We all went out for a work lunch last week and there is this guy I work with who is in great shape. A co-worker asked him how does he prevent himself from going all out when eating at restaurants and he said that usually an entree comes with a side and so he picks a side that he doesn't like, that way he doesn't eat it. This saves him from eating extra calories when eating out, especially since entrees already contain so many calories.

For me personally, I would order french fries as a side, since I'm not fond of them and always eat 1 or 2 fries at most.

I thought I'd share this tip with you and hopefully it helps some of you out

I hate being wasteful so I am perfectly fine with just asking them to not include a side. I do this with the bread too. I'm not asking for a discount because I'm ordering less food, I just don't want it and don't want it to go to waste. It's also helpful when the restaurant has a "senior" menu that anyone can order from. The portions are often smaller and will often only come with one side instead of two.

Something I have learned to do is to ask the waiter to bring a box as soon as my food gets brought out. I immediately then place half of my meal in the to-go box. Not only am I slashing my meal calories in half but I have another meal for lunch the next day (: Usually when eating out I try to get the most sensible option but portions are HUGE nowadays!

Eh, I like me some side dishes. I'd rather just eat half of everything than waste food.

Most restaurants let you order veggies as a side anyway and if they're steamed or grilled then they're barely adding any calories to the meal.

If it works for you, then great. Give a shot and see how it goes.

This is what I did when I started losing. Now I can just eat half the meal and wait for the waiter to come around and ask if I want to wrap things up.

I agree that steamed or grilled veggies are a great side option. I happen to love them. I like to get my money's worth, so I ask for a box and take half home.

Lin

Yeah, put me down as another who does the opposite of this tip. I often order extra sides! The reason is that I like 2/3 or 3/4 of the volume of my meal to come from vegetables, and restaurant meals rarely achieve that without some tinkering. So I'll do whatever I can to up the vegetable total in what I am ordering - substituting or doubling sides when necessary.

But hey, whatever works for you. There are also a lot of different types of restaurants; what makes sense at one type of restaurant might not make sense at a different type.

I always have a dilemma about whether the 'order food I don't like so much' approach is good for me or not. Because there is a chance I'll eat it anyways but just not enjoy it much. Btw what is an entre? Sorry.

I remember reading once that it isn't hard to eat healthy in a restaurant it's hard to order healty. You just have to stay strong for those couple of minutes till you give your order. That helps me a lot. That and trying to stear toward restaurants I know have some healthy options.

I do both of those things. When I go to Panera, and I get the You-Pick-Two, I ask them not to include a side. I don't need the empty calories of bread or chips, and I don't really like their apples very much (I'm a fruit snob). I could always get the bread and save it for later, or do the same with the chips, but. . .you know, it's not as though I'm in danger of being without food. I'd rather they not waste it. I'd rather I not waste the calories.

When I'm out with my mom, I'll order something she likes, and then give it to her. Especially if it's something I don't like. Or, alternately, I'll get the veggies, because they're delicious and relatively low-calorie. I can't imagine getting something just to not eat it (either myself or through a proxy), though. That's not getting my money's worth; that's just being wasteful.

I always order food I like and make sure I enjoy myself. If I feel the portions are too large, I either save a portion to take home or simply don't eat all of it. Several places we frequent have delicious meals prepared under 550 calories or so (although you sometimes have to read the fine print to know about any special preparations) so I don't really worry about it unless I'm eating at a place that either doesn't have those options or doesn't have any nutrition information available. I just do my best to make sure I'm comfortable with what I'm ordering (lean protein and veggies) so I have less to worry about when my actual meal arrives.

Yeah . . . this doesn't have much to do with this thread, but this makes me think of when my husband and I ate out on Thursday night at a nice sit-down restaurant I'd been asking him to take me to. My meal was delicious and was off the low-calorie section of the menu, but the calories weren't spelled out and the portions seemed pretty large. I still was still picking at the half of my food I'd left on the plate and was planning on boxing it to take home for lunch the next day. Since we weren't planning on dessert, we paid the bill while we were still working on our plates. And after I'd turned away momentarily to put the receipt in my purse, my plate was gone! The waitress had quickly scooped up both my plate and my husband's without asking if we were finished, leaving us flabbergasted (I'd planned on taking home something left on his plate too). And best of all, she completely ignored our table after that, no matter how hard we tried to get her attention (this was after she'd already shrugged off screwing up my husband's order). She didn't get much of a tip and we spoke with the manager on the way out.