eating out tonight. Please help answer my questions so i'm not panicking at the menu!!

is it safe to order the salad? i heard they can be really bad for you when eating out at a pub. So im confused whether or not to order one. also if not a salad is there types of dishes people would name the healthiesst choice?

Such as pasta or potato or anything else? Please note im a veggie.

thankyou and sorry if it sounds confusing.

It all depends on what is on the salad. I went to a pub-type restaurant and thought I was safe choosing a salad with turkey, plus low-cal dressing on the side. It came also loaded with shredded cheese. I didn't think to ask, if I had I would have told them no cheese, more turkey. I picked off the cheese, just ate the turkey and veggies served on a generous bed of iceburg lettuce. (I'm not a fan of buying a salad when eating out).

It still comes down to calories... you have to know them well enough so you can eyeball portions in restaurants. One cup is the size of your fist, for example.  Estimating calories, especially on these rare occasions, works well enough.

It might help to call the restaurant and ask what vegetarian meals they serve, then research before you leave home.


  

As shiptona said, it really does depend on the salad and what's on it.

These are a few things that I keep in mind when eating out (and I just had to go through a week of vacation eating out all the time and somehow I still managed to lose around 1/2 pound last week).


Salad dressings are evil (not all are, but a lot are).  If you can, try to eat your salad without the dressing, which is what I do.  If you can't go without the dressing, try to get a light or fat free dressing if you can, and ask for it on the side instead of on it.

Cheese is evil too.  Of course, you can have a little bit of cheese, but lots of restaurants put WAY too much cheese on their stuff and not enough of other stuff like vegetables.  I love cheese; I have a cheese and peanut butter addiction, actually.  But one way to cut calories is to ask for 1/2 the amount of cheese on a salad, or if you get a sandwich or a burger, ask for it without cheese.  Because really, on a sandwich, there's so much other stuff on it that you really don't taste the cheese, so if you take it off, the sandwich isn't that different except that it has 100-200 calories less than it did with the cheese.

Fried foods/grease is bad.  Avoid French fries at all costs, or if you have to have them, eat them in moderation.  The grease that this stuff is cooked on is high in calories and bad stuff that you don't want in your arteries anyways.

Eat vegetables and fruits.  Though these things at restaurants are usually higher in calories than fresh stuff straight from the farm/orchard/grocery store, they still aren't that bad.  Ask for a side of broccoli tips instead of the French fries or biscuits.  Get the fruit cup and low fat yogurt instead of the apple pie with ice cream for dessert.

If you know what restaurants you are going to beforehand, and it is a major chain restaurant, many places have their menus on their websites and you can see what they have.  Some places also offer nutrition facts for some of their items on their website, and if they don't, check here at c-c.com, as this website has a lot of nutrition facts for many chain restaurants as well.

Hope this helps you in some way.  Good luck tonight, and remember, it's only one meal, so as long as you are being conscious of what you're eating, you should be fine.  Enjoy it!

this may sound so stupid and even offensive & i apologize but do vegitarians eat chicken?

Vegetarians don't eat creatures that were once alive.

Don't be afraid to ask for what you want.  If you have a salad, be very specific - tell them dressing, croutons, cheese, bacon, etc., on the side.  If it's pasta, have it with plain marinara sauce.  Stay away from fried foods, cream sauces and things drenched in butter. 

Other tips - if the serving is very large, divide it in half and ask for a take away or carry out box.  Don't eat the bread.  Drink only water.

Last bit of advice - HAVE FUN!  Enjoy the company and the atmosphere.  There's more to an evening out than eating.

thanks for clearing that up for me claire & i agree. Enjoy the night there is def a lot more to the evening. Have a good salad. =D

try asking for thier vegetarian options. what kind are you? are you vegan or do u eat dairy, fish or eggs?

i thought ill just add in to avoid those crunchy noodle things they sometimes put in asian style salads.

Lots of restaurants have menus online, too...

I usually look it up and decide before I go... even log my calories before I leave (and pretend to pay attention to the menu at the restaurant.)

You posted this question on the Health & Support forum.  Please post on only one forum. I have deleted that thread.  Here is the one response you got there, copied and pasted as a courtesy

1 dagicat (Edit) Aug 11 2007 14:28 for salad, what do you mean, "safe"? as in fattening? the veggies are as low in calories as you can get, the dressing is what's always the culprit. get a garden salad, and just ask them to bring you some oil and vinegar on the side. if you need more flavor, you can put some pepper on it, and maybe a pinch of salt.

if you get pasta, make sure they give you a meatless sauce (often it's meat based, and you have to request otherwise).

you can get a baked potato, hold the sour cream, put a little butter on it. or if you're ok with the chems in margarine, you can use that.

they might have a grilled portabella mushroom sandwich, yummy. if not, see if they have a grilled portabella appetizer, then ask for it in a bun or something. most places have some sort of veggie burger, but i rarely get these since they're most always made out of soy, which is toxic to us humans...

i'm not really good at judging what's the least fattening, but all these choices are relatively healthy. just don't get anything fried, greasy, dripping with cheese and butter. if you want to get something but it comes with a sauce or something that seems not up to snuff, you can usually ask for substitutes. also, sometimes on the menu something will look really good but it will have meat thrown in it. if you ask, they might be able to switch the meat with a veggie (exm: i recently had a pasta dish that came with meat, and switched the meat with spinach... it was soooo good!)

sometimes there are better choices with the appetizers than with the actual meals. so you can always just order 2 or 3 of the apps. as your main dish... nothin' wrong with that!