Indulging at Restaurants

Whenever I eat out at restaurants, I'm always getting pastas. I do love pastas, although theyre pretty calorific - usually around 1000 cals for a restaurant portion??

I seem to think that pastas are the lesser of the evil cause I always have the worst of luck with steaks and get reallyyy fatty cuts (yes I know sirloins are usually less fat) 

Do pastas seem more like a healthier choice when eating out at restaurants, in your opinion? Everything on the menu seems worse :P What do you usually get?

And I'm not going to get a salad for $15, and even salads at restaurants are calorific anyways (and if I get it no dressing, I might as well stay at home!)

If I go out to eat, I usually allot around 800 calories (which seems reasonable if you're eating a sizable portion of whatever entree restaurants are serving up nowadays), so this usually isn't a problem. Any extra and I can usually work it off no problem.

If I wasn't expecting to eat out and want something low calorie, I usually opt for soups. 

My strategy is getting seafood.  It's usually lower in fat, and is worth your money since it's not every day you can treat yourself to something like lobster tail or something like that. =]

Or another option is to get something low-cal on purpose so you can save your indulgence for a one-serving delicious dessert that you yourself can only make in huge batches (ie, cheesecake).

i was eating only pasta out for a special treat at my fav place. but they just gave me way too much one day and it ruined it for me....  if i go out i always get some kinda chicken. its my fav food but i wont cook it at home,  dont want meat in the house...wierd ya. so i usually get chicken brest sand with a side salad

Alot of times I get pasta, too.  Here are a few calorie cutting tips, though:

1. Get a dish that does not have a cream sauce.  Choose a marinera, pesto, or garlic olive oil based sauce.  Cream sauces add tons of calories and fat without any nutritional value, while marinera has the nutrition from the tomatoes and herbs, and olive oil can help your blood sugar from spiking quite so much as the carbs start to break down.
   
2. If you are eating carbs, also eat a good fat and some fiber with the same meal.  It will help everything digest better instead of just having an all-carb meal, plus help you to feel full more quickly-- it can take awhile to feel full on just carbs. For a good fat, again, choose olive oil or sprinkle some cheese on top of the pasta.  For fiber, there is the obvious option of starting your meal with a small salad.
   
3. As soon as you get your plate, draw a line down the middle of each serving (pasta, veggies, sides, etc) with your knife and only let yourself eat that designated half.  If you are still hungry after that, eat the rest of any of the healthier sides, like the veggies.  Take the rest home. 

Always remember that carbs give you energy.  So, if you have a super high-carb meal don't go home and plop down on the couch.  Be active when you get home to utilize that food energy.  Put in an exercise video, take the dogs/kids for a walk, just something that will help use up the energy.  On the same token, cheating every once in awhile is fine-- and will keep you from losing your mind while you are dieting.  I have a dinner out with friends once evey two weeks where I let myself indulge.  I've still lost weight just fine.

Good luck!

Pasta just varies too much, depending on the type of entree it can be the worst or the best option on the menu...

Think about investing in a copy of Eat This Not That.  It will help you pick healthier choices when eating out.

I have the exact same problem...I love pasta way too much for my own good.

What I do, is before I leave the house, I check the nutrition facts online for all the pasta dishes at whatever restaurant I'm going to, so I know in advance what will be the best for me.

Also, depending on where you're eating, you can just order a half order.  I'm pretty sure it still costs the same, which kind of sucks, but that way you still get more than enough food, without having to worry about finishing a massive serving of pasta even though you were full ages ago (I just can't stop eating if the food's in front of me.)

Jessrene - Thanks for the tips. I especially like the one about drawing an imaginary line down your plate. Wish I'd remembered that today.....

I went out to O'Charley's today for lunch and had a HUGE salad with grilled chicken on top. I couldn't find this specific salad listed, but I'm going to guess around 700 calories? Maybe 1/2 a breast of chicken, and then the veggies were lettuce, 4 small slices of Roma tomato, shredded carrots and mushroom slices.

I was halfway done and felt pretty full. I was hoping the server would have come back soon so I could ask for a to-go box but she didn't. So what did I do? Ate the whole thing.  Maybe I needed the calories. I used VERY little dressing and there was maybe a tablespoon of shredded cheese. I feel bad for doing it b/c I was down 2 pounds this morning. Looks like a light dinner for me tonight!

I have a feeling I'm going to hit the treadmill and/or DVD workout hard tonight. I'd love to go outside and walk/run tonight, but we're expecting some pretty bad weather.

don't get down on yourself, I binged on the costco free samples today ;)

I usually do ok at restaurants.  First off I always get the dressing on the side.  I prefer it that way because otherwise the salad is usually swimming in dressing.  If possible I'll go for a piece of grilled fish, with a baked potato -- I prefer them plain, and some veggies.  

If I'm having italian I'll go for a simple plate of spaghetti with marina and limit the bread.  Bread has so many calories and it's easy to put away a few hundred calories worth of italian/french bread.  If it comes with garlic bread I'll ask them not to bring it.   

I'd much rather go out and eat reasonably that go out and overdo it.  Another thing is mexican - I never get anything with cheese.  If they put cheese on the beans, I'll just push it to the side.  Also I just say, sauce on the side for fish tacos, etc.  

Last night we went to Chili's and I got the grilled fish with rice and some broccoli. The broccoli had a light butter sauce -- I couldn't see it but I could really taste it.  It was fine.  Oh and at Chili's they push the appetizers and drinks before dinner.  I just had water.  It was still a nice dinner :)  

I don't look forward to going out to eat so I can go wild, or splurge.  I'm good on that for now, hope it lasts the rest of my life.  :)

My strategy: usually I ask for the kids' menu!

At Chili's, I get a kid's menu hamburger (plain, and it comes on a whole wheat bun, which the regular burgers don't), and a side of steamed broccoli.

If there's no kids' menu, then I usually order an appetizer instead of an entree. That's usually the right amount of food, if I'm careful with what I order (ahi tuna tacos instead of fried calamari, for example). 

I order whatever looks yummy that doesn't look insanely horrible for me.  (i.e. I avoid ribs and usually cream sauces.)  My choice is frequently the steak sandwich as that's the only way to get a reasonably sized steak (i.e. not enormous) and I can choose to eat as much or little of the garlic toast as I want.  With a salad or veggies on the side, it tends to be one of the healthier choices on the menu - though I'm not overly predictable about this.  I like chicken, seafood and the occasional pasta dish.  My main criterion is that I don't want to spend money at a restaurant on anything that I can make easily and just as tasty at home.