We went out to lunch/ dinner today, and I was worried about making good choices. I'm only on day 4, but I planned to order protein with a salad on the side, and I was not distracted.

We went to O'Charley's and my daughter and I split the steak and shrimp (grilled). She had the potato soup for her side, and I had the field greens with vinegar and oil.

I'm marking this as a success! Any other restaurant suggestions or successes?

Nice job!

I am a big fan of Applebees, I either get the shrimp & spinach salad (hold the dressing and bacon, double order of shrimp), or a steak with either steamed broccoli or steamed spinach. Someone here also mentioned ordering a house salad, a side of pickles and a burger with no bun and making a Big Mac salad for themselves at a restaurant!

Great job! Eating out will become less intimidating as time goes on.

I don't go to many chains but I can eat almost anywhere if they have meat, salad, veggies.
If it is lunch, I take a packet and get a salad. I figure out the veggies later (and I usually have veggies w/ breakfast, too).
I just focus on what I CAN have.

Wtg!

I haven't faced this challenge yet, and I really appreciate the tips!

Being that it is only day 2 for me I also am getting nervous when it comes to eating out. Last night my friend who is leaving town for a couple of weeks wanted to do Indian food for lunch today. I told her we may have to pick an alternative since Indian food has a lot of heavy sauces. She understood. May end up skipping lunch and doing something else. I appreciate that because I want to be on IP a little longer and be more comfortable!

Love any suggestions though!!

I went to a chinese buffet - but they had a menu and they had a diet section. I got the Diet Steamed Shrimp and Mixed Veggies - it said not oil, not salt. I was very proud that I stayed OP but those egg rolls sure looked good.

Way to go!

When I go out I make sure I ask for no butter - I think I read it here that places put butter on meat to make it jucier.

My husband is too funny, we went out the other day and he filled in my order when I forgot to ask for no cheese on my salad. (Fancy place, farmer's cheese on the salad).

I'll usually get a salad and 2 portions of chicken (don't do seafood) and eat my veggies when I get home or in the car if we're gone for a while - I usually do this during the day anyway. When we went to Stockbridge Mass and ate at the Red Lion Inn, we paid $20 or so for my salad! I've learned to look at the prices and figure out the best bang for my buck now.

I'll also do just grilled steak or chicken and a side of steamed veggies.

I don't like the field greens, because they don't satisfy me as a veggie like other veggies do.

You're a braver person that me! I avoid buffets because of the temptation to over-eat. Even if I can avoid the fried foods, I can still manage to eat too much of the healthy stuff.

I don't eat out much, but when I go to local restaurants that offer fresh seafood (like a mahi mahi or tuna) and I get that grilled with some steamed veggies.

As far as chains go, Ruby Tuesdays has some good, low calorie menu options and they list the calories on the menu. Plus, they have a nice salad bar.

Outback has some specials, like a 6oz sirloin and a side for around $11 (at least for lunch they do). I pay a little extra to get the grilled asparagus as a side.

Other restaurants that you wouldn't necessarily think of as being light diet-friendly have light items too. Last week I went to dinner at Olive Garden for a friend's birthday. I looked up the menu online before going to see what options I had. I was happy to see that they listed their lighter menu items. I was able to get a grilled salmon with steamed veggies. So, before going out to a particular restaurant, do some reconnaissance!