Hello all you lovelies,

I am facing a slight dilemma, and yes I know, it's probably easily cured.
Tomorrow night I have to go out for dinner, it's my sister's fiancee's birthday. This will be my first restaurant meal out since I've been counting calories, and I'm at a complete loss!

The restaurant we're going to has no nutrition information available, and I've got no idea what to order... it's an Italian chain, so I'm figuring my safest option would be a pasta with a plain tomato type sauce?

I'd love to eat pizza, but I've promised myself I won't until I go to Italy...like a fair trade.

Anyone got any ideas on other things I could order? Otherwise, should I just try and keep my calories fairly low for the earlier part of the day and just order whatever I want?

I know.. I'm probably over thinking the whole thing. And I'm probably going to have a similar problem next week, as it's my 22nd, and going out to dinner is generally the done thing in my family.

Any advice welcome, sorry if I've rambled on a bit!

Oh I just thought I'd add, if anyone is actually really wanting to help haha, the menu for the restaurant is on their website, here is the link ( I think I'm allowed to post this.. just thought it would help if you guys could see what I have to choose from! ) http://www.laporchetta.co.nz/menu/

If it were me (and I've faced this challenge at Italian restaurants!!), I would go for one of the following, depending on what you like:

- Grilled chicken salad. You can ask for oil/vinegar on the side instead of dressing and just use the vinegar, or ask for the dressing on the side and use the "fork" trick -- dip your fork into the dressing and then spear your salad, you'll get all of the taste with much less dressing. DON'T let the restaurant add the dressing, you lose all control on the amount.
- Grilled fish or chicken, with either a garden salad (see dressing tips above) or steamed fresh vegetables. Ask them to hold the butter, sauces on the side.
Ignore the bread basket, avoid the appetizers -- unless it's a cup of the minestrone soup, that's usually not too big of a calorie hit, especially if it's more vegetables than pasta.

Personally, I have to stay away from the starches and cheeses, or it's just too easy to go overboard. And, I would stay far, far away from the desserts. I usually plan for some kind of "on plan" sweet at home later, so I don't feel deprived -- I'm just "deferring" my dessert until later.

I'd suggest not starving yourself before you go ... that's a recipe for a binge. If anything, you may want to have a small snack before you go, to take the edge off your hunger so that you won't want to eat everything in sight when you get there. Another strategy that others use successfully is to only eat half the entree and take the rest home. That doesn't always work with me, I'd rather just order something that is completely on plan.

Hope that gives you some ideas -- good luck! And you're not over-thinking, it does take this kind of thoughtful planning to be successful at weight loss IMO.

Combine a hearty Italian soup with crusty bread and a green salad for a well-rounded meal.
It’s very easy to add the extra vegetables of your choice to just about any Italian dish.
Beans are a complex carbohydrate that can be found in many dishes.
Primavera dishes are prepared with fresh veggies, herbs and a touch of olive oil.
Insalata is a fresh garden salad, tossed with a variety of fresh veggies.
Minestrone Soup is a tomato-based, hearty option that’s filled with beans, veggies and pasta and only 206 calories and 5 grams of fat.
Look for these words:
Affogato (steamed or poached)
Marinara, pizzaida, pomodoro (tomato-based sauce)
Primavera (spring style, fresh veggies and herbs)
Fresco (fresh)
Scampi al vino blanco (shrimp sautéed in white wine)
Dishes with tomato-based sauces
Chicken Marsala, if made with wine and broth rather than butter or cream
Veal or chicken piccata
Chicken Cacciatore: 370 calories.
Chicken Risotto: 275 calories and 7g fat.
Pasta e fagioli (pasta, beans and tomatoes in broth): 300 calories, 8g fat.
Veal cutlet with peppers and tomato sauce: 488 calories.
Spinach Gnocchi: 300 calories, 18g fat.



The Big Tip:

Remember to eat as the Italians do—slowly. They like to take their time with their food over several courses. Not only does this make the dining experience more soothing and enjoyable, it helps you eat less and feel fuller before you finish your entire meal.

I'd go for the grilled fish and steamed veg.

I take it you don't do a cheat meal once a week. As long as they are always planned in advance they have helped me tremendously with eating out with the family. I say you should eat whatever you want on your bday, just watch your portions.

Thanks for your advice guys... The cheat meal thing mentioned by.. actually now I can't find the reference!.. anyway, I tend to kinda just eat generally healthily, but nothing is considered as "cheating" for me if I include it in my calories - as long as I'm not like.. Oh I can eat this many calories, so I'll eat french fries until I get to that number.

Also I didn't mean that I was going to starve myself, I just thought I'd make sure to keep breakfast, lunch and snacks to as low cal as I could and leave enough to make this meal my treat-type meal.

I think it will be ok. I just started back at uni today, and ate way less calories than I thought I would throughout the day - so much so that I had to serve myself extra salad and chicken at dinner, otherwise I would have been way under, only just hitting 1000.. and my range is 1500-1700 atm.

Looking at their menu I see they have grilled chicken or grilled fish, either would be better than pasta. Salad with dressing on the side or steamed veggies are good choices also.

This is fantastic advice! No need for my reply.

Actually, their menu looks pretty friendly for eating healthy. I see grilled fish (excellent choice)
Also the grilled chicken - but ask them to leave off any sauce.
The meals have a choice of salad or steamed veggies (skip the chips).

I imagine your group will want an appetizer. You can get a cup of minestrone, another lower calorie soup choice.

I think you could really do well here. I would write down what you are going to order on a piece of paper and take it with you. Don't even look at the menu when they give you one. If you can, order first so that your mind won't be swayed by what others are eating.

Thank you guys for your advice! Unfortunately as of now (just after 3pm) it seems I'm pretty low on calories.. so I could probably order a small pizza and still be under my lower range. Bread and dessert are going to be what I'm going to avoid, grilled chicken and fish are what I've been eating a lot lately, so I might actually go for pizza to change it up - I know from memory they do theirs on a pretty thin crust, and they aren't overly oily. Not healthy I know, but nothing is completely forbidden for me, and it's one night out of a lot of super healthy ones, so I don't think I'm going to worry too much.

I'm about to do 45 mins on the treadmill, and I'm definitely restricting my bread intake as I know that garlic bread is likely to be ordered in large quantities.

Sticking with a straight cheese and mushroom pizza - I know it won't be that great nutritionally, but I figure it all works out. I've pretty much been eating veges all day.

Fish with veggies if they have it. Just grilled fish with fresh veggies...can't beat that! or a simple grilled chicken with veggies.