[JollyGreenSteen19]

It was my DF's 30th birthday last night... to be fair!! but after counting up half the appetizer, my entree, my 2 skinnybee (lol) mojitos, and my dessert shooter - 2495 calories!!! That's why I never go anywhere unprepared unusually. Such regret! I feel awful. Lol.

[yoyoma]

Oops! It didn't seem like that much at the time, did it? But, in the scheme of things, it's no big deal as long as you get right back on plan!

In the future, since Applebee's does have calorie counts online, you can plan ahead (either to stay on plan or to go a set amount above plan).

But for now, just get back on plan and you'll do great!

[kateleestar]

And, Applebees has menu selections that have that "under 500!" logo right by them... When I go there, rarely, I always get a salad and one of those selections. I generally don't go over 700 cals, with either a diet coke or a lime water, and I'm good.

[mimi86]

I go to Applebees every week because my hubby and his friend and I go to the movies every Friday and eat lunch there beforehand. It SUCKS to watch them both chow down on the chicken alfredo (my favorite, back when y'know, I thought I could eat whatever I wanted).

Almost EVERY entree on the menu is over 1,000 calories for one portion unless it's marked as being under 500!! Don't take a chance with the Weight Watchers entrees unless you actually do weight watchers...the calories in those can still be 700-800. When I go, I either get the Chicken Teriyaki pasta (450 calories) and split it in half, saving the second portion for dinner (I'm on 1200-1300 calories per day, so a 450 calorie meal is a lot in one sitting for me), or I order a half-size salad (400-500 calories, depending). Their half-size Caesar salad is actually pretty huge...they use just as much lettuce, but less dressing and less chicken. I ignore the croutons and ask for the dressing on the side so that I can control how much of it I actually eat. My only gripe is that at that point, it's not exactly worth 8$...

Depending on what else I eat on Friday, it might end up being my one 'splurge' day for the week. :[

[mzKiki]

Applebees is ridiculous and TGIFridays is too. I ordered the Spinach shrimp salad thinking I was being good and found out later it had over 1000 calories.

[Michi702]

Applebee's, TGIFriday's, the 99, Ruby Tuesday, Friendly's and Chili's all SUCK equally when it comes to making low calorie choices easy. The trick with them is having the nutritional info on hand to make a personalized plate as I don't eat seafood and lots of their low calorie entrees have shrimp in them. Friendly's does have an under 555 calories list, and the 99 has 3 - 4 menu item suggestions as you go through the pages for lighter options, but it usually takes me at least 20 mins of research at home to find decent options within my calorie budget at any given restaurant.

I usually have 500 calories for dinner, so if I do go out to eat I stick within 750 or less because I find it so hard to get good stuff at 500. I do really like the balsamic chicken breast with broccoli and wedge salad meal at the 99 though, and it's only 520 calories.

Ruby Tuesday's has a list online of their nutritional information, but it's a little deceiving - instead of suggestion one full entree and sides at X calories, they list the entree and all side options separately with the disclaimer that Fit & Trim choices are all under 700 calories with mashed potatoes and broccoli included as sides. Source - http://www.rubytuesday.com/assets/me.../nutrition.pdf

@mimi86 - That's awful that they tempt you like that every week! My boyfriend tries to be somewhat conscious of what he's eating around me when he goes for a splurge and I'm still sticking on plan. It's nice though to 'sample' and get a bite or two of something he has