Eating Out Ideas?
 

Calorie Counters----I need your help!

I recently posted something about learning how to integrate eating with restaurants.

What are some good chain-dining options (with calories) for dieters?

Here's my suggestions:

PF Changs : 360 calories
Egg drop soup-cup (60 calories)
Steamed Buddha's Feast (110 calories)
Brown Steamed Rice (190 calories)

Applebees:
Island Shrimp and Rice - 370 calories
So tasty too! It's covered in a tasty sauce, and the rice even have pineapple in it---yummy!


Olive Garden: 600 cal
Breadstick (150 cal)
Minestrone Soup (100)
Garden fresh salad w/ dressing (350 cal)

Here's a few fast food ideas for 600 calories or less (not necessarily the most *nutritious* choices out there, but we all need a break from Subway once in a while, right?!)

Arby's: 600
Regular roast beef-350
Value fries-250

Taco John's: 560
2 chicken soft tacos-380
1 crispy beef taco-180
(go to the salsa bar and top off your tacos with fresh pico for a little extra veg :)

McDonalds: 410
Southwest grilled chicken salad-320
Southwest dressing-100
(for an extra 110 calories, you can even splurge on the crispy chicken and still keep it under 600 cals!)

Great topic...hope to see more ideas!

I came across this website last week and am actually trying to get my business on it. I think it's a great resource because it allows you to not have to sift through a restaurants entire menu to find stuff you find has an appropriate amount of calories (though if you don't find anything, that's the next step).

Healthy Dining Finder

Friendly's now has a 555 or less menu. Surprisingly good food.
Outback has similar options marked including steak, salmon and chicken options.

Thanks for the Healthy Dining Finder website! Now I just wish more local restaurants would start adding nutrition facts! I hate chain restaurants :(

I hate to admit it but when I am crunched on time and need something fast I pick up Jack In The Box's Tacos for lunch. Not the healthiest by any means but it sticks with me, has less than 500 calories for a meal and only costs around $3.

2 Tacos (408 calorie)
1 Side Salad (20 calories)
Low-fat Vinaigrette Dressing (40 calories for the whole thing- I only use like a quarter of it)
Diet Soda (0 calorie)

Oh and the Jack In The Box out here now has the freestyle machine. Which is AWESOME! So many diet choices I love it!

Their chicken fajita pita is realllly good and only 300 calories.

Noodles and Company

Regular size Pan Noodles only 350 Calories

TGIFriday's now has 500 calorie (or 550, can't remember) menu options. I've eaten a few of them, and they are delish!

I usually always pack my lunch or run home for lunch, but today I went out to Jasons Deli with a coworker and had a kick butt lunch for only about 490 calories!

1/2 of a 'fit' club on whole grain bread 238 calories
Cup of Chicken Tortilla soup (no chips or cheese) 163 calories
Cup of Fruit 88 calories.


I would have been fine with just the fruit and soup so next time it will only be 250 calories.

I'm in Canada, so I'm not sure if the menus and nutritional stats are exactly the same in all US states, but usually they are.

Burger King:
The veggie burger (270) with a side salad instead of fries or onion rings. Depending on which dressing you get for your salad (I usually get the light zesty italian), the whole meal should be under 350 calories and is very filling. I've noticed that at some locations they put mayo on the veggie burger automatically, while at other locations there's no mayo at all, just lettuce and tomato, but you can specify no mayo if you wish.

Wendy's:
I love the stuffed baked potatoes, and for me those are enough for a full meal, rather than a side-dish. The sour cream and chives one is 350 calories and the broccoli and cheddar one is 330 calories. I've heard the chili is also a good option, if you eat meat, and my co-worker loves the chicken salads, but she doesn't usually use the whole pack of dressing or pack of nuts in order to keep the cals a bit lower.

Taco Bell:
Taco Bell is surprisingly awesome, because you can order most of the burritos and tacos "fresco style", which means that they'll load it up with salsa, onions, tomatoes, lettuce and peppers instead of cheese and sour cream. Most of the fresco options are under 300 calories. I usually get the bean burrito fresco (270), but even if you get it with the cheese and sour cream it's only 290. When I have a more calories to "spend" for the day, I sometimes get the 7-layer burrito which is a delicious 410 calories, so not impossible to work into my daily calorie budget but a bit high. Skip the cheese fries and the nachos. It's all very high in sodium though, so make sure you're not eating tons of sodium in all your other foods for the day.

Starbucks:
I won a 400-dollar starbucks gift card in a charity raffle, so I've taken A LOT of friends out to have lunch there. I'm a tea-person not a coffee person so I don't have advice about most of the drinks, but I've learned to skip the chai lattes and green tea lattes in favour of plain Tazo tea. I just can't afford to drink my calories. I have tried or been with friends who have tried most of the foods though. I absolutely love the protein artisian snack plate. It is so awesome! It's a hard-boiled-egg, grapes, apple slices, a bit of cheddar and a whole-grain biscuit served a small container of peanut butter dipping. I thought it would be very high-cal, but it's only 370 calories for all of that (plus quite a bit of protein and healthy fats). My friend loves the chicken and hummus artisian snack place (it's 250 calories). I would skip the cheese and fruit snack plate, because that one is quite a bit higher in calories. In terms of sandwiches, the roasted vegetable panini, santa fe panini, tomato mozarella sandwich and turkey swiss sandwich are all decent calorie-wise. Skip the egg salad! The farmer's market salad is fantastic for 230 calories, and it comes with fat-free balsamic. For breakfast the oatmeal is decent, just don't get the toppings (dried fruit or brown sugar), because those massively jack up the calories. I like the egg, spinach and feta wrap best for breakfast though (280 cals). I've tried the berry yogurt parfait, but for some reason I really didn't like it. I'm not sure what yougrt they use, but I found it too sweet and it had a weird aftertaste (must be a yogurt with aspartame?). The vivanno smoothies are all under 300 calories, and you can get them made with 2%, soy or skim milk, plus they have 15 grams of protein. Not bad as smoothies go.

Mcds:
I'm a vegetarian so there isn't much for me. I used to like the fruit and walnut salad if I really had to go to Mcds, but they don't have that one anymore where I live. The fruit and yogurt parfait isn't too bad, it's better if you eat it without the sugary granola though. A vanilla cone is ok too if you're craving something sweet, it's 230 calories so definitely not going to break your diet.

New York Fries:
A small (yes, just a small) fries is 400 calories, and more if you add ketchup. Share an order with someone else and eat it with malt vinegar. Not horrible if you're really craving fries but a lot of calories for something that doesn't even seem like a proper meal. Absolutely avoid the poutines and those "the works" things.

Pita Pit:
Tons and tons of good options and it's easy to get a stuffed, delicious pita for 300-450 cal. Stick with one of the vegetarian ones (although I don't eat the falafel often because it's pretty high-cal) or chicken instead of steak. Avoid the tuna salad too. Have them load it up with veggies and just be mindful of toppings like cheese and sauces. I usually get honey mustard or a bit of hummus instead of mayo. The end product can be pretty high in sodium though, depending on dressing and if you put pickles and olives on it, so just be aware of that and keep salt low for the rest of the day.

Cinnabon:
If you really, really need something sweet at the mall, the "miniabun" isn't going to kill you at 130 calories.

Bourbon Street Grill:
I actually love this place! Lots of decent low-cal options for a mall-meal. They have salads or you can just get a plate loaded up with different veggies (I usually get the yams, green beans or spiced kidney beans and corn or carrots). The plantains are fried so skip those. For meat-eaters they have blackened fish and some shrimp dishes that are pretty low cal, and some decent chicken options. Definitely skip the mac and cheese, the fried rice and I wouldn't bother with the steamed rice either since it isn't brown.

Great thread, all! I'm going to sticky-it!

I forgot about one of my favourite places - Terriyaki Experience. I'm not sure if you have this restaurant in all US states? I saw a couple of them when I was in New York though. It's kind of a build-your-own-stirfry type place where you have total control over what goes into your meal, which really allows you to keep it lower-cal if you need to do so. You pick a base of white, brown rice (so glad they have brown) or noodles, pick your "meat" (chicken, beef, shrimp, tofu or just veggies) and which sauce/how much of the sauce. Everything is made up fresh for you, full of veggies and it's very delicious. They also have brown-rice sushi and some soups that are pretty low-cal (miso soup, there's a shrimp soup).

Panda Express here has bowls where you can use steamed vegetable in place of the rice and then put whatever meat or sauce on it.

Bowl of steamed veggies (8.6oz) 70 calories
Top wih Beef Broccoli (5.4oz) 130 calories
Hot n Sour soup (10oz) 90 calories

VERY filling lunch with 290 calories.

I love this. Thanks!

I got this last night in a pinch but without the chicken (it has 710mg sodium!) and I read that their meats are high in some ingredients that causes a glutamate reaction without listing MSG. For those sodium sensitive folks out there!
The salad was tasty and definitely good if eating on the go!

learning to eat fast food
 

WOW--it's wonderful to know that even on a diet I can still eat fast food:

http://eatthis.menshealth.com/slides...r-350-calories

I am so happy about it too!!!

I thought dieting meant no fast food ever again. lol

Chick-fil-A
 

I love to get a kids meal with 4 nuggets,small
fruit bowl & diet coke,has only 180 calories.

yummy!
 

chick-fil-a nuggets are so tasty. I stopped eating them in high school because I thought they were making me fat. I'm so happy to see them back in my possible diet. lol :carrot:

Zaxby's has delicious zalads. Their house zalad (without the chicken) and 1 packet of ranch dressing is 575. It comes with 1 slice of texas toast that is 150 calories (already included in the 575.) If you don't eat the toast, you can do 2 packets of dressing for 585. The salad and toast fill me up quickly. It's huge!

Grab a copy of "Eat This Not That"... basic concept is that we're going to eat unhealthy things from time to time... he gives you the best of the unhealthy options. It's more realistic than telling you to gnaw on celery while everyone else is eating fast food. It's a pretty cool book actually.

I like Panera, but it can be a tricky spot because it has a lot of seemingly healthy options that are actually really high-calorie like some of the sandwiches. I go for the You Pick Two with the Chopped Chicken Cobb Salad and Chicken Noodle Soup with a whole-grain baguette side. The entire meal is less than 500 calories. That's tough to beat!

chick fil a has a pretty tasty char-grilled chicken sandwich for 290 calories and 4 grams of fat.

skip the fries and cole slaw...and ask for a side salad with fat free dressing...

Cast off your chains.
 

Chains are part of our problem, we know they offer cheap processed stuff full of fillers/salt/fat/chemicals. We can stop going and become reacquainted with our kitchen, backyard, picnic basket and local whole foods market. Eat like our grandparents did. We'll go much less often to really excellent restaurants with top quality food; food that's worth the wait. Sorry for rant, but it makes me crazy to hear people debate the merits of Wendys vs. McDonalds. Look at us people, look at us. What we are willing to accept as "cheap food" is nasty stuff indeed and we need to find our way out of this.

One things that's AWESOME about Panera (at least the ones near me) is that they have the calories for all of the menu items listed next to them on the menu behind the counter where you order.

Good rant! - however, the title of this thread is "eating out ideas". Sometimes life is too hectic and fast-paced, and occasionally a "Wendy's" here or a "McDonald's" there isn't a bad thing.

That said, I'd like to hit up "BREAKFAST" eating out ideas! - while I normally have my own "turkey/cheese 1/2 sammich" for breakfast (300 calories and that's WITH mayo!!!) sometimes I need to get other ideas for breakfast. Occasionally I will hit up McD's for a sausage biscuit for 430 calories, but I have a feeling there is something "better" out there! Help?? :carrot:

I've read alot about fast food breakfasts and one of the best things at McDonald's is the egg mcmuffin. I'm personally not a fan of this, though I love an english muffin, something about that has always turned me off. The sausage and biscuit is my favorite, too, but I've managed to avoid, avoid, avoid so far.

I had Panera for dinner cause I was starved.

I had a you pick two with the strawberry poppyseed chicken salad for 170 and the lemon chicken orzo for 130

no side

dinner came in at 300 calories. Really high on sodium though.

Chipotle
 

I have been eating Chipotle lately. Their burrito bowl is less than 500 calories if you have it without rice and cheese. I get mine with meat, fajita veggies, beans, lettuce and even sour cream. It's incredibly filling and all of it is organic and grown locally. (Or at least as organic as they can get.) I feel like it's even healthier than something I can make at home.

I also eat at Chipotle a good bit with the same bowl, minus the sour cream. I add bellpeppers to mine though and just a little rice. ;-)

The oatmeal from McDonald's is pretty tasty, it even has fruit. I like to get that and a Fruit N Yogurt Parfait.

i LOVE wendy's apple pecan chicken salad. It's an utterly delicious mix of grilled chicken, craisins, pecans, cheese (which I usually pull off, just because I'm not a fan), apples, dark greens and reallly good pomegranate dressing. I usually get the half size, which is filling and about 360 calories. It's my go-to fast food lunch.

I love going to Wendy's and getting a jr. cheesburger and a sour cream and chive potato. Comes in around 500 or 550 calories and is really filling for me. It's my go to meal if I have to get fast food.

Also, if in a rush, and couldn't take time to eat a potato, I'll order a small fry no salt. It's a win, win really. You get fresh hot fries and they're not covered in salt, which is just added sodium.

I don't have actual calorie counts, but I noticed that the last time I went to Red Lobster they listed calories right on the menu. I was so excited about that because I hadn't had a chance to look anything up before we went. Plus, fish is just a really healthy option anyway. (if it's not breaded and fried anyway. :p )

Have a bowl of soup as a starter. It will help to fill you and is nearly always very low calorie so no matter what you eat after that you will eat less of and so have a lower calorie evening. Soups are a handy lunch too.

Ask if they can serve dressing/sauce/cream in a side bowl and add only what you want.

If you get anything breaded like chicken kiev or with pastry just treat this stuff as a container and eat what's inside it.

Tomato sauces are of course lower calorie than cream ones.

This helps me anyway.

jared767, I love that website. THANK YOU!!! I have played with it all night. Best dieting tool I have found considering I am on the go all the time.

I just ate this at Ruby Tuesday it was sooo good!

Fit&Trim Grilled Salmon (335 Calories)
Steamed green beans (45 calories)

The piece of salmon is HUGE and it's delicous and filling!! It feels good to have healthy options when eating out :)

..oh, I wish that I could eat fast food....the problem is, if I eat any of it...I won't be able to control myself and then I will want more... :( ...but I do eat at restaurants twice a week.... I usually will get grilled chicken and veggies...they have grilled chicken wings at Carolina Ale house and at Bokampers(I'm not sure I spelled that correctly)... At Applebee's they have weight watchers and low calorie foods.... If I get a salad, I make sure there is no bacon, cheese or ham in it and I only use vinegar salad dressing... I also eat soup that has red sauce and no pasta... I would LOVE to be able to eat taco bell or my fav pizza restaurants... :( ....but like I said, if I eat even the low calorie things it triggers my over eating habit.... :( :(

I don't know if anyone has stated but you can have sushi! Lots of protien and I generally split 3-4 rolls and I get a ginger salad and some edamame and I average 500-600 calories but it's worth it cause I walk out sooo full and I only do it once every month

Great thread!