my friend is celebrating her birthday tonight and we are going to the macaroni grill (hopefully some of you know of this place). i want to eat something that will not use up my entire days worth of carbs and fats, got any ideas? i am also vegetarian, so that reduces my options by quite a bit. are there any places online where i can look up the nutrition facts of what they serve?

thanks
meagan

You are in luck! Macaroni Grill is actually a large chain and they have their nutritional info on their website: www.macaronigrill.com. The menu is pretty high calorie, but remember that most of the portions are going to be double what you would eat. Good luck!

thanks!

you know, that's a really good idea. going out to dinner was the main cause for my recent fall off the wagon... I'll keep this in mind for the next time I have houseguests!

Hi meeegun!! Look up that website and pick somthing you like and then don't eat it all tonight save some for tomorrow's meal. My husband and i love that place and i will filll up first with a good salad first so when the meal comes out I can't eat alot of it. I read your other post and you touch my heart honey! If in anyway I am able to help feel free to pm me or any of the other magnificint women here. Can you get signed up for your local community center? Usually they are very reasonalbly priced and They have loads to do there. Mine has classes all throughout the week like pilates and areobics. they should have a gym to use at your convinence. You will love it after awhile. I can say that with some confidence. I was the Ultimate couch potato!! and loathed exercise! But now i look forward all day until my gym time. Anything I can do I will try my hardest to do babe good luck!!

Soups are a great way to fill up without using a lot of calories...you can either order it before a meal and eat it while everyone else fills up on bread or eat it as your meal...I think a lot of Italian places do free refills on your soup so you wouldn't feel as deprived

actually, i went and printed off the nutrition facts from the web site and i have to say actually seeing on paper just how fatty restaurant foods are is really depressing. but lucky for me, i love soup. so my plan tonight is to get a side salad and some soup. thanks girls! =)

The last time I went to Macaroni Grill, I started with a nice salad, no cheese, dressing on the side. It was a GREAT salad. Then, I had the build your own pasta with whole wheat penne, spinach, artichoke hearts and something else (mushrooms?). As soon as the ENORMOUS bowl of pasta arrived at the table, I immediately asked for a to go box and boxed up half of it. Who can eat that much pasta!

If I remember correctly, they had a salad with shrimp that looked intriguing that I almost ordered

If you're going to eat bread, take ONE piece and then move the bread basket away from you. For me, it's just easier not to eat the first piece of bread. Olive oil is fabulous really, but you might want to just ask for a dish of just basalmic vinegar to dip your bread into.