Birthday Dinner at Olive Garden....tips??

Posts: 155
1/13/13 3:47 P

Doesn't Olive Garden have those little leaf things by healthy choice items. Try to choose one of those. Get salad dressing on the side. Share a dessert with someone instead of eating one by yourself. I don't think it is a bad thing to go over your calorie count every once and a while, especially for a special occasion. .

A trick I use when I go to an Asian restaurant is not to eat but half the rice they give me. Maybe you could only eat half the pasta.

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1/13/13 3:22 P

I would ask for the dressing on the side and ask them to bring only one bread stick per person. Choose a Marinara sauce over cream sauces if you are ordering pasta. As DRAGONCHILD suggested--have them bring you the take home box at the beginning of the meal! Look at this way---taking half home just means you can spread the celebration out longer! If there are others living in the household mark your name on the box and tell them to back away! It's yours! LOL!
OH--and look up the nutritional info before going and decide ahead of time what you will eat and then stick to that choice! And order first---that way you may not be as tempted to get what someone else is having!
Have a Happy Birthday!

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1/13/13 2:38 P

My opinion, if I were contemplating it....

First choice: Choose a restaurant I enjoy that provides a healthy option I enjoy. Let joy come from the company and conversation as much as from the food itself.

Runner up: Order and enjoy a healthy grilled chicken salad (they will make this on request) and be open to how good it feels to love yourself.

Third choice: Enjoy smaller portions of dishes I may view as unhealthy (I would ask the waiter to box up half of my meal before bringing it out)

Fourth choice: Accept that the above three choices unattractive to me and focus on enjoying the event grateful and loved by everyone... especially by myself in my choices of how to treat my body. I would remind myself that food will always be there, the guests may not and I want to enjoy them.

Edited by: MICHELLEXXXX at: 1/13/2013 (14:41)

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1/13/13 2:30 P

Well, first and foremost: Remember that this is a special occasion. It's okay to have a little fun once in a great while. :)

To help you remember to only eat half, go ahead ask for a to-go box with your meal. That way, you can IMMEDIATELY box up half, and put it out of sight.

Bank some calories over the week. "Save" extra calories by eating at the lower end of your range, and bank them so that you have more to spend on your birthday.

If you DO end up going over... DON'T try to compensate and overexercise, or hit the gym to punish yourself. One overindulgence does not a fat bottom make. :)

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1/13/13 1:58 P

Ok so I rarely eat at Olive Garden except every year on my birthday. I love their food and my mom always gets me a gift card for their restaraunt.
Just because I'm eating healthier does not mean I'm going to deprive myself of eating at one of my favorite places, especially on my birthday when I think its okay to let loose a little. So that is where I am going.
I was wondering if anyone had any tips on how to eat reasonably there? Usually when I go there I overeat BIG TIME. I'm talking salad, multiple breadsticks, martini, huge pasta dish, AND dessert!
I know it is so easy to just say "Oh just order a salad or something off the light menu". But honestly, that's just not going to happen because the whole point for me to go to Olive Garden is to get a saucy pasta dish, and I'm not going to completely deprive myself what I love. In particular, I already know I'm going to get the fettuccini alfredo with grilled chicken because its my favorite.
SO what I'm thinking I will do (and doing these WILL be very hard for me to do....I usually eat everything in sight there even way past being full, even lick my plate clean!)
- Fill up on the salad as much as possible (even though I'm sure the dressing isn't good) and don't get extra parmesan cheese on the salad
- Only eat 1 breadstick (instead of my usual 3+)
- Drink lots of water
- If I'm going to order a birthday cocktail, order it from the "skinny" drink selections
- (This will be the hardest one for me) Only eat HALF my pasta meal and save the other half for lunch the next day
- No dessert, or take a dessert home to eat another day when it fits better into my plan (Tiramisu is my weakness!)

Do you think this is a reasonable birthday meal? I think I might only go over a little if I make sure to eat a lighter breakfast and lunch and try to get some cardio in beforehand. Does anyone else have any tips??

THANK YOU! Wish me luck! Oh and my birthday is on January 25th, so I do have some time to plan it well and compensate beforehand!

Edited by: LIMERCIER at: 1/13/2013 (14:01)

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