We are certainly eating better and healthier while fixing food at home; yet every now and then you just want to go out and enjoy a nice meal with friends or each other.

How do you accomplish this and still lose? We did last weekend and was very careful to make good choices and still the scales went up?

Thanks,

By pre-planning and having lots of lemon water!

I usually check out the menu online or in my LAWL book so that I know what I am having before I get there. And I try not to read the whole menu, but go for the fish section and chicken section so that I don't get tempted by the appetizer and sandwich sections. I order a salad and a glass of lemon water when I sit down so that I can eat that while everyone has their appetizer. I bring my salad spritzer with me in my purse so that I always have dressing.

I really like Applebees because they have the WW menu so that I can pretty easily convert everything to LAWL. The steak and shrimp skewers are good and the tilapia is probably what I order more than anything else.

I like Applebee's to for that same reason. I ordered the shrimp skewers the last time I was there and those are good........

I do the same thing as Cassi. I try to look at the menu online before i get there and if I know a day ahead of time I look at the menu so I can plan my whole day around that meal I am having while dining out.

This new lifestyle takes ALOT of planning but if you do plan you will succeed!

We did Applebee's last night.. Liz had the shrimp skewers too, but I ended up with the grilled lime chicken because I needed 3 starches.. Probably not the best choice, in retrospect, but it was pretty tasty..

The thing about restaurants is to remember that just about everything you get there off the "cooked" menu has been processed in some way, so the salt and "additive" content is going to be WAY high.. It's been very hard for me to put the salt shaker down when we eat out, but I'm doing it and so far, it's working..

Then again, we'll see if we emerged from Applebee's unscathed when we WI on Saturday..

It's all about planning ahead, and using common sense.

With Applebee's I almost always order off the WW menu and work it in with the rest of the day. If I know I'm going to want the tortilla press I leave the two starches for dinner so I can have it. Last night I did the WW chicken sandwich, it was so worth the 2 starches, it came topped with portabello and tomato, plus a side of fruit!

Also, no matter where you eat out there is almost always a chicken ceaser salad on the menu, I simply order that and replace the dressing with vinegar.