So I had a bit of a question for those of you who find you have to eat out a lot. I work at a law firm, and the lawyers are always offering to take me out to lunch, however, I've hard some difficulty with trying to calculate points for non-chain restaurants (i.e. EVERYWHERE WE GO!). Does anyone have any general advice as to what they do to still manage and calculate their points while not having to be a slave to bringing your own food everywhere you go?

Eat sensible. Eat things you can calculate points off of based on serving sizes and things you normally eat. Don't go crazy. Always leave food on your plate.
If you can, decide what you're going to eat before you go to the restaurant.

Hubby loves to eat out (who am I kidding, I do too), and we live in an area where there are alot of good, inexpensive (sometimes ridiculously cheap) restaurants, and the portions are far more than just generous. Our leftovers are ofen enough for a couple extra meals.

I'm learning that I can really eat almost anywhere, but I have to eat about 1/3 of what's on the plate (restaurant portions have become ridiculous). I try to chew slowly, and take a 5 to 10 second pause between bites.

I do better on lower carb options, so I often order broiled meats and if the dinner comes with rice or potato, I often ask for extra salad instead of the starch.

Thanks...I guess controlling portions seems to be the most difficult. Really, I wish restaurants could just start serving things that aren't JUMBO sized!

stick with what you know........order a salad, with dressing on the side.
Order egg white veggie omlettes, non-creamed soups w/salad, order the burgers w/o bun and sub the fries with coleslaw or salad/soup, or extra veggies. The only time I have troubles ordering something is when Im someplace that has almost ALL fried stuff. Otherwise, most restaurants are good and switching stuff up for you.

Applebees actually has a WW menu with the points right on it, you could try them once in a while.

Whenever I go out to eat, I try to get the grilled chicken... Grizzly's and Applebee's have a good grilled sandwich meal, and they usually come with fresh fruit.

I once had a leader tell us that she eats out EVERY night for dinner. She never knew how many points to count, so as a general rule, she eats 1/2 of what is served and counts it for 10 points. And she's lost weight following this rule.

Now if you follow this guideline, some times, you may be way off, but think of it this way...

It's better to count SOMETHING and be wrong, than to count NOTHING. This program is really about becoming a conscious eater. So, even if you guess wrong, at least you tried.

Good luck

I always go for broth type soup, salad with dressing on the side, sub. more veggies for fries or slaw, have meat grilled, skip the rolls, drink at least 3 glasses of water. so far that has worked the times I have gone out.....oh yeah for pasta..red sauce is better than the white.

I will ask them to bring out 1/2 of the meal on the dish and 1/2 in a box. If they can't do that, I ask them to bring a box out along with the meal and I split it up before I even start eating!