Sooo this week I've been binging like crazy due to TOM plus a fender bender (literally backed into my neighbors car-which was illegally parked in MY driveway-and bent his fender) stress. That's gone on for 4 days. Today I binged again (meaning I ate leftover Indian food, a cookie, animal crackers, crackers and cheese-and it's only 4!). I am sooo bloated and my pants feel so tight at the waist! It's gross! Ugh.

And then I got some AMAZING news! I'm going to England and Paris the last week of April until about May 9th with one of my best friends from college! I am beyond excited and NEED to look good for this! So I am determined to stick to my diet the remainder of the time-no excuses!

unfortunately I have 4 dates lined up for this weekend (Thurs, Fri, Sat, and Sun-I'm on Match.com). And I haven't really figured out how to diet while eating out. One of the guys is a foodie and will literally put food on my plate for me to try...we're going ot Mexican. The other 3 don't know-one is Thai food...(why did I have to be honest and list that on my profile as a fav food? couldn't I have said steamed veggies and baked chicken instead?)

How do you ladies eat out at ethnic restaurants where there is no indication of contents/calories? What do you do if your date orders an app? Or desert for that matter and literally plates it for you?

I stick with chicken, grilled and not breaded. When I go to Mexican places I get the chicken fajita. Try to hold off on the chips though! Also try not to eat too much rice

I had a really good mexican meal once that was a fish taco, grilled veggies, and some rice. It was awesome and filling! Try and pick little things from the a la carte menu because then you have greater control over what you're doing.

With mexican, I go for something like a soft taco and ask for the condiments on the side, or yeah, a chicken fajita. With thai - avoid the coconut based curries and deep fried starters! Safest choices there are the dishes in oyster sauce or garlic or pepper sauce - they may still be a little high on sodium, but you'll cut out a lot of fat avoiding the coconut cream! Also you can usually get one with a lot of veges. If you do want a starter, the fish cakes are usually not too bad

Omg... FOUR? Woman... The least of your worries is food! Four dates in a weekend is a lot of work, and you wouldn't think so! Before I met my husband, I remember trying to keep up with the people I was meeting off of OKcupid, what an exhausting experience that was. Half of them were crazy or creepy. Eventually you find the prince among all the frogs so GOOD LUCK!

As for food, I tend to stay away from anything that is fried or implies that there could be cream in the dish. Also, is there is a sub for anything fried, like a salad, don't be afraid to ask or request that instead. I usually cut a lot of calories out of a meal just by swapping out fries for a salad and I can enjoy a burger with it.

first and foremost- have fun on your dates!!!

as far as mexican, i usually order a couple of plain tacos- the place near me makes them on small tortillas, and they come simple- grilled meat of choice, onion, radish, cilantro- and i put some fresh pico/salsa verde on it.

thai- when i get thai, i get some sort of non-curry as rainbowstripe mentioned above. like basil chicken/garlic chicken, etc. also, most thai restaurants here in seattle offer a grilled fish option.

for the other two, if they have no set place to take you to, and they ask for a suggestion, suggest a place where you feel comforable ordering.

also, if your date gets an appetizer, let him. you don't have to share it 50/50. have one bite/piece if you want, or pick something that's not fried/sauced/buttered/etc

have fun!

This site might help you out a little bit for some of those places http://www.weightwatchers.co.nz/util...=42231&sc=3030

Good luck!

I'm a huge Thai food fan so I can definitely understand how tempting that cuisine is! How about ordering an appetizer for the entree, or a soup and appetizer? Entrees tend to be huge with lots of rice, which really messes me up even when I avoid the coconut-based curries.

Try especially fresh spring rolls (not fried, although easier to find in a Vietnamese restaurant than Thai), tom yum soup- a broth based hot and sour soup (not tom yum kha, which has coconut milk in it), or som tom (papaya salad!). All are light and delicious. Happy dining!

basically, you know all the tricks of the kinds of food that you should eat (veggies, light chicken and all that...) but i would say you can eat whatever you want, just don't eat all of it... it's all about portion control. so technically, you CAN eat whatever you want and still lose weight, as long as you don't eat a cartload of it. get it?

have fun on your dates!

Zombie: agreed this whole match/dating thing is time consuming. That's why I'm trying to get the first date thing out of the way. Like if you ask me to meet I'll meet with you and decide if I want to continue e-mailing you or if I'm wasting my time. I've been on like 8 or 9 dates so far and kept talking to only 3 of those.

I just have a hard time making smart decisions when eating out-and if it is on my plate I tend to eat it. Ugh...

These are great suggestions though! Esp the app and soup thing...I'll definitely try that out!

You took the words right out of my mouth.

It's true and you don't have to finish off your plate stop when you feel full or are getting there. Pop usually helps to fill me up so I don't eat as much. Just enjoy the good conversation (or the crappy one depending on the guy) and don't stress so much about food. This one jackass I went out with all because I didn't want the disgusting dessert (and usually resturants desserts are gross.) says to me "Let me guess your the type of girl who doesn't like to eat in front of a guy" I rolled my eyes and for sure didn't bite my tongue. (I might have left some food on my plate too because I was getting a stomachache) and I said. "No I'm the girl that just dropped 20 pounds and I don't feel the need to over stuff myself to impress you...thanks anyways". Probably put him in an awkward state but he was a douche anyways and def not a catcher haha. LEts say a second date never happened and he was smart enough not to call me again.

enjoy your time and enjoy the fact your not paying for any of this stuff...heh