I've always been a little hesitant to make special requests at restaurants, though I am getting more comfortable with it as time goes by.

Yesterday I did it! I ordered a caesar salad without caesar dressing! (could that still even be considered a caesar? oh, well....) I asked for a fat free dressing on the side. I forgot to ask for no croutons, but I managed to eat around most of them... And the most amazing accomplishment of yesterday's lunch? I dipped my fork into the dressing instead of pouring it on! With that method, I only used about a tablespoon!

I didn't eat out for nearly a year after starting WW because I thought it was just too difficult to handle. Now I'm realizing that I can do it, and do it successfully!

What restaurant successes does everyone else have? Have you been able to skinny up any of your favorites with special requests?

First of all -- congratulations on your wonderful success! That really is terrific. I know we all have some issues w/ eating out. For me, there are several: the first and most difficult for me was conquering Chinese food. When I go out w/ friends, and it's about being with them and NOT the cuisine, the challenge was always, soup, eggroll, something w/ sauce and (usually fried) fattening. Now, unless the restaurant is absolutely KNOWN for its chef, I do steamed vegetables w/ either chicken, shrimp or bean curd; black bean or garlic sauce on the side, and I'm all set. Italian cuisine is harder -- but I DO stick to the half portions of things and look at the bread and butter on the table as if it had a "skull and crossbones" logo in front of it! I have not conquered Indian food yet, so I eat it very rarely and have to bank points to do so.

Again, Mary, CONGRATS! It's a big win...

That is awesome. Keep it up!

Angie

I don't eat out often, but when I do, I always ask for no mayo/sauce on sandwiches, and when I eat Chinese (great carryout joint in my neighborhood) I get noodle dishes or stirfry, and ask for them to use half the oil , at least the dish is flavorful, but not as bad as deep fried dishes, etc. I splurge occasionally & get an egg roll, usually have some soup instead.
At family restaurants, etc, I try to get ff/lowcal salad dressing, and generally get whatever I want for main course, just eat less than half of it, and save the rest for tomorrows lunch. I let myself have rich stuff if I want it, just try to have room for it in my pts for the day, use banked pts, or take it easy the next couple days. I often end up serving DH the leftovers if its on the wkends, that way I only have the meal at the restaurant to worry about.
I've found I hardly ever eat fast food anymore though, there just aren't many non-deep fried choices. I'd rather have a sandwich I made at home for 4-5 pts, more filling, cheaper, healthier, etc, than a 10+ pt burger or whatever. And when I do get fast food, I usually end up with gas or a tummy ache, its so fatty and salty.
I'm not afraid to make special requests anywhere, I'm a paying customer, if I had allergies or another health problems, I'd want the restaurant to accomodate me, so I just look at it like I have dietary restrictions that hopefully the establishment will honor. And if the rest. doesn't work with me on it, I'll just not go back there again. There are plenty of healthy choices out there, and I'm learning to eat for the rest of my life, so I figure I need to learn to eat in rest.'s also. To me, portion control seems to be the most important aspect-I can eat anything I want to, within reason.
Jomuir
70# down, 15 to goal

This is a little bit of a detour, but I've been going to Subway or Blimpies because I eat out so much. I get a turkey 6inch sandwich without dressing and I ask them to load it up with veggies. The whole thing is filling and only 6 points.
I am getting very close to going to an Italian restaurant because I want to try the potato gnocchi for 4 points a cup plus the points for sauce.
I do the steamed vegetable and shrimp thing at a Chinese restaurant too.
At diners I order eggwhite omelets or garden burgers and that works for me.
When I went to a Mexican restauant I started with hot soup, had half and then had a light dinner by eating the chicken without the taco shell, etc. I had refried beans, but knew the points and counted them in.
So--I've had lots of mini triumphs. Knowing the points of foods helps tremendously to avoid pitfalls.
Good luck everyone!
234/205/thinner

Susan, congrats on the new experiences.

Right now I am only comfortable going to restaurants which I get the points ahead of time from Dotti's site, or a steak house because it is what it is, or my favorite seafood place.

For seafood I get grilled, dry no butter, whatever, right now I am on a squid kick, and a salad, I combine these with the dressing on the side and even if I use the regular dressing, by using the fork method I know what I have had. I have a pretty good eye for what the container holds, like 3 tablespoons or a 1/4 cup, than I eyeball the deduction at the end.

If I am low on points, I use V-8 or tomato juice for dressing on the salad.

Avoid the bread, it can lead to diseaster, but most importantly, do not go to a restaurant hungry, because by the time you get your food, you may not be able to make really good choices.

As I get better at choices and self control and portions, I may branch out to more places, but also with a 2 year old and house, the money and time are not too plentiful.

Liza

Even though I know I should cook at home more, I do tend to eat out quite a bit. Mostly at fast food restaurants, but now that I've started WW, I know where I can go and what I can have before I get there.

Some of my favorites are:

1. Harveys - Veggie Burger (no mayo), side salad (no dressing) and a diet coke. That comes to a grand total of 7 points.

2. Wendy's - Grilled chicken sandwich (no honey mustard sauce, even though it's probably only 0-1 pts), side salad (no dressing), and a diet pop. That only comes to 6 points total.

3. Subway - I've only tried their 6" roast beef sub with mustard and no cheese (on whole wheat bread), but I wasn't too impressed with it. It was only 6 or 7 pts that way, but some things you just can't change - if I was to 'splurge', I'd probably use a few extra points to get the mayo and cheese I like.

I don't know about the US, but here in Canada I haven't had too much problem finding things that I can eat at any fast food place. Most places have things like grilled chicken now, or if you're craving something like McDonalds that doesn't serve grilled chicken (in Canada, anyway), I think a regular hamburger and small fries is only about 12 pts anyway, so if you want it badly enough it's not too difficult to save up for.

One thing I figured out about myself right from the start was that cutting out eating out altogether was not going to be part of the plan. If I tried to go cold turkey on fast food and eating out at 'regular' restaurants, I wouldn't have lasted very long on the WW program. That's why I'm so glad it's so easy to incorporate them. I have to say one thing about eating out so much - I don't think I've *ever* eaten so much salad in my life!

Christine