Help - I am going to the Olive Garden

ascott048
ascott048 Posts: 61
edited October 4 in Food and Nutrition
Seeking advice when having dinner at the Olive Garden. What is your strategy? I will have a calorie budget of 800 cals. I can live without the breadsticks if I can have some soup or salad.

Replies

  • Yakisoba
    Yakisoba Posts: 719 Member
    Enjoy the food, drinks lots of water, and eat until I'm satisfied? O_o
  • AnninStPaul
    AnninStPaul Posts: 1,372 Member
    Seeking advice when having dinner at the Olive Garden. What is your strategy? I will have a calorie budget of 800 cals. I can live without the breadsticks if I can have some soup or salad.

    Ask for the salad dressing on the side or get two bowls of salad - one with and one without dressing. And split the entree. Breadsticks are 150 calories each, so good to avoid those.
  • thesmellofapples
    thesmellofapples Posts: 287 Member
    my strategy for olive garden? breadsticks, salad, more breadsticks, pizza, and work my *kitten* off during my workout xD
  • CarolineSuzanneSmith
    CarolineSuzanneSmith Posts: 127 Member
    Look up their food in the MFP database...a lot of it is there. Whenever I go, I eat:

    1 breadstick
    1 serving of salad (aka 1/4 of the bowl that comes out to you...that includes the dressing)
    1-2 bowls of the Zuppa Toscano.

    DELICIOUS. If you have 800 calories to "spend," then you can definitely eat all of the above and feel full and sooo satisfied!
  • ajrulo
    ajrulo Posts: 50
    Last time I was there I have one breadstick, one bowl of soup and the grilled chicken breast that comes with asparagus. It is suprisingly yummy for being low cal. I think the whole thing was around 600 calories...
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
    I love their minestrone soup. It's very light, tasty, but really high on sodium.

    From the website:

    100 calories
    1g of fat
    0g sat. fat
    1020mg of sodium
    18g carbs
    3g fiber
    4g protein

    If you get the soup and have a couple breadsticks, you would be well within your budget and have a nice hearty meal.
  • prissymissliss
    prissymissliss Posts: 17 Member
    Go to OliveGarden.com and look at the menu of the location your going to and look under the "nutrition" tab. I saw some meals under 500 calories in the chicken part of the menu. I usually try to plan ahead by checking to see if there is an online menu so that I don't choose something I'll regret on impulse. :smile:
  • Ervie317
    Ervie317 Posts: 179 Member
    I went there and had the apricot chicken and just had them leave off the sauce and the oil and butter they cook the meat in and the veggies in and it was really good. I choose to still have a little dressing but no cheese on the salad and no breadsticks.
  • coreymusonda
    coreymusonda Posts: 24 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/nutrition-facts-calories/olive-garden

    I used this link to find a meal I could enjoy and stay within calorie limits. I picked the soup and salad (no dressing)...1 bowl of soup and unlimited salad. Was full when I left. No one even thought twice about what I ordered (though I did turn down a glass of wine in exchange for about 4 glasses of water). :-)
  • Maryfullofgrace
    Maryfullofgrace Posts: 342 Member
    Seeking advice when having dinner at the Olive Garden. What is your strategy? I will have a calorie budget of 800 cals. I can live without the breadsticks if I can have some soup or salad.

    If you can get a really good workout in before you could have a higher calorie budget to work with. They don't have a lot of low calorie options there. Once they serve you, even if it is a low cal thing, push half aside and pack it away, eat what is left until you aren't hungry, but not full.
  • twowheelhooligan
    twowheelhooligan Posts: 24
    Look up their food in the MFP database...a lot of it is there. Whenever I go, I eat:


    ^^ has saved me on many occasions when someone wants to take me out for a meal, but I don't have the calories to ingest at a meal.

    I've had my phone out a number of times as I'm choosing menu items. A place like Olive Garden will likely have an area of "low cal" meals.

    Prissymissliss hit it on the head too if you can look ahead of time.

    Best of luck!
  • Ervie317
    Ervie317 Posts: 179 Member
    I went there and had the apricot chicken and just had them leave off the sauce and the oil and butter they cook the meat in and the veggies in and it was really good. I choose to still have a little dressing but no cheese on the salad and no breadsticks.

    When I had this they gave you two chicken breasts so I just brought one home for a meal the next day.
  • mouth5667
    mouth5667 Posts: 53
    Go to OliveGarden.com and look at the menu of the location your going to and look under the "nutrition" tab. I saw some meals under 500 calories in the chicken part of the menu. I usually try to plan ahead by checking to see if there is an online menu so that I don't choose something I'll regret on impulse. :smile:

    I have been printing out the nutritional information for the places that I am going to go to. It is a HUGE help for me to plan ahead and have my meal planned before ever get there. With that being said, enjoy yourself!
  • Partyofpugs
    Partyofpugs Posts: 105
    I just went there a couple of weeks ago. We asked for the light dressing on the salad and I only had one bowl. We asked the waitress to only bring 2 breadsticks and I had one. I tried the Apricot Chicken and only ate 1/2. I took the other part home and enjoyed it the next day for lunch. I did look up the nutrition and wrote down several selections and their calories on a post it note and took it with me. Good luck~
  • Lisa_222
    Lisa_222 Posts: 301 Member
    If there is no meal that is under your calorie allowance, tell them to serve you half and put half in a box right from the get-go so you are not tempted to finish the whole thing. Most meals there are huge. Drink a lot of water and if it were me, I'd bring my own low fat salad dressing. I hate their salad dressing, anyway.
  • ascott048
    ascott048 Posts: 61
    Seeking advice when having dinner at the Olive Garden. What is your strategy? I will have a calorie budget of 800 cals. I can live without the breadsticks if I can have some soup or salad.

    If you can get a really good workout in before you could have a higher calorie budget to work with. They don't have a lot of low calorie options there. Once they serve you, even if it is a low cal thing, push half aside and pack it away, eat what is left until you aren't hungry, but not full.

    Good advice about packing half, i used to do that a lot. I plan to take my spin class in the morning but since the weekend is coming and my weigh in is on Monday I don't want all my hard work to go to waste on one meal. I would rather savor the effort by seeing a drop in the scale :)
  • Snacky_Onassis
    Snacky_Onassis Posts: 9 Member
    There's a mussels appetizer that's under 200 calories if I'm remembering correctly. I get that as an entree and have salad and water with limes. It's not too bad! Very salty though, so be sure to drink down the water.
  • wish21
    wish21 Posts: 602 Member
    Enjoy yourself most importantly. Don't overdue it. Last Friday I went for my Bday and while I ate whatever I felt like eating, but when I got full i stopped. I felt the results of it the next day. My workout was a lot harder and I felt like a blow fish for the next day:ohwell: LOL, but just be careful and mindful and listen to your body. Have a great Time:flowerforyou:
  • Maryee71
    Maryee71 Posts: 434 Member
    I just ate there last wk, unexpectedly, so wasn't prepaared for the best things to eat.
    If you ask for the salad with dsg on the side they bring everyone plenty of dsg in individual containers.
    I had the pasta fagioli which their nutrition guide says is only 130cal. I used about 2 tbsp of the dsg on 2 bowls of the salad and that didn't have the calories I expected. For get how many, But I was full and ate under 500 cal. I had one bite off of a roll. I was pleasantly surprised. Go and enjoy.
  • lennonfamily
    lennonfamily Posts: 1
    Old thread but thought I would add that the lunch portion of the Portobello mushroom ravioli is under 500 calories and they have fat free dressing you can ask for. I have fit this into mfp diary 2x this past month. I do have 1 breadstick and 1 plate of salad to.
  • eshults89
    eshults89 Posts: 45 Member
    I LOVE Olive Garden! We will go and order the 2 for 25$ when they have it. load up on the salad and have a nice drink! eat some of ur meal and box the rest. seriously that salad is filling! dont feel bad. think of it as two meals!
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
    Ew, really? Find a better restaurant. That's honesty the best advice I have to give. Their food is straight-up garbage. Trying to call that Italian food is like saying Taco Bell is Mexican food. :noway:

    Seriously, though. Spend your 800 cals on food that is actually good.
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