<p>I live in Montgomery County, MD, and I miss seeing the calorie counts when I eat out anywhere else.</p>
<p>With salads, order the dressing on the side, and use very little of it. It can have hundreds of calories. Also watch salad toppings like cheese, bacon bits, and nuts.</p>
<p>Agree with MD Mom. I’ve always ordered my salads with the dressing on the side (I don’t like my lettuce drowning in dressing) and no cheese. </p>
<p>Ruby Tuesday’s has a fantastic salad bar. Lots of healthy stuff.</p>
<p>If you can look at a menu online and decide what to eat before you get there, it helps to lower the temptation. If you’re with a group of friends, try to order first. Often people will follow each other’s lead, so if you go “healthy” your friends might follow - at least you won’t be tempted to follow your friend’s tempting bad choice! When the food comes, divide it in half. Either put the other half in a to-go box immediately, or just move it aside. If you’re not bringing the other half home, cover it with your napkin after you finish what you’re going to eat, or stir it together or somehow do something to make it unsavory.</p>
<p>I second the option to look at an online menu before you even leave the house! That way, you avoid the temptation of what others are ordering, you’ve had time to think about what you’re choosing, and you can do some research into the nutritional info of the meal, whether the restaurant posts it, or you use Calorie Count or Livestrong or some of the similar sites that do nutritional breakdowns.</p>
<p>Get all dressings and sauces on the side (if you will be using them at all). Order a glass of water while you are waiting for the meal, and drink it (avoid the breadbasket…) while you are waiting for your food. </p>
<p>Watch out for things that look like the healthier choice…ask how things are prepared. Choose fresh whenever possible. </p>
<p>If you know you are going out for a meal one day, plan the rest of the day’s eating around it, if you plan to splurge. Biggest thing to remember – no food is inherently evil. Too much of any food…not so good.</p>
<p>(I lost 90+ pounds safely over 4 years ago, and have kept it off…general philosophy – eat less, move more…and be mindful of what you are eating.) </p>
<p>Enjoy the dining out!</p>
<p>If I don’t feel like dealing with takeout (for example going straight to a theater) I often just order an appetizer or two. Much more reasonable portions and they usually taste better too.</p>
<p>Shrimp cocktail is lo-cal. </p>
<p>If you frequent Chinese restaurants, steamed veggies with chicken is nice.</p>
<p>It’s not the calories that concern me any longer when I eat out, it’s the sodium. Beware of those 500 calorie entrees. those are usually the ones with 2-3 thousand mgs of sodium!</p>
<p>When eating out, I just make sure that i eat lighter meals the other 2 meals so I have room to splurge. I get salad dressing on the side. Never get anything with sour cream. </p>
<p>Frankly, eating out is just too iffy. Most restaurants load their food with butter and salt so that people think it tastes better. </p>
<p>Ultimately you just realize that eating out is a diet buster and make up for it the other days.</p>
<p>I did one of the 500ish calorie meals at Applebees last week, and it was pretty good. I think it was chicken with broccoli and rice. I normally would favor a locally owned place, but it was a surprisingly good meal.</p>
<p>Applebee’s works for me also–petite steak with broccoli and a salad. </p>
<p>I just ate at Islands today for the first time in a long time–they have added a skinny menu since the last time I went and the Skinny Greek Salad with Chicken (at 310 calories) was pretty darn good! </p>
<p>I like the half Chinese Chicken Salad at California Pizza Kitchen. </p>
<p>The You Pick Two at Panera can be kept to 350 calories by choosing the vegetable soup and an apple instead of chips. </p>
<p>At Rubios, I eat the side salad with two carnitas street tacos–for about 250 calories.</p>
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This sounds so boring. If I am going out to eat I want something I wouldn’t make at home. More complicated, unusual ingredients or long cooking times requiring equipment I don’t have. Mostly we eat Indian, BBQ or high end gourmet.</p>
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Yes! On the Seasons 52 menu, there is a side that sounds healthy – Grilled spring Asparagus. But it has 1302 mg. of sodium!</p>
<p>I had a wonderful birthday dinner last night. Gazpacho soup, broiled fresh ocean trout on a bed of steamed spinach. I splurged on dessert but the main course was very low cal and yummy.</p>