What are your favorite reasonable options when eating out ?

[FreeWeightloss.com Admin]

I think one of the challenges we all face is eating out at restaurants.  Many meals from fast food restaurants, and even traditional restaurants, are loaded with calories and fat!

I'm curious to know what your favorite restaurants / meals are when you eat out.  Here are some of my favorite reasonable options:

• Arbys - Grilled Chicken Cordon Bleu Sandwich (w/o Mayo).  There is cheese, so you really can’t tell there isn’t mayo.  Total calories is 371.  Total fat is 7 grams.   Skip the fries… bring an piece of fruit as a side.
• Donatos Pizza – Individual thin crust veggie pizza – 544 calories.  There is however 24 grams of fat, so I try not to eat this more than once per week.
• Chic-fil-a – Chicken club sandwich – has a big piece of cheese, bacon, and a grilled chicken breast.  Get a cup of fruit as your side instead of fries and the whole meal only has 430 calories.  There are 11 grams of fat.
• KFC – Grilled Chicken (not available in all markets).  I get a grilled chicken breast, a grilled chicken leg, and for my two sides I get green beans (which are very seasoned).  I toss the biscuit.  Total calories is only 340.  I am unsure how much fat, but not much since it’s not deep fried.  

[Ginger]

When I need to eat on the go McDonalds really does have some good choices:  Their grilled chicken caesar salad with light balsamic viniagrette dressing is 260 calories.  I also like the 6 piece nuggets kids meal with apple dippers which 350 calories total.   If you stick with their salads and the light balsamic viniagrette (40 calories in the whole packet) you are doing well with the exception of the Fiesta salad.  All of their salads come in under 400 calories - fiesta is right around 400 or a little more, depending on how you order it. 

When you are going to a sit down restaurant, Red Lobster has some good choices.  Their garden salad with light dressing is a good small portion way to start.  They have a Jumbo garlic shrimp for their entree that is 250 calories or so.  I always get that with steamed veggies on the side.  Steer clear of the biscuits, but even if you do indulge, they come in at 160 calories a piece, so not terrible, just don't eat a bunch of them. 

All restaurants have options.  Try to stick with anything grilled or broiled.  Anything fried, sauteed or battered is going to be killer high in calories.  Also, broth based soups are a good way to start and fill up, nothing cream based though.  Exercising both common sense - stay away from the bread bowl and high calorie appetizers like boneless hot wings - and portion control and you can eat out pretty much anywhere and still stay within a healthy food plan.

[FreeWeightloss.com Admin]

I wanted to post an option I found at McDonalds.  Who knew you could actually get out of McDonalds without eating a ton of calories or fat.

It's the grilled chicken club sandwitch w/o Mayo.  It's about 470 calories and it's very good!  Instead of fries I get a "Fruit n' Yogurt Parfait" which is only 160 calories.  The total meal is 630 calories and it's very filling!

Thank you.

[Simone]

At restaurants I usually get salmon or some other fish with vegetables and rice (I don't eat the rice, I give that to my kids).

[Amy]

For me, it varies on where I am and what's available. when I go out to a Kelsey's, Casey's or Montana's, sometimes I'll hav  aburger on whole wheat topped with lots of veggies or a salad. It all depends on what my mood is that day.

as for college...There is the cafeteria, a Tim Hortons and a Starbucks. I skip the Starbucks completely, their food and drinka re too rich. The cafeteria sells pretty good food when you go for the special, the one downside is that they're heavy on the sauce.

As for the Tim Hortons...When I'm forced to eat there (sometimes my pick-up comes late so instead of being outta there at 8PM it's close to 9) I'll have a BLT, I skip the timbits and donuts. As for coffee...their coffee is too acidic so I'll put in one cream and one sugar. When I frequent one of the Tim Hortons nearest my home, when I have to wake up early in the morning I'll go for a Yogurt N' Berries with my coffee, usually go with Strawberry (140 calories) served with fresh berries on top of the yogurt (this is not offerred in the Tims at College, the yogurts is fresh daily)

And when there's none of that around, another healthy alternative is a Booster Juice (Jawa juice for you Americans) I go for the Lifechoice smoothie, pretty low in calorie as well as fat, rich in nutrients.

I also go to the subway on occasion, their veggie sub is pretty good on whole wheat, no mayo.

[dg73]

The portions in restaurants have gone crazy over the years. Even the salads come overloaded with fatty dressing if you are not careful! This makes them worse than the non-salad options....might as well have that steak in that case.

I have started to order a starter as a main course! This may sound odd but most starters are more than enough to suffice as a main meal, plus they are cheaper!! There is a great choice usually in most restaurants.

The problem with the larger portions is that many people have real issues with stopping when they are full, especially when they can see that lovely meal still on the plate.

Another trick if you are out with like-minded friends, is if you know the resaurant has mammoth portion control issues, share a meain course. This may sound embarrassing but I promise you that a lot of people have become wise to this option now. Don't worry about your image in the restaurant, or what they might think (they are their to tend to your needs), think of your weight and order ONE main and TWO plates!