Restaurants :(

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?!