[lottie63]

I'll start:

SUBWAY: 7 subs under 7 grams of fat and wraps for the low carbers (on maintnance) and THE BEST salads for the induction low carbers www.subway.com

applebees: weight watchers menu! Today I had onion soup with low fat cheese and a tango grilled chicken sand with low fat cheese/bbq ranch sauce on a whole wheat bun, 9 other choices, a delicious looking shrimp kabob salad with lemon vinigiarette dressing! www.applebees.com

Friday's: atkins menu, including cheesecake! www.tgifridays.com

Eat n' park: low carb choices www.eatnpark.com

anyone else know of anything??? I know eating out can break yer diet sometimes so i thought maybe we could get together a comprehensive list and make it a sticky?

[MNmamma]

I don't know if these are everywhere, but Roly Poly has low carb wraps that are good, and they will "grill" them (in a tortilla press) for you to heat them.

[aphil]

There are a lot of fast food places that offer a decent choice or two as well, if you are on the run and have to eat at one of them. I am not going to list the actual nutrition info-you can look that up yourself on their websites-but here is a list of healthier food and snack items that are all under 400 calories. (some are low carb, some are low fat...all are lower calorie)

Wendy's:
*small chili
*grilled chicken sandwich
*some of their salads

McDonalds:
*any of their premium salads-if you order them with the grilled chicken (not the crispy) and order the low cal dressing
*Snack Size Fruit & Yogurt Parfait

Burger King:
*BK Veggie (veggie burger with low fat mayo)

Dairy Queen:
*sugar free fat free ice cream novelty bars (under 100 calories-mine has 3-4 flavors)

Fazolis:
*Minestrone Soup
*Grilled chicken salad
*small spaghetti or penne marinara

There are also sit down restaurants that have healthier choices, even if they are not listed as diet food.

Pizza Hut:
*Veggie Lovers Thin & Crispy Pizza (190 calories for 1 slice of a medium pizza)

Bob Evans:
They have a great fruit and yogurt plate-a huge plate of fresh fruit-strawberries, melon, pineapple, grapes, etc. and strawberry yogurt in the center for dipping. They also in some locations have a light breakfast

[almostheaven]

Everyone forgot about my favorite hangout Ruby Tuesdays. ::sniff sniff::

http://www.rubytuesday.com/smartEati...TruthGuide.pdf

[lottie63]

pizza hut! I thought I was stuck with lean pockets instead for the rest of my life! hehe

[lmatis]

I LOVE pizza!!! Does that mean if I eat like 5 slices it's not a good idea ?? This is the hardest thing for me to avoid, but I told the kids they will have to enjoy their Pizza Hut day at school for a while. When I get a grip and shed a few lbs. we can order out but not every week!

[lottie63]

Well, I'm doing slimfast...so i can have a salad with lite dressing and 4 slices of pizza.....I dunno how that translates to yer diet. but it's not hopeless!

[almostheaven]

Anyone have a Foodies in their area? There was one when I was living up north that I went to occasionally. You can order a pizza with a low carb crust there. I would always get the buffet, fill up on the salad, then have a couple slices of one of their many vegetarian selections. They have every pizza imaginable. I could never bring myself to try the reuben pizza though. Much as I like reubens, sauerkraut and pizza just don't sound right. Blech!

[lottie63]

also most chinese is healthy....as long as you don't get a thick sugary sauce or deep fried food....

I go to this place called zyngs....they have something called the asian market. You pick rice or noodles, chicken beef shrimp or tofu and they give you a bowl to fill with veggies of yer choosing at the 'market'. I skip the rice and just fill the bowl up with veggies and get grilled chicken in szechuan sauce... yummy!

[ChickNextDoor]

Not sure if it's a Southern thing (my northern friends have never heard of it) but Chick-fil-a has a wonderful grilled wrap that is low calorie and you can get low fat honey digon dressing. Their nuggets and other items are cooked in peanut oil and my neighbor does WW. They recommend it for fast food. It's my best Friday night, no cooking treat.

Also Arby's is really wonderful for low fat and carb. Just stay away from the Market Fresh items. They are double if not triple the calories.

[aphil]

I don't eat at Arby's often enough to know what lower calorie items are available...what are they?

[ChickNextDoor]

Their salads are excellent and I usually eat a hot ham & swiss. NOT market fresh though. Their Arby Jr. is not bad for calories either. I just checked the nutrition guide online but don't see the low carb items they are advertising. Hmm, I don't remember the specifics but my Mom says they have very low carb items right now. I'm a calorie watcher so that is all I look for. Here is the nutritional guide though for an idea of their items.

[lottie63]

we have chick fil a in pittsburgh so yeah it's up north too.

[MrsJim]

Interesting thread to say the least...

I don't consider myself to be a snob but personally, I don't count 'fast food' establishments to be 'restaurants' per se. A restaurant to me is somewhere I can sit down, open a menu, order my choices from a wait person, and enjoy myself and whoever my dining companion(s) is/are .

Regarding Arbys...I just checked out the nutrition info on the website - I'm curious to know what exactly consititutes "healthy" and "low calorie" other than a plain "Martha's Vineyard" salad at 250 calories (that's before the 81 calories if you add almonds and 170 calories for the dressing). Even discounting the fat in the menu items, the SODIUM is WAY up there...I got bloated just reading the amounts!

With 90 calories from fat (half of that saturated fat - Arby's apparently hasn't yet complied with the FDA mandate of listing trans fat amounts) and 740mg sodium, I'd probably pass the Arby's Jr. by. (haven't been to Arby's in a long time...again, WAY too salty - if I'm gonna have roast beef, I'd rather go to a good deli and have it sliced to order!)

Probably of all the franchised fast food places, Subway is the best of a bad lot...I can't eat McDonald's chicken - it's WAY too salty for me...

I've seen the commercials for the WW choices at Applebee's but we don't have one in our area, so can't comment on that, likewise with Chick-Fil-A and Ruby Tuesday's.

For "grab & go" my favorite place is our local market, Draeger's. The produce section has a WONDERFUL salad bar - they also have a sushi chef if I want to get some vegetable sushi or what have you, on those nights I don't have time or don't feel like cooking.

Here's what I do when eating out:

First off - I stay away from any buffets. They're usually pretty yukky (filthy) anyway, and I hate feeling like a steer in a feedlot...and "all you can eat" tends to make me want to eat MORE - so I can 'get my money's worth' - BAD NEWS.

Also - I don't eat in the car, and I don't use drive thru windows. Buffets and drive-thrus are probably a big reason for the national obesity epidemic IMO!

Most restaurants (around here anyway) are more than happy to comply with any special dietary or healthy requests you might have - indeed, most of them are used to it!

Salad - dressing on the side, hold the croutons...(I do the "Dip and Stab" with salads - dip the tines of my fork in the dressing, then stab the salad - that way I get the taste of the dressing without all those calories)

Fish - broiled, baked, charbroiled, sauce on the side...(one of our favorite fish places here is The Fish Market - love their skewered pacific snapper/sea scallops/shrimp with veggies...mmmm....)

Italian - Like Aphil said - I like to order the minestrone soup and a SMALL order of pasta (from chatting with coworkers who are actually FROM Italy, they don't usually eat a huge bowl of pasta at a sitting - it's generally a side dish, served with, say, roast chicken or grilled fish). If it's available, I order polenta, rather than pasta - depending on how it's prepared. Roast chicken with veggies and polenta w/marinara sauce on the side - delish!

Pizza - We have so many excellent local pizzarias, if I'm gonna have pizza, I DON'T go to Pizza Hut, Domino's or Little Ceasar's. Our pizza place of choice is North Beach Pizza - they have a WONDERFUL crust that is unmatched IMO - beats those frozen thawed fast-food crusts any day of the week!

A pizza order for me is: very light on the cheese, add mushrooms, spinach, and grilled chicken on half - Canadian bacon and pineapple on the other half (for Jim - he doesn't care for mushrooms!). We end up having leftovers to take home - I usually stick to eating a couple slices along with a salad. Jim just picks the mushrooms off when he eats the leftovers for lunch the next day.

Taqueria - Not listed as a choice, but we have a ton of 'em here in the Bay Area - our favorite being Pancho Villa's . They have a chile verde chicken to DIE for - not to mention grilled carne asada, shrimp, and other yummy stuff. If I'm starving I will order a baby burrito with chile verde chicken (the recipe is posted on their wall as it was featured in Bon Appetit Magazine awhile back, so I know what's in it!), whole pinto beans (not refried), and plain rice. If I'm not so hungry I'll get a taco - which basically has the same stuff in it, only in a soft corn tortilla - not fried, just your basic corn tortilla. They have a bountiful and CLEAN salsa bar - I load my choice up with chopped tomatoes and yummy salsa - an iced tea or Diet Coke and I'm set to eat!

Just some thoughts. And BTW I don't consider this 'diet' eating - I consider this making everyday HEALTHY choices. Of course there are going to be those times when Jim and I decide to treat ourselves to a special lunch or dinner - or when I go out with business associates during offsite meetings - but for the most part I make healthy choices. Even if you're not in the Bay Area, I bet that most everyone can do the same!

[funniegrrl]

My favorite trick is to order an appetizer for my meal. This is a better choice at upscale restaurants, as the appetizers at chain restaurants seem to be all deep-fried, but luckily I don't eat at chain restaurants very often. Or, you can order just about any vegetable-based salad at most sit-down restaurants and ask them to add some grilled chicken, shrimp, fish, etc. Of course, dressing on the side, skip the fatty extras! Sometimes restaurants will do half-size orders of entrees, or will let adults order off the child's menu, and those are good tricks, too.

If I have to eat fast food I choose Wendy's -- either the grilled chicken sandwich (which is a real, fresh-not-frozen chicken breast) and a side salad with the low-fat ranch (NOT using the whole packet). If I'm in a salad mood I'll get the mandarin chicken salad -- I use the crispies but not the nuts (save those for another use), and only about 1/3 the packet of dressing. If there is no Wendy's, I'll do a McD grilled chicken sandwich and a snack-size yogurt parfait. I don't do BK or Arby's, etc. I don't LIKE Subway -- all of their meats are WAY too processed for my taste.

To echo what MrsJ said, though, the sodium on all restaurant food is through the roof, so it's not a good idea to eat this stuff every day. And, I don't think of it as "dieting" but making smart choices, too!