Work Lunch- Eating Out

One lunch out isn't going to ruin your progress. If the scale jumps tomorrow, remember it's water weight from the salt, which will go away in a few days. A lot of places have salad with grilled protein, that's usually a good choice depending on what else is on it, and if you get the dressing on the side.
Dealing with co-worker comments about what you eat is a different issue, there are lots of threads on here about that. You can just not respond, or you can come up with a response, like "I like you guys, but not enough to derail my hard work."

I usually just focus on meat and veggies and try to avoid the bread, chips, etc. I am not a low carb eater by any means but when it comes to restaurant meals I find that is the best way for me to stay within my goals.

I have the same problem! It is so hard eating out. We also have a lunch potluck once a month, and that is ROUGH.
I agree with those above - look up the restaurant and see if you can find something and know your order before you arrive. Sometimes a sandwich is less calories than a loaded salad, and doesn't look as much like diet food.

Also, if you want to get a salad because that is what you need to stick on your diet - do it!

I used to be ashamed of my dieting because people would judge me and say things like "is that all you are eating?" "Well someone is trying to slim down," or "Come on, treat yourself!"

Ignore them because you know your diet, you know your goals, and you have already lost an AMAZING 30 lbs! So whatever you are doing is clearly working, and to be honest they are probably just jealous of your success. Be proud of your progress not ashamed of it.

The other tip I have is to do the split. A lot of times, I will get grilled chicken, or steak, or even pasta and just split it down the middle when it arrives. I eat half at the restaurant, and take half home to eat for lunch the next day. That way you get two meals (one for free!) and have a reasonable calorie count.

Good luck!

I ate a whole (thin crust/GF) pizza at lunch yesterday for my welcome to the team lunch and had a decent dinner (though the hubs helped by making it a fairly low-calorie dinner) and I didn't gain but 0.6lbs (and I attribute that to many factors outside the whole pizza I ate), and I've done this often enough to be comforted in historical data that one day here and there doesn't affect the overall trend. However, I also remember when I was afraid it would, and it's hard to push past feels even when data is right there. But it's true what someone said above: you gotta also live life. If you are a little slower getting to your next goal but you enjoyed yourself, that's okay!

What I try to do for big work events is be extra diligent around the event and not worry too much at the event. I try to stick within a reasonable calorie range (for example, with a smaller dinner, that whole pizza fit into my date with no going over -- now I did to some bonus exercising to try and buffer with some extra calories burnt), but at the end of the day, if I go over a bit, that's okay. I can make it up over time or just chalk it up to life.

Looking at weekly calories can help too. So that one day can just fall in line with your overall weekly goal.

Good luck!

What's wrong w/ the garden salad and why worry about what they say? If they know your way of eating then who cares if they comment.

Feel free to shut down comments with "I'd rather not talk about that."

It's pretty freeing.