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    TERESA6262   10,326
SparkPoints 		10,000-14,999 SparkPoints
 
 
How do you prepare for a trip to a restuarant? Any suggestions?

Saturday, January 19, 2013

I am going to Carrabba's with the girls from work tonight. I'd just as soon save the calories and the money and stay home, but do want to hang out with the girls. Any ideas? Eat lightly before? Pre-track a meal? I am getting ready to see if I CAN pretrack the calories in a meal from Carrabba's. I will also work in a bike ride this afternoon before going! :)

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TERESA6262 1/19/2013 9:28PM

    I had my meal and am only about 200 calories over my daily range of 1200-1500 calories today. All in all, it's not too bad when I know I have stayed WITHIN my calorie goal for 12 of the past 13 days since I started tracking. Add to that, the fact that I rode my bike for 45 minutes and I'm good! If the sodium in that meal doesn't make me retain 50 lbs of water, I'll be fine at weigh-in on Monday! :D
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DARLY55 1/19/2013 5:52PM

    One of my favorite ways to watch calories is to share an entree with a friend. We are both cheap with both calories and money!

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TERESA6262 1/19/2013 2:49PM

    http://carrabbas.com/Content/menu-n
utritional-information

WOW! You can access nutritional info from their site!

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TERESA6262 1/19/2013 2:47PM

    Ahhh! I do remember that Carrabbas serves lunch and dinner portions! Great idea, Azure!

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AZURE-SKY 1/19/2013 2:14PM

  I looked up Carrabba's (there's none near me, so I've never been there.) The pollo rosa comes in 2 sizes - small and regular. A lot of restaurants serve very large portions, often enough for 2 people. You could order the small entree, or ask for a box to take the leftovers home - you don't have to eat the whole entree.

Get your salad with the dressing on the side, and dip your fork into the dressing, then into the salad.

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TERESA6262 1/19/2013 1:15PM

    I just pre-tracked what I "want" to eat tonight at Carrabba's (Pollo Rosa, salad, 2 slices of bread and seasoned olive oil to dip the bread in). It's about a 1200 calorie meal. YIKES! :/ I ate a late breakfast, and am skipping lunch. I may change my mind when I get there, but at least my eyes are open and I am thinking it through before indulging mindlessly.
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JANAMP09 1/19/2013 12:10PM

    Being retired, I sometimes find the get togethers with past co-workers a strain on the budget. I usually eat first and have something light or just coffee and use the excuse that we had a late lunch or we had the grandkids visiting and had an early supper. (sometimes not a lie)
We are going out tonight to celebrate my daughters bday to a place she chose - the menu really doesn't fit into our eating habits but we will look at the meal as a cheat meal. This is not something I do often but on a special occasion you have to do it. Usually I will find something on the menu (going online before the event) that falls within our habits this time the place has a very limited menu and it is not possible but remember it is only one meal and it is not likely you will eat 3500 calories at one sitting and if you do, work harder the next few days and scale back a bit on your calories but NEVER scale back enough that you are hungry! That will set you up for failure Good luck!

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IAMLIVINGWELL 1/19/2013 12:09PM

    I faced this very challenge last night. Unfortunately, it was kind of spur of the moment so no time to prepare. What I learned from last night is that menu items may sound like a good choice but turn out to be a big surprise when you get home and add it the tracker to find you ate 1000 calories! YIKES! Like you, we went to an Italian restaurant and I picked something that sounded good. Grilled chicken skewers with roasted potatoes and veggies. Thinking staying away from the pasta would be wise. To my surprise when I got home, that menu item was 900 calories. Good thing I only ate half. emoticon

Next time I will look up menu items and plan before I go. Most restraurants have menus online and it is easier and easier to find those in the tracker.

Also, I have the Spark app on my phone and I have added several restaurant selections to my favorites in the food tracker. This can save the day for impromptu eating out.

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SPARKCHANTAL 1/19/2013 12:09PM

    don't know your details, but this is what i would do:

i wouldn't eat beforehand, but drink as much water as possible
decide how much i want to eat that evening, don't overeat
enjoy some good food without guilt feelings
if necessary cut back a little in the following week or two.
really, it's no biggie!

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JESSICA_STULTZ 1/19/2013 12:05PM

    I try to looks up the nutrition information before I go and figure out what I am going to eat. That way.. You can track and depending on what you eat, keep in range. :)

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