Eating Out Healthy Suggestions

Olive Garden, Panera bread, Apple Bees all have lower calorie dishes. If we are planning on eating out I also do an online search of the low calorie dishes on the menu. Many are available on line so you can pre plane. Really helps to stay on track and also enjoy a night out.
Good Luck

Zoup! has some pretty awesome soups, salads and sandwhiches...went there for lunch today. around 250 calories...Ohh its so good!

Going anywhere that you have some control over what goes in to your meal will help - unfortunately that leaves places like Subway and if they're where you are, Pita Pit (they have a nice "build" module: http://www.pitapitusa.com/build_a_pita.html).

I have to travel a lot and instead of packing a fridge to go with me, I am forced to eat out.

Here are a few places and things I have found that fall into my diet:

Lunch: Subway 6" turkey, all veggies, red wine vinegar, flat bread, 310 calories

Dinner: Outback Steakhouse Ahi Tuna App, side cesar salad, 589 calories

Dinner: Logan's Roadhouse 6oz Filet, Health Nut side salad, steamed green beans, 550 calories

Any other suggestions to keep lunch at or around 300 and dinner around 550?

I work at outback steakhouse and they have light style dishes all under 500 calories. The tuna is a great choice but try to stay away from the Caesar salad. It taste great, but since all the dressing are made from scratch, we use whole ingredients like whole buttermilk, cheese, sour cream etc..

Sweet Tomatoes (Souplantation in some areas) is a buffet-style restaurant with a HUGE salad bar and delicious home made soups. The only downside is the bread and pasta stations but while they have a lot of calories they are fresh and relatively healthy. When I go I try to fill up on soup and salad first and then have small portions of the pasta and muffins.

The menu changes at least weekly, so you will never get bored.

http://www.sweettomatoes.com/

I can't help with specific restaurants, but I have strategies for eating out:
- try to order something with only a few ingredients - then you have a better idea of what you are actually eating and can spot added cheese or cream etc. Like a steak, grilled with sauce on the side. Grilled fish or chicken breast rather than a pasta dish or risotto.
- change the sides. Tell them "no fries" and get salad or veges with dressing/sauce on the side. Or get a baked pototo instead of fries and just eat half of it.
- if they have an smaller sized serving, order that (in Australia I would say order an entree size not a main size, but that might be confusing!)
- salads aren't all bad (not around here anyway). Just order the dressing on the side and keep an eye on the extras they put in the sald (like bacon or cheese). Just because it is there, doesn't mean you have to eat it.

And for other meals while you are on the road:
- Take your own muesli (granola) and buy some yoghurt and bananas at a convenience store. Quick, easy and healthy breakfast
- Take healthy snacks (muesli bars, fruit, almonds) so you have an option to snack on if you are hungry and you can resist the vending machine snacks!

Chick Fil A has a meal builder on their website; the best thing to get there is the 8-piece nuggets with honey barbecue sauce, fruit, and a bottle of water. I forget how many calories, but it's not bad.

If you travel in the south, there are LOTS of barbecue restaurants. I find that the best thing for me at a barbecue restaurant is 1/4 chicken, dark meat (more calories per ounce, but WAY fewer ounces than the 1/4 chicken white meat), with one side (whatever you get, the common sides -- slaw, potato salad, baked beans -- run about 200 cal/serving) comes out about 500 calories, leaving you 50 calories for a splash of red bbq sauce (about 40-70 cal/2 tbsp, depending on the brand). White bbq sauce, sadly, is a bad bad bad idea :sad:

At Cracker Barrel, I usually get the chicken salad sandwich on grilled sourdough bread with one side (green beans, carrots, something like that -- the salad dressings make the salads a bust). I don't know the calorie count with any certainty, I just know that THAT meal doesn't show up on my scale the next morning, while many of their others do.

At Five Guys Burgers and Fries, the little hamburger by itself is reasonable, and you can get veggie toppings (no cheese, no bacon, no mayo). Unfortunately their ONLY side item is french fries, so all I can get is the burger. But it's such a GOOD burger!

I love Panera, Jason's Deli, Sweet Peppers Deli, and McAllister's Deli - all of these have "lighter" menus with calories posted, so at all of these places there are CHOICES! Wow.

Love seeing all the suggestions here.