Restaurant Meals
 

Glory started a really interesting thread in the Weight Loss Support forum about the outrageous calorie counts in restaurant meals: Grrr - Red Robin Restaurant and it got me wondering. How many people who have lost weight and are keeping it off (or maybe are still successfully losing) have done it eating frequent restaurant meals? Is it possible to eat out often and still lose weight? Or do the high calorie counts in most restaurant meals make eating out and weight loss mutually exclusive? :chin:

During the year that I was losing, I ate out rarely -- less than once a month, I think. And I pretty much stuck with grilled chicken salad, no dressing, because I really didn't want to risk a gain. Now that I'm maintaining, DH and I eat out maybe once a month but I'm still cautious about what I order because I know that even with good choices, I'll be way over my calorie limit for the day.

In my very unscientific experience, the more often someone eats out, the heavier they are. But maybe that's my circle of friends? What do you all think about restaurant meals and weight loss? Do you think that eating out frequently correlates with weight gain or stalls out weight loss?

When I first started losing weight, I didn't eat out at all. When I was in the upper 200s, I started to gain weight (hit 300 again) and I blamed my love of Indian restaurants partly on the gain. Cut those out but kept restaurant eating in the equation and I've gotten to where I am now.

Most weeks, we eat out twice a week, sometimes once a week. I blame period of 'stalls' (ahem) really on what I eat on a daily basis rather than my eating out. The difference I notice on the weeks where I lose a lot versus maintaining really isn't what I eat on the weekends when I eat out but really depends on what I ate during the week.

Of course if I eat crap during the week, it'll sometimes lead me to eat crappier things when I eat out. The other thought though is that really why waste calories during the week on crappier stuff when I know I'll eat out on the weekend and could have a splurge item if I wanted.

Hi Meg; First of all I want to say that I am a long time lurker on this board but never participated until recently; and you have been such an inspiration to me; just thought that you would want to know how much of an impact you have on people that you don't even know exists.

Now to answer your question based on my experience, I eat out a lot. My dh hates and I mean hates to eat at home. I started out basically like you eating grilled chicken, steamed veggies and dressing on the side only and I found that I quickly got bored. I have gained and lost the same 40 lbs a million times but this time I decided that if this was going to stick I couldn't keep feeling deprived and bored, so I started eating what I want within reason at restaurants. I am in the middle of a very stubborn plateau at the moment and eating out may have something to do with it but I don't think so. Fortunately I am an absolute exercise junkie and I usually get notice for when we are going out; so I compensate at the gym prior to going and manage to create a nice little calorie deficit beforehand. This has resulted in a thirtyfive pound weight loss since April. Not too bad. Hope this helps your experiment a little.

Renee

When I was packing on the pounds, I ate out often. Very often. And I gave no thought to my choices when I did.

Now I am so careful and cautious with nutrition. The calories just aren't worth it for many restaurant meals. I have a few exceptions. I have a small local restaurant here and their breakfast burritos are fantastic. I went from a huge one 2-3 times a week when I was at my high weight to a half a burrito once a week. Although I did not have one last week.

Hmm....I wonder if they are still in business now that I missed a week. :lol:

I went out to dinner to a fancy schmancy restaurant for a girls night out. No calorie counting occurred. But that is a once a year thing.

I do not eat out often at all nowadays.

:wave: Hi Renee and thank you for your kind words. :hug: Congratulations on your weight loss! Your experience is really interesting since obviously you're doing something right! :cp:

Again with the totally unscientific observation ... when I walk into a place like TGIFridays, Macaroni Grill, or Chilis, it seems like almost every person there is supersized -- big people eating big portions of food. Cause? Correlation? Coincidence? :shrug:

I love love love nice meals in nice restaurants - but I try very hard to put a once a week limit on eating out.

Since beginning maintenance, I usually have at least one very nice meal per week in a restaurant. This normally includes a glass of wine and splitting a dessert. I try to stay out of the bread basket, but I'm usually only semi-successful. I still try to stick to my basic rules - I avoid cream based sauces and fried foods. I still try to stop eating when I'm full and not overeat just because something tasty is on my plate.

If I eat out more than once a week, the other restaurant meals have to be "on plan" - meaning I make the best choices possible. I like Chipotle, sushi, P.F. Changs, On the Border (They have a great steak salad which I special order to pieces and still really like) and a few other places that have really good options that taste great and don't blow my calories for the day. I am a special order queen and always get dressings on the side, no sauce, no butter on veggies, double veggies etc etc. Most places are very kind and accomodating. I'm also a huge fan of dividing the food on my plate into "what I'm going to eat" and "the food I"m not going to eat" and slowly eating my portion.

Oh my other big rule - no leftovers from a restaurant. The ONLY exception is P.F. Chang's, I get the spinach, brown rice and Cantonese scallops and it's enough for 2 healthy meals. Otherwise, restaurants are a huge calorie bomb and it's a one time shot, I don't take any home to ruin the next day. I know it's wasteful, but gaining weight and having to buy a new wardrobe would be more financially wasteful!

I have found that I definitely lose weight or maintain my weight much easier when eating very infrequently in restaurants. Even with making good choices, I tend to gain water weight from all the salt in restaurant foods.

When I was at my higher weight , I dined out almost daily. I didn't pay any attention to the nutrition of my foods. Now on the rare occasion that I do dine out, it's almost always a grilled chicken salad with LF dressing. I also tend to always take home 1/2 of my meal as restaurant portions are at least double what I would cook for myself at home. I have totally given up ordering beverages to drink at restaurants, now it's just water for me.

Like midwife, I ate out a lot when I was gaining weight, as in, sometimes twice a day. :yikes:

I did go out to restaurants while losing, and I still eat out--just not nearly as often. For me that means once or twice a week. I learned really quickly about portion sizes and choices, and that obviously I could not eat all of what I was served. Sometimes I could only eat 1/3 of what was served!

Often I don't want to take home what I haven't eaten, and so I got over the reluctance to leave food. Better in the garbage than on my body.

Places like Macaroni Grill, Carrabbas, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, TGIFridays... I visit these very rarely. When I do, I order the best things I can find. I leave a lot of food--like pasta--and take home most of what I order. And sometimes I throw a lot of that away later.

One of the places I like best is Sweet Tomatoes, but even there, it's easy to overdo the calories without realizing it. I have had to be very careful there. And I see a lot of obese people there, probably thinking they are just having a "healthy salad." :(

I like breakfast out, but I try not to do that much because it's too easy to go over on carbs.

My weight loss stalls have more to do with my not being able to stick with my calorie limit than with whether I eat out or not. The pitfalls are here at home as much as out there. In fact, in some ways it's easier to overeat at home because the food is right at hand.

Jay

Thanks Meg;
I am finding it an interesting (but not unpleasant) experience also. I must add though, that I work two jobs one full time and one pretty close to full time and still try to exercise 2 hours a day. It may be that I'm never still for very long therefore causing bigger deficits than I should be. I eat 1200 to 1400 calories a day on a typical day. Per the Making the Cut plan. (I am not following the diet portion to a T) but trying to stay close.

I have also noticed though a corelation between notoriously unhealthy restaurants and the size of the patrons . My son asked me to take him to Burger King the other day before an activity that we had planned. We walked in and there was a very large family in there. Even the children were morbidly obese and my heart went out to them. Truthfully and I am ashamed to admit this but I really wanted to tell them that there are much healthier options out there and to drop the burgers.

I've never gone out to eat a whole lot. Growing up it was a rare treat in my family, as my parents cooked often and mom was also very frugal, and believed eating out was too expensive. I used to go out once in a while, perhaps 1x a month, throughout childhood, and then college is was mostly university dining with a few trips out to restaurants a month.

Now I go out or get takeout maybe once every other month. Especially where I live, restaurant choices are very limited to seafood restaurants with "brown" sides - everything fried, a few pizzerias...a real shame b/c we do have so much wonderful seafood. Why does it need to be drowned in oil or breaded and deep fried? I would rather make my own. Or I am left with the standard chicken salad option. I would rather make my own chicken salad with mixed lettuces, a variety of fresh vegetables, and homemade dressing, than pay $8-10 for limp iceberg with a chicken breast slathered in oil on top. There are a few nicer restaurants that prepare food very well and are worth the splurge. BF takes me to my favorite on my birthday... if my parents are visiting we might go... that's about it. I also am on a budget, so a smaller part of not eating out is being careful with my spending also.

I also have trouble with portions, taking half home, always avoiding the bread basket, etc. so part of not eating out it not wanting to put myself in the way of too much temptation, even if I did have more restaurant options.

I can't say I go to big chain restaurants often, like I said, as I live in a rural area and we simply don't have them.

I should also say that I do choose healthier restaurant options when I go out. Dessert and appetizers aren't part of the meal and the places I go tend to not have bread baskets. I did find a wonderful meal at a local italian chain a few weeks back. They will substitute sauteed veggies (zucchini and other stuff) for pasta in any of their dishes. The veggies were fantastic and the sauce I chose was nice.

My favorites are:
Chipotle
Local 'health focused' chinese restaurants
BD's Mongolian grill

Splurges include:
Red Robin (usually a lettuce wrapped veggie burger, sometimes with fries)
Kabob veggie sandwich (I love the bread but there is a kabob place here that makes a mean veggie sandwich with their bread)
Pizza (veggie pizza with no cheese at a local chain that uses no oil in sauce/crust)
Ethiopian food (good but sometimes a little oily)
Indian food (very careful here and it is a rarity)

Also with the fact that I don't eat meat or cheese, it is easy to avoid some of the major calorie hits that occur in restaurants.

Oh yeah, I love Mongolian Grill type places, there is one near where I work! I also love Indian, my favorite dish is chana masala (chickpeas) and it tends to be fairly safe calorie wise. I skip the rice and get whole wheat roti without butter.

Mmmm Indian.

I love love love love Ethiopian, but haven't found a good restaurant in San Diego yet.

The italian place that subs zuch for pasta is VERY intriguing!

I am jealous that some of you guys feel comfortable and safe with certain choices. My problem is that I have been burned by what I thought *were* good choices.

To a certain extent, I believe that eating out should be a pleasurable experience with good food and making the healthiest choices possible. But everytime I read one of those articles detailing calorie counts, I am shocked anew at how restaurants cram so many calories into such innocent appearing dishes.

I think we just kind of have to do the best we can, but I think that for me, a good rule of thumb is to double the number of calories that I *think* an item might have in order to be closer to reality. Or just not worry about it for that rare occasion I do eat out.

Hmmm. As opposed to bamachick, my DH hates eating out! :lol: So if I go out it's usually with GFs and frankly unless we drive 50 miles to Anchorage, there are only a handful of restaurants and we all know what are the "safe" things to order there. When DH and I do go out - usually when we're on vacation - we often get two salads and split a healthier main course. I seldom drink beverages other than water or coffee (or okay, wine :lol: ) either at home or in restaurants. For the most part I'm not willing to drink my calories - doesn't fill me up.

Glory - My only problem with indian is the naan... I love naan more than almost anything.

midwife - that is part of my strategy as well. When I'm not sure, I do double my estimate of calories. Even these articles/websites that give calorie counts aren't too reassuring to me.

I guess that my 3 years of maintenance has made me feel more comfortable - I have been doing this for 3 years and my weight has been very steady, within 5 lbs for the entire time - even with my weekly indulgence and the occasional, other off plan blips.

I am very strict normally, keeping my daily calories under 1800 almost every day. I eat that way so I can have my weekly treat meal - I save up for it every day :)

Everything is so individualized, I don't know if I could be successful on a daily basis if I didn't have that one meal a week to look forward to. I really really enjoy it.

For the other restaurant meals, I just do the best I can with good decisions and I'm sure I eat more than I know sometimes, but it seems to all work out okay.

We used to eat out a lot more than we do now. We were eating out probably 4-5 dinners a week, and a couple breakfasts. I was not paying attention to what I ate, and therefore ended up at 250.

Even while losing weight, we still ate out - but I was paying more attention to what I ate.

Now, we regularly have breakfast out twice a week (bagels - yum!), and usually one weekend meal. Many times DH and I split an entree, which works out great. When I want pizza, we go to a local place that has the best, get one calzone and split it with a side salad. That way I am limited as to how much I can eat (whole pies have a tendency to go down my gullet in multiple slices), and still feel like I get a yummy meal.

I have found restaurant portions are really just to big - and I don't want the leftovers. I don't like thinking about what a deal it is to have dinner and lunch for the next day. I just think - that was a lot of calories for half, do I want to take the rest home??

We went out for ice cream the other night. I wanted to treat myself to some real stuff (instead of yogurt). I asked for the child size scoop - and it had to be a cup of ice cream! What little kid needs that much?

So, in all that rambling, :blah: I guess that eating out probably has affected the speed of my loss, but I don't really want to deprive myself of certain places I enjoy eating.

And here I thought it was just me noticing because I've become so hyperaware (I'm trying to limit my use of the word *obsessed* :lol: ) of my own size. You should spend a minute watching the folks in the buffet lines at some of our hotels, eesh, scary. Sometimes it actually makes me a little sad and I spend time wondering which ones are going to be beating themselves up later for going overboard. But, I digress, back to the subject at hand...

Because of DH's line of work - lots of schmoozing (pc term is *networking* :D ) required - we still eat out fairly often. I'm not at goal yet and a little stalled so not sure if I can qualify as "still successfully losing" but I'm definitely successfully not gaining anything back. If we're in a *sit-down* restaurant, I do like JayEll and just make the best choices I can - lot's of times putting together my own "meal" from sides like steamed broccoli (with specific instructions of no butter, oil or salt) and sliced tomatoes - and keep a very close eye on how much I actually eat. If all else fails, I just order a house salad with oil & vinegar on the side. House salads are generally not embellished with much of anything except the occasional single shred of cheese (at least I think that's what it's supposed to be :lol:) and an olive slice so I think (hope) they are fairly safe. My favorite is buffet style though - I can pick and choose without getting heavy sighs and rolling eyes from waitstaff, and am in complete control of how much makes it to my plate.

My big trick that I shared with someone on another thread is, when I know we are going out, I'll choose something to wear that is fitted in the waist - not tight enough to look bad, just a little snug. It really helps me keep my mind focused on not going overboard if it pinches a little when I try to reach for the bread basket :D

LOL Nelie, when I was overweight I would eat two orders of naan all by myself.

My rule since I started losing has been to eat out no more than once a week. When I was losing, I would restrict my calories a lot the rest of the week except for that one meal, where I would eat whatever I wanted. It worked out so that my average cals per week were okay, even if I ate 2000 cals in that one meal out.

We haven't been going out as much lately, since we have had more family obligations. Instead, I count eating at the in-laws' house as a meal "out" because I know it is going to be over my normal calorie budget for dinner. I sometimes substitute my meal out with something else, like getting an ice cream cone in the afternoon.

When I was in college and gaining, I ate at the dining hall every meal almost every day, and any other meals I had were at restaurants (I didn't have a kitchen). Eating at a dining hall is like eating at an all-you-can-eat buffet, but where the only thing that tastes good is the dessert and breadsticks. When I was in high school we ate out probably 2-3 nights during the week, then had breakfast out at least once on the weekend, lunch usually fast food on the weekend, and usually dinner out saturday nights too. That adds up to seven restaurant meals a week. It was a big change for me to drop down to 1 restaurant meal a week.

I eat out a few times a week and my weight loss hasn't stalled yet (maybe that will change though - who knows?) . I do make *very* different choices when I go to restaurants now than I did in the past, and I try to pick restaurants than seem like they might have "safe" menu options.

One of the primary reasons I go out is for meat. I live in a vegetarian household, so I can't cook or store meat in the house. For instance, I'm planning to go out tonight so I can have some fish. There's a great Hawaiian BBQ place that serves grilled mahi mahi with green salad and a scoop of brown rice. I go there frequently, and that's what I always order.

Experience is a great teacher. I'm so glad you have found a way to satisfy everything that is important to you. I think that as I "play" with maintenance a little and try different things, I'll find out what I can do and what I can't.

I eat out a lot. My son is in college now and I don't have to cook, and my husband likes it too, so we eat out all the time. That said, I am lucky to live in a place with a lot of small individually owned restaurants and I'm not limited to the chains, which I try to avoid, with their huge portions and not so great nutrition (especially since I also have diabetes concerns, which limits me further). I am not shy about asking what exactly goes into a dish and I pay the same attention to carbs and calories as at home. I also avoid the type of restaurant I know won't have much to offer me (such as most Italian places). Over time we have a list of places that suit us and we go to them most of the time. By now we also are practiced at reading menus and knowing if we even want to set foot in the door (many have menus on the internet, even better). It has worked best to know ahead of time what my choices are, and then I don't get caught ordering something I regret later.

I eat out at least twice a week. What I do is look up the restaurants' meals' nutrition online and then decide what I'm going to eat. In addition, I totally specialize. Below are my faves:

Red Robin Ensenada Chicken Platter, no dressing, no tortilla strips on salad
about 400 cals
Red Robin Burger in a lettuce bun with side salad
Chili's Guitless Salmon, double veggies, no beans

Chili's has some good Guiltless items. I also get roasted chicken at certain restaurants and just don't eat the skin. It's worked out for me pretty weel so far.

also, I eat a lot of sushi. Not the best choice, but I can't resist!

I believe if you customize, you'll do okay eating out!

And Rubios and Baja Fresh. Those places are great! I get the healthmex tacos all the time!

The year I was losing I barely ate out. And when I did, it was very, very cautiously. Like a plain, undressed salad and grilled chicken, that I of course pestered the waiter about the amount of oil used in cooking it. I would count my calories and always estimate high, just to be on the safe side. For me, it just wasn't worth it to eat out. At home I know EXACTLY what's in my food and I can always get more volume with food that I make myself. Which is VERY important to me.

Now that I'm maintaining I eat out more often then when I was losing, but still not very often. I think with the chain restaurants we're playing calorie Russian Roulette. I think we stand a much better chance at the singularly owned type restaurants. I could be wrong though. But at least at those type places you can ask for custom foods and question what's really in there.

I know Glory has had much success eating out, (and IN for that matter ;)), but for me, eating out usually means overspending my calorie budget.

As I get close to my goal weight, I am trying to figure out how to eat in order to maintain. I had an emotional eating phase at the beginning of the year where I ate take out meals daily and gained weight rapidly. These past few days, my meals have included some take-out & restaurants, but I eat very differently than I did in the past. For example:

Thursday: Went to Panera with co-workers, got the creamy chicken rice soup and ate 1/2 of it (100 cal, 6 g fat) with some of the whole wheat baguette. I had already filled up on my lunch prior to going with them, but I had to go and sit there with them or else it would look bad. Later that night I had 1 serving of Arbys popcorn chicken (363 cal, 16 g fat); this is used to be my emotional eating staple and I haven't had it in over 4 months so I felt safe eating it.

Friday night: was craving Indian so walked to the restaurant and got Malai Kofta (veggie-potato balls in a creamy thick curry). Brought it home and ate 1/2 of it with 1 measured serving of the rice that comes with it, but added a good helping of frozen veggies to it and diluted the thick curry with some water to make the dish go further and be my entire dinner.

Saturday night: ate the other 1/2 order of the Malai Kofta and rice in the same way

Sunday night: impromptu get together at the Indian restaurant with friends. Ordered a samosa chat appetizer item that I am sure had probably 500 calories in it, and very slowly ate 2 out of 3 idlis (steamed cakes from rice flour) and the tiny cup of lentil soup which was probably 300 calories max. A very small meal compared to what my friends had. I also hadn't ate much besides a small breakfast and healthy lunch and fruit all day, so I felt ok at the restaurant. However, if I had known we were going to eat out on Sunday, I wouldn't have gotten the Indian takeout on Friday night.

Monday: didn't eat anything from a restaurant today

Tuesday night: I knew I'd be craving chicken with my homemade veggie loaded pizza, so I went to KFC and got 1 chicken breast to accompany my dinner. I pick off a lot of the fried skin and ate about 2/3 of the chicken, so I am sure I don't consume the entire 440 cal, 27 g of fat listed on their website.

I have still been doing fine with my weight loss and I still drag myself to the gym every day. I also have a rule where if I want to get take out, I must walk to the restaurant to buy it. I don't count calories strictly because it was a pain to figure out all the strange combinations of food I make at home in Fit Day, but I try to stay between 1200 - 1500 a day.

So yes, I feel safe eating foods from restaurant places more often, but I generally don't consume them the way they are intended to be eaten by the restaurant. For example, I sometimes get my favorite Asiago cheese bagel from Panera, but I cut it in thirds and only eat 1/3 per day. This way it is only 123 cal, 2 g of fat every time I eat a third. However, I have had to get myself into a very disciplined mode to be able to eat this way. If today was January instead of August, I would have just ate the whole bagel.

However when my boyfriend takes me to a nice restaurant, all calorie bets are off. :drool:

For me it's not eating out dinner, it's lunch. Because I'm self employed, I don't have a group of people at an office that I interact with so in order to keep up with friends (and sometimes with clients) we meet for lunch a lot. I just *have* to get out for the socialization and lunch seems to work best for everyone.

So I've got a handful of restaurants where I know what I can eat and how much:

Chipotle veggie salads w/ extra black beans and no cheese or guac (although sometimes I splurge on the guac cause I love it so!)
Tin Drum does a Thai curry where they'll sub all veggies and brown rice for the chicken and white rice. Mmmm.
Applebee's spinach and shrimp salad (1/2 portion)
Jason's Deli Turkey Slimwich and a cup of french onion soup (and sometimes a serving of frozen yogurt after)
PF Chang has several options on their menus that are good and relatively low cal.

Also on the days I go out to lunch, I often skip my afternoon snack because I'm still full from the larger or heavier lunch I ate, so I can factor in some extra calories there.

And, of course, if I feel like I've really overdone it, I will add 15 extra minutes to my time on the elliptical. That's a really good incentive to NOT overdo it cause I really don't want to ahve to do the extra time. :)

.

Hi Everyone, I have to eat out alot as part of my job. There is no question part of my weight gain was due to eating out, the other part was due to bags of chips at night. I knew what I was eating was bad for me but i had no concept that the calories were that horrific at restaurants. Who thought a nice pasta primavera could account for a whole day's intake.
I still have to eat out alot as part of my job. Once a month I am away from home for 4/5 days. The rest of the time I eat lunch out 4/5 days and then the occassional dinner event. Now I am very careful about what I choose. I try and look at the nutritional info before I go, if not I order salad without dressing, and chicken or steak. I watch my portion size very carefully and I have no qualms about asking for whatever I am ordering plain without sauce. I have had no problems doing this- I have not had any situations that I can attribute to stalls. I also am careful about the restaurant- no chinese, no thai (too afraid). Anywhere else I can find what I am looking for. Love sashimi! My only challenge has been when I am at a conference and I don't have food choices. ie boxed lunches chicken salad sandwhiches or buffets. I've decided to tell people I am allergic to mayo and butter that way I can just get food served plain. It is amazing conference co-ordinators are happy to address allergies but get annoyed with just dietary restrictions. I make sure I travel with "rescue foods" ie protein bars (which I rarely eat- but in a pinch), almonds, boiled eggs (if there is a fridge in my room). I was on a long drive home the other day and I completely forgot to pack snacks so i stopped at McDonalds of all places and I ordered the grilled chicken sandwhich (plain) and ate only the chicken. It really hit the spot and was 130 cal. I wouldn't do it often because the sodium in it was something else but it was good to know that I can still make good choices at a fast food place. The rough part is paying for the sandwich and throwing most of it out- gotta get over that. Anyway so far so good, I have learned to be extraordinarily careful.

Saw the same thing at Shakey's Pizza tonight Meg. First time I ever really noticed.

RUBIO'S!!! :carrot:


Angie and I went to Shakey's Pizza Parlor tonight. They just built one about 1 1/2 miles from my house. Years ago we had one in town but it is long gone. Wanted to try it out for "old times" sake. I went online and there wasn't a nutrition list that I could find. Angie and I got a medium Margherita Pizza and a ceasar salad, each got a beer. Should have asked for dressing on the side! We brought home 1/2 the pizza....not that it was that big at all, just that I make better choices now!

In those "old days" I would have had more than 1 beer ~ got a large pepperoni just for me and salad...HA! Why would you want to waste your money and appetite on salad? :dizzy:...but that was in the old days!

I eat lunch out once a week, and 99% of the time it's sushi. I am a sushi addict! :hun:

I always order the same thing, so I know I will be within my calorie budget that day as long as I have a light dinner.

Otherwise, I always pack my lunches for work and stick with it. It can be hard, since most of the people I work with go out for lunch, and aren't too picky about what they are eating. It can be challenging to sit there and eat my healthy stuff sometimes when the guys all around me are pigging out on stuff I would love to have, too.

But the results of that discipline are well worth it. :D

I avoid going out, seriously. I see restaurants as potential big pitfalls, and I don't trust anything they say anymore about calorie counts. When I do go out because of special occasions or vacations, then I try to stick to meals where I can physically see all the ingredients -- salads, lettuce wraps, grilled meats, steamed veggies, sauce and dressing on the side. I request modifications where I can. Frankly, I'd rather eat at home where I can control things. It's cheaper too.

I surely wish that the government would pass a law requiring ALL restaurants to post the calorie counts of their menu items and enforce its accuracy. If I really knew what everything was on the menu, then maybe I'd go out more!

This is a tip for everyone going to Chipotle. The Chipotle salad dressing is full of calories and can actually be one of the most calorie intense things on the menu, depending on what it is topped with(I've seen people eat a full serving of guac, sour cream, cheese and salad dressing on their salads). I got annoyed that I paid extra for the salad but didn't use the salad dressing so...

I order a veggie bowl, no rice. Black beans (double), grilled onions/peppers(double), corn salsa, tomato salsa(double), red tomatillo and a little guac (they actually don't know the meaning of little guac, so I often dig most of it out) and lots of lettuce (2-3 helpings).

Meg,

my dad and (quasi)stepmom are in their 70s. they eat out DAILY at the club for lunch 2-3 times a week and dinner out an average of 6 times a week. they also travel extensively

I have no idea what to tell you but at 74 this size 2 woman still wears a bikini and has the figure for it and my dad has lost 40 pounds in the last few years...

of course they are very active, treadmill daily, golf 4-6 times a week (full 18 holes) dad walks to the fitness center to work out...

of course at 216 pounds i'm the smallest of our friends and we eat out a lot.... so i guess Dad and QSM are the minority.

Oh I never eat the dressing. And I like the lettuce in the salad cause it fills me up. I don't really worry about the extra $1. I just tell them no dressing and guac on the side ... so i can put in as much or as little as I want. But I get *all* the salsas - corn, tomato, and hot.

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Well I just meant you can tell them to add the lettuce on top rather than on bottom and the difference is $1. They will put as much as you ask.

Here's a timely article that offers some hope for healthy dining options: Eating healthy when dining out is getting easier I've haven't heard of the National Restaurant Association web site it mentions but definitely plan to check it out. :)

Thanks for that article Meg! My sister is moving to Bethesda at the end of the summer. Now I have a restaurant I know I can go to when I go visit her! I just sent her the link and told her that we'd have to try it.

DH and I eat out lunch once a week. We usually go to Applebee's (I get a half salad of some kind) or a deli (BLT with avacado--no mayo--on rye) or an Italian place (vegetable lasagna). Due to my doctor recommending me to stay away from all carbs, it looks like the deli and Italian place will not be seeing my patronage for a few weeks or more.

We eat out at restaurants with the family for dinner less than once a month. I think I like to cook too much!