Help with eating out!!

I print out and keep a binder of the nutrition guides to every popular fast food place and restaurant in my car. When we are out driving around (with my toddler too!) I have instant access to what I can eat, and what are the best choices. And in a pinch i always try to at least find an applebees or chili's, because they both have a lot of selections on their menu that they mark as under 500 calories. hope this helps!

If you have an iPhone, try the MFP free App. I use this site and type in the restaurant name and choose my meal before I even meet the server. And it is a great way to pass time if you have waiting time before they seat you.

Definitely look online. A LOT of places have their info up now, after the California law forced them to! And even they don't, ALWAYS ask when you are in the restaurant. You might get funny looks, it might take a while, but chances are, they'll find it and bring it to you. I do this all the time. Not only that, but I think that the more people are asking, those places that DON'T have it are going to feel like maybe they should if they keep hearing it over and over again!

I really like the idea of printing everything out and keeping it with you in the car at all times. If you are in the car a lot and stop at chain restaurants a lot, that would be incredibly helpful.

I print out and keep a binder of the nutrition guides to every popular fast food place and restaurant in my car. When we are out driving around (with my toddler too!) I have instant access to what I can eat, and what are the best choices. And in a pinch i always try to at least find an applebees or chili's, because they both have a lot of selections on their menu that they mark as under 500 calories. hope this helps!

I usually find out where we are eating ahead of time and then look up the menu/nutrition and try to figure out what I will have ahead of time, but printing them out and keeping a binder in the car is a great idea for those times when I'm not near a computer or don't have time to look them up in advance.

Great ideas!! But, how do you all deal with the temptation of not ordering that cheeseburger and fries?? McDonald's is unfortunately my weakness!

Sorry, I don't really have any secret for this one, it just takes willpower. However, I find that when I'm eating healthy I usually lose the cravings for fast food.

Some general tips:
Plain is better -- sauces, cheese, etc. add extra calories
The phrase "on the side" is your friend. If you get a dressing or condiment on the side, you can determine how much to use.
Drink water... if you must have a drink then get unsweet tea (or at fast food, Minute Maid Lite is a good option!)
At most sit-down restaurants, 1/2 of what is served is probably what you need to eat! I shared with my 4 year old until about a year ago and we STILL had leftovers.
Lean meat is always a good choice -- fish, chicken, ribeye if you want steak (saying because I got this today and it was nowhere near as bad as I expected!)
Asparagus and broccoli are both fairly common sides with low calories that are good for you. I like Chili's black beans too... they are higher in calories but still decent.


Things I like at certain restaurants (mostly fast food because that is mostly where we end up eating out!). Watch out for sodium!

Taco Bell -- Fresco Bean Burrito, Fresco Hard Shell Taco
McDonalds -- Kids 6 piece chicken nugget meal with apple dippers/milk, fruit & walnut salad, for breakfast I get a fruit & yogurt parfait or an Egg McMuffin
Chick Fil A -- one of my favorites! I usually get a 3 piece chicken strip meal with fruit and diet lemonade... other healthy choices are their salads and grilled chicken. Their chicken noodle soup is really good too. Lots of info on their website.

I think the biggest changes I have made dining out are drinking water (which also helps with the sodium) and not feeling like I always have to eat bread. Fortunately for me, we don't eat out THAT often so I can usually balance the rest of the day or week out with having eaten out.

You also mentioned visiting family... I know that when I visit family we often eat IN but since I'm not preparing the food I don't have much say! My only experience with this this time around is visiting my mom over Memorial Day weekend. You can look at my food diary (which is public, check it out if you want to) and tell it wasn't great but it was better than it would have been before. I tried to stick to items I knew fit into my "diet"... like eggs for breakfast. Besides that I just tried to make the most of whatever I was offered. I was glad to find salad at the Memorial Day cookout, but I ate a hamburger too.

Hope that helps a little.

I travel a LOT with work so I know exactly how you feel. I often don't have time for anything but fast food when i'm racing for the airport or trying to find my hotel.

What I have been trying to do is order what I want, and then only eat half of it. When I go to sit down restaraunts, I split my plate in half before I start eating and only eat the half portion. then to resist eating the rest of what is on my plate, I'll dump some water or soda or salt on it and stir it all up so it's no longer appetizing.

My personal trainer has also suggested getting a "to go" box and putting half of the food in it before I start eating.

With fast food it's a little more tricky, but I'd say to try to have the cheeseburger OR the fries. One cheeseburger is not going to kill you.

My trainer has told me to try to avoid the deep fried foods, unfortunately the fries would probably be the best to resist. OR maybe start out by getting a small instead of a large fry.

I'm not always perfect at this, but I'm learing that every LITTLE step in the right direction is still leading me towards my goal. So far I've lost 8 pounds since I started mfp and i haven't been counting calories. I've just been cutting down the huge portions that the restaraunts in our society dish out to us.

Good luck. I know eating out is a BIG challenge!!

What I have been trying to do is order what I want, and then only eat half of it. When I go to sit down restaraunts, I split my plate in half before I start eating and only eat the half portion. then to resist eating the rest of what is on my plate, I'll dump some water or soda or salt on it and stir it all up so it's no longer appetizing.

Haha, that's great! I do that to my family's leftovers when they're done. I shove a dirty napkin in their plates so I'm not tempted to pick at their leftover french fries. LOL!