My dh and I are going out to eat tonight. The first time in a long time without any kids. We are using a restaurant card to Macaroni Grill. Not a big diet friendly place. Especially what I like to get.
Here is my plan. I looked up online the caloric values of the stuff I like and picked one that is reasonable.
I will have them box half the meal before I get it. My dh can eat it tomorrow.
No glass of wine like I usually have . No big deal to me.
Will drink water or Ice tea instead of any soda.
I am not using this as an excuse to go wild. Wish me luck. Any other suggestions?
MP, sounds like a great plan. Maybe before you get your food drink several glasses of water. That might help some. I always do more exercise if I am going to eat out. Either before or after I get home. That way there is no guilt involved. The hardest part of eating out is portion control. I think that you boxing up half of it up front is a great idea. Maybe a salad before your main meal comes. That's about the only things I can think of right now. It's so nice to have a night out without kids. Have a great time.
Sounds like an excellent plan -- very well thought-out.
The only other thing I might think about is the bread basket / dipping oil those places usually provide. THAT'S where I usually get in trouble. Would your husband be OK with skipping it altogether? If not, maybe he could take what he wants out of the bread basket and put on his bread plate, then have the waitron take the rest away immediately.
My only other suggestion is DO NOT LOOK AT THE MENU. I've often gone out to dinner with great intentions and then looked at the menu and slipped up. You already know what you are having, so don't even look.
Great plan, and great suggestions! Mine is to drink water before you go, and eat some veggies so that you're not too hungry when you get there. Also, wear something tight around the waist. And tell your husband what you are planning to do and tell him ways that he can support you.
You guys are great. I did drink 16 oz right before we went in and worked off a few calories going to the bathroom a few times.
I did get a salad and got the dressing on the side. Only used 1/2 that way. Sorry, I didn't resist the bread but did not eat half of it like I usually do
JacobsMommy, that was a good idea not to look at the menu. I am going to use that one more often.
I didn't give myself points for eating but I did exercise and drank my water. Thanks everyone.
Good Job!! It sounds like you ate very mindfully, and that's 1/2 the battle.
Eating out is the toughest thing for me. It can get me off plan soooooo quickly. My mom and I went to dinner last night too, only I didn;t know where we were going, so I couldn't really plan ahead. I only ate 1/2 my soup and when my chicken and rice entree came, I immediately asked for a take out box, cut the chicken in half and split the rice. It was a huge portion (one that I would have normally eaten along with the whole bowl of soup). Now I have lunch for today and I stayed on plan!
Eating out for me is the hardest thing. We brought home wings n' things last night and I did not eat so many wings, but I really loaded up on the bread. It was not a planned event so that kind of through me off also. When we got home with it I know I should have immediately downed a couple of glasses of water, but I had waited so long to eat I was famished. Not a good idea to get that hungry. I'm not beating myself up to badly but I know I really have to learn how to change my behavior when eating out.
Sandi and MP, I wish I could have been as strong as you ladies were last night. Way to go with the self-control.
Tammy I know what you mean -- eating out is the hardest for me too. While I never eat HALF as much, either in terms of portions or calories, as I did before, it's still hard not to go over.
What has helped me get better, even with non-planned events, is just learning from previous experiences. Like you, if I'm too hungry then even the best-laid plans go awry, whether with restaurant food or at home. So I'm really careful to eat my snacks every day whenever possible to avoid being famished for mealtime. If I'm going to be out and about and I don't know my schedule, I try to carry a box of raisins or some other small snack food with me. And, visualization has really helped me -- picturing ordering well, not overeating, etc. Even when I'm caught unawares, I have these "practices" in my head that help guide my behavior. Even if I don't do perfectly -- and I rarely do -- I know they helped the situation from being worse.
My main accomplishment with eating out is that, even if I overdo it really badly, I no longer throw in the towel and say, "Well I've blown it, might as well go whole hog." It no longer gives me an excuse to abandon my plan for the rest of the day or week. "Starting over" doesn't happen the next day, or on Monday, but immediately after the meal. In fact, I don't even think of it as starting over. Life happens, it's all one thing, having a little more bread than I planned does not signal the end of an era, just a blip on the radar.
You are smart not to berate yourself from the mistake. Just learn what you can from it, make a plan for next time, and stick with it today.
My main accomplishment with eating out is that, even if I overdo it really badly, I no longer throw in the towel and say, "Well I've blown it, might as well go whole hog." It no longer gives me an excuse to abandon my plan for the rest of the day or week. "Starting over" doesn't happen the next day, or on Monday, but immediately after the meal. In fact, I don't even think of it as starting over. Life happens, it's all one thing, having a little more bread than I planned does not signal the end of an era, just a blip on the radar.
I used to do that too and ITA that you have to start over after that meal not the next day because it is easy to get off tract that way. Great reminder.
WTG Sandi. I am glad I am not the only one that has such a hard time with my plan when I go out to eat. We should all post when we are going out to eat and state our plan.
Going out to eat tonight and I have a plan
The first time in a long time without any kids. We are using a restaurant card to Macaroni Grill. Not a big diet friendly place. Especially what I like to get. 
Have a great time.
