. Just because it's something you frequently make at home and is low calorie does NOT mean it will be low calorie at a restaurant. If they have a "lite" menu under 600 calories (the number of restaurants that have this is growing), stick with that.

Substitutions are your friends. steamed broccoli instead of french fries, grilled instead of fried, whole grain instead of white, etc...

If you can, order the lunch sized portion or half size.

martintanz

Try to remember the salad isn't always the best option, the dressings are frequently filled with TONS of calories. Balsamic vinaigrette and light Italian are usually the safest choices. Also, how much do you love/need croutons? If you like them but can also be happy without them, ditch the empty calories.

.

You got that right. It pays to look critically at a salad. Dressing, croutons, cheese, and other high calorie toppings like avocado (healthy but high in calories). About 5 years ago, my niece stayed with us for almost a year. She was a strict vegetarian, but she gained weight eating things like salad and custard at the local Culvers almost daily. Obviously, custard is high in calories but the surprising thing is, their salad had more calories and fat than a double cheeseburger deluxe!

That being said, you are generally better off ordering a side salad instead of, say, french fries or fried onion rings.

Joreanasaurous

I usually ask in advance if they can just bring me half my order and put the other half in a to go box for me. Since you get drinks before you order food I also try and drink a glass of water before I order since that tends to take the edge off for me so I'm not starving and craving everything off the menu.

Nina2503

I try to save a few calories in the day if I know I am eating out that evening, I try and plan to have low calorie but filling choices through out the day. I also try and get the menu in advance so I can make sensible choices and also try and do a little exercise to gain a few extra calories.

If I know its going to be a big occasion, maybe an all day wedding or that kind of thing I may even save say 50 calories a day for a few days so that on the day of eating out I have 'banked a few plus have the added extra exercise calories'. Not sure if that is for everyone but it works for me so I can then 'spend a little more in my meal and not feel guilty. ( I also find if I have one or two drinks to many that the following day I dont always feel like eating so much so it kinda balances out!!!!)

Life is flexible so I try to be flexible too, its not everyday I eat out so once in a while if I go over its not a big defeat.

Sailorwind

I know for me, I had to find a way to make this lifestyle change work with eating out. I eat out a lot. With my BF, with my friends, with my family. There is no avoiding frequent restaurant meals at this stage of my life. I just try to make up for it during the week with really lite meals high in fresh fruits and veggies. I guess it could be similar to intermittent fasting, I eat under my calories most days Mon-Thur (often WAY under) and then on then Fri-Sun I eat just at or a bit over my calories on restaurant food. If only the salads weren't such hidden land mines at a restaurant. I LOVE salad and could happily eat it 80% of the time, but I can't deal with Balsamic Vinegar EVERY meal.

Seriously, I cannot figure out how restaurants manage to pack SO much fat into the things on their menu. Even things that are usually straight forward. For example, this past weekend I went to Mark's Feed Store and got a rib basket. Now, ribs most places are not very high in calories as it's not a lot of meat-to-bone ratio and Mark's BBQ sauce they baste it in was sitting on the table with a nutritional label that was 50 calories per 2 tbsp, so I felt pretty confident just logging using the info on ribs from a chain restaurant (I think I used Texas Roadhouse or Famous Dave's) as they were all pretty much between 300-500 for four ribs. Before we went I emailed Mark's Feed Store asking for their nutritional info because it wasn't on the website, but I didn't get it till the next day. They somehow managed to pack 1300 calories into four ribs with that 50 calorie sauce that it was nowhere near drenched in. HOW?!