Eating out.....

I have heard every excuse in the book..."if I go out to eat I'm gonna order what i want", "I'll just have a side salad and a lemon wedge".  FOOEY!!  So many restaurants have gotten on the healthy eating train it is more than easy to eat out and stay on track and have a delicious meal.
There are pitfalls to eating out and you should educate yourself before going out and do a little research on your favorite places.  For example, I naturally carry a small notebook with me in my purse and this just so happens to be where i started writing down my menu options.  As much as I love my calorie tracking app it is kind of a pain in the butt to sit there and scroll through every little ingredient to figure out what i want to eat.  So I visited websites of my most commonly visited restaurants and wrote down the calorie values for the things i would likely eat.  This way when i go out to lunch with "The Moms" they don't have to wait a half an hour for me to figure it out.  Having these little lists with me also lets me decide what i want without having to stay with the same thing every time i eat at said restaurant, its like having your own personal little menu.
There are 5 really great automatic options you can have without really thinking to much or a lot of planning, like those nights where your significant other says, "Let's go out tonight", or "I don't feel like cooking".  These are Applebee's, Chili's, Subway, Panera Bread, and Olive Garden.
Applebee's and Chili's have great low calorie menus with steaks, salads, sandwiches, and fish entrees. I happen to really enjoy the under 550 steak options at Applebee's and the skinny margarita at Chili's is pretty good for coming in at 110 calories.  Olive garden is OK but will power and determination really come in here.  I usually only go there for lunch and when i do I usually have the Zuppa Toscana (170 calories a bowl) with ONE bread stick (150 calories each); sometimes a salad with no dressing ( salad no dressing 120 calories, salad with dressing over 300 calories). There are other options that are more like a "real meal"but I love the soups so much its usually what i order.  Panera Bread is WONDERFUL!!!  They have their calorie values listed right on their menus!  When I first saw this a few months ago i was so excited!  The pick a pair is a great choice.  You can totally build your own meal through this and it can easily be different every time you go.  Just keep in mind that you should choose the apple options and NOT the chips as one of your sides and don't forget to add the calories to your total...pretty sure most small apples are around 70 calories.
Subway is a no brainer and they now have their 450 meal deal menu.  I don't think I need to say a lot about Subway (Jared has already done that, lol).  But let me just say this,  Subway is perfect for last minute meals throughout the day and I use it to my advantage often...especially Tuesday nights (Karate Night).


Here are a few links to get you started with the ones I have mentioned.


Happy Eating!!!


Subway Nutrition
Olive Garden Nutrition
Chili's Lighter Choices
Applebee's Under 550
Panera Nutrition