Sometimes I eat an apple before I go out, so I'll be less hungry and a salad with some protein (shrimp, chicken, scallops) will fill me up.

purplebrickroad,

That missing out thing is huge for me. If I get myself into resentment mode, I'm not likely to be controlling what I eat! Judith Beck's books helped me a lot with that. She got me to compare myself with "other successful dieters and maintainers" instead of everyone. So, when one part of me is saying, "everyone else is going to Hardees for lunch and I'm stuck here eating this stupid salad," I have a ready response, "other successful dieters and maintainers do not eat at Hardees for lunch every day; many of them are eating salads for lunch just like I am."

Also, I really doubt that you are bringing other people down with your salad. Mostly, I suspect other people are a lot less conscious of our food choices than we think. And even if someone is paying attention, consider yourself a good influence! Maybe some of your friends will start modeling their food choices based on yours.

I don't tell others I'm on a plan, mostly because like others on here, I don't want to hear their opinions on what I should do. I'm also not gracious like other posters on here who are polite in letting others know that their opinions are not welcome. I can be rude and it can be off-putting to someone who only meant well. I do tell my mom and husband, but that's because they're supportive.

As far as going out to eat goes, I don't deny myself anything. I stay away from heavy-fat/cheese-laden foods because while they look appetizing on the menu, I know that within 2-3 bites I'll get saturated and then eat the rest out of guilt. My motto is: enjoy what you eat! If it's something that only looks good, but makes you sick after a couple of bites, it's not worth it. When I go out, I confess I look at menus online and it's frustrating when they don't have them (very, very few). I narrow it down to 2-3 choices that I would be happy with and choose at the restaurant. I also stop when I'm full - either take the rest home with me or scrap it.

Personal opinion: I remember when the olive garden used to be good. It was my family's go-to place for special occasions. We last went there maybe 4 years ago? and we were all disgusted by the size of the plates and the pools of grease in our food. Really! I haven't been able to get that vision out of my head long enough to consider going to OG.

I still haven't told many people that i'm doing anything different. A. because i've lost almost 15 lbs and they haven't noticed, and B. because i don't want people critizing what i'm doing and not doing. Whatever your reasons, you can simply say "i don't want to be rude but would you mind if we tried..." or "i don't want to be rude but i don't want to eat something that heavy..." anything along the lines of being polite and suggestive.

i sympathize with you on the olive garden problem. i'm on weight watchers, the problem is that even when you eat "healthy" there it's like 12 - 14 points for dinner. it's maddening. so i just avoid olive garden, unless it's lunch.

anyway, this is where planning comes in. if you know where your going to eat it's easy enough to find nutritional information on just about any restaurant or fast food place that you can think of. however, planning takes practice.

I usually look up the restaurant on the internet before and plan exactly what i'm going to eat (a trick i learned here!!) and if it's spontaneous, I stick to a salad from the menu (i try to get the one with the most veggies, not just lettuce), dressing on the side (hold the cheese, croutons, bacon bits, fried stuff, whatever extra they throw in there) with grilled chicken. And I drink water. It keeps me on plan and if anyone asks i just say i'm not too hungry so i chose something light. I also tell them I don't like salad dressing (which is true) if they ask about that...
And if people ask what i'm doing to lose weight, I tell them "Well i'm being more active and watching what i eat" instead of "i'm on weight watchers and do the 30ds"... most of the time it's none of their business