Holy crap: Eating healthy while eating out.

Boyfriend and I were wanting to go out to dinner tonight, and so I hopped online to look up nutrition menus for our favorite restaurants.

Chili's was out, with nearly every palatable item (in my eyes) in the 1,000+ calories range. Outback Steakhouse wasn't much better. Olive Garden was just upsetting-- 150 calories for ONE breadstick? And 300+ for a serving of salad? That's more than I wanna intake and that's not even to the entree.

I was getting very frustrated, and so we decided to just pick a restaurant and I would find something when we got there instead of over analyzing. After driving past several places and seeing the lines to get a table, we settled on Ruby Tuesday's -- Kudos to them for having, from what I can tell, the most health-friendly menu of the places in this area.

I wound up ordering the petite sirloin, (450ish cals), the sweet potato fries (330 cals) and the Garden Bar. I was so proud of myself because with the fries, I indulged a bit, but didn't overdo it. RT has a yummy sounding Spaghetti Squash Marinara dish that appealed as well, but I wanted something that would 'stick to my ribs' a bit more than that.

Hit the Garden Bar first, loading up on lettuce, cukes, zuccchini, onions, and peas. I allowed myself a tiny helping of diced ham and a small scoop of Bacon bits, along with a small portion of cheese (which I would usually HEAP on top. Go me!). Topped the whole thing with balsamic and dug in. Finished about half of that, and my entree arrived-- I ate about half of the steak and fries and was satisfied.

My point is, I'm proud of myself for indulging without going overboard.

And I proved to myself that it is entirely possible to go out to eat as long as you control portion size and make better choices.

Bonus points for me tonight.

Anyone have any helpful tips for eating well when you go out?