Dinner out

teachermegan

I'm going out to dinner tonight for a friend's bday. Not many healthy choices at this Italian restaurant, but found a salad that seems ok. Unfortunately the website doesn't have nutritional info and google isn't providing much help. It is a local chain in Oregon called Bugatti's.
Any tips on motivation tonight so I don't screw up and impulse order?

jtangcs

Well, I just checked your diary to see how many calories you have left... with 609, you still have some serious movement in terms of dinner. My suggestion would be to see if there are whole wheat pasta options that you can choose from, and stick to pasta sauces that are less fattening. This way, you won't stand out too much, if everyone is ordering hearty Italian dinners. It also means you don't have to stick to just a salad. The hardest (if you're like me) will be staying away from the alcohol. If there's a friend at the table, who's health conscious, sit with that person. He/she may be able to keep you motivated with dinner choices. I also find that sitting with someone who is doing something similar is easier, especially when sticking with water as opposed to a drink. And when it comes time to dessert... try your best to take a pass, or share with someone to reduce the portion. Good luck!

keem88

which location? i was going to look up the menu

Ready2Rock206

Just checked out their menu - I'd get the soup and salad combo and add either grilled chicken or grilled prawns. Dang now I'm hungry!

teachermegan

which location? i was going to look up the menu

Tanasbourne

teachermegan

Just checked out their menu - I'd get the soup and salad combo and add either grilled chicken or grilled prawns. Dang now I'm hungry!

The champagne salad sounds good....soup is clam chowder or lamb something or other.
The chicken is a possibility.

teachermegan

Well, I just checked your diary to see how many calories you have left... with 609, you still have some serious movement in terms of dinner. My suggestion would be to see if there are whole wheat pasta options that you can choose from, and stick to pasta sauces that are less fattening. This way, you won't stand out too much, if everyone is ordering hearty Italian dinners. It also means you don't have to stick to just a salad. The hardest (if you're like me) will be staying away from the alcohol. If there's a friend at the table, who's health conscious, sit with that person. He/she may be able to keep you motivated with dinner choices. I also find that sitting with someone who is doing something similar is easier, especially when sticking with water as opposed to a drink. And when it comes time to dessert... try your best to take a pass, or share with someone to reduce the portion. Good luck!

Thanks! Good ideas. The thing that sucks is 600 calories doesn't get u far. For example, I was considering the chicken piccata and checked Macaroni Grill and Cheesecake Factory and they were about 1200 calories for a dinner. Yikes!

keem88

i see that they have zucchini pasta and whole wheat spaghetti, that may be a good base, and you can guestimate the calories based on a generic wheat pasta or zucchini pasta entry. keep in mine it is prolly more than a 1 oz serving of pasta, so maybe just eat half of it, or log it as at least 2-3 servings if you do eat it all. stay awway from added cheeses or cream sauces, a marinara sauce with chicken on it would be good, they can prolly throw some veggies on there too (as long as they aren't cooked in mass oil)
chicken piccata sounds like it would be okay, and you can always ask for a box when you order and box it right away so you don't eat it all, again a lot of resturants do oversize their portions.
if you don't mind people maybe making comments, you can always get a soup and salad combo. but if you are more comfortable blending in with the others, then one of those pastas with a red sauce and chicken would be good.
pizza may not be too bad either, they do have a whole wheat dough and you don't have to eat the whole thing. maybe get a salad with dressing on the side, get a pizza just eat a slice or two and save the rest.
also maybe have a few cups of water to help keep yourself full.
someone mentioned you have around 600 calories left, so that should be fine as long as you do not overeat and get uncomfortably full.
also the turkey club doesnt seem too bad, if you maybe ask for it without bacon and the dressing on the side, and you can get soup or a salad with it as well
and if the entrees are large, even see if someone wants to split with you.
they do also have a kids menu, and i often order from that at places because i really can't eat a full meal, and it is cheaper as well. i've never been denied a kids meal before, and when it comes down to it if you don't want a huge portion they really can't deny serving you a smaller one, they want the business at the end of the day. i imagine the pasta dishes on the kids menu will be smaller servings so that would be an option too.
just don't let people make you feel bad if they make a remark. if you get something to drink, maybe get one glass of a white wine
good luck!

teachermegan

Thanks! I think I'll do Chicken Piccata or Marsala and ask them to box half ahead of time.

I don't get uncomfortable at all. Quite the opposite, I usually end up feeling empowered. The hardest will be saying no to cake. I will prob have a bite of someone's.

I'm not usually this strict but I'm in a 12 week weight loss (actually fat loss) competition and have two weeks to go.


Do u think its okay to indulge in a couple diet cokes onight? If I do should I expect the scale to go up tomorrow?

jtangcs

I would probably pass on the diet cokes. There's stuff in there that's far worse than juice or even coffee or tea. If you really want to drink something other than water, I'd suggest a tea that way there's some flavor but not a ton of sugar (or stuff that pretends to be sugar).