Sunday, July 25, 2010

Going out to eat?

My new favorite diet friendly dinner is at TGIFriday's.

I believe going out for dinner is one of the most stressful situations that we go through when we are dieting and trying to lose weight.   The food at restaurants, while delicious, is extremely high in the wrong kinds of calories. The Spike Diet gives us a solution to this problem by giving us one day a week where we can chose whatever we want on the menu. But what about the other 6 days when we need to restrict our calories in order to create a deficit so our body will be forced to burn fat for energy? What do you do when you are going to a restaurant and it's not your Spike Day?
The answer is not to give up or just give in. Many restaurants today are offering us lower calorie, lower fat options, we just need to look for them.  They usually post a little heart or a "low fat" tag next to the item on the menu.  Also, if you know where you are going to eat at , look up their menu online and check the calories so you know what you can order before you even get there.  This may help the impulse choice of barbecue ribs and french fries.

But what if they don't mark their menu with their healthier options and you have not had time to check out their nutritional menu?
My back-up plan is always grilled chicken, and I check their side dish menu for veggies and fruit.


Today my family and I went to TGIFriday's and, while getting a bacon cheeseburger and fries was very tempting, it just was not my Spike Day. Today I have a calorie limit and that one meal would have ruined my daily goal. They had one low fat option on their menu but it sounded too spicy so I went with the Jack Daniel's Grilled Chicken  and from the sides I chose the broccoli and mashed potatoes.  I checked out the calories on my fatsecret app on my phone and I was thrilled to see that it fit perfectly into my daily plan. Only 500 calories, with the mashed potatoes, and only 10 grams of fat. Overall  42% of the calories were from protein, 40% were from carbohyrdates and 18% were from fat. On the Spike Diet my goal is 40-40-20...PERFECT FIT!
Jack Daniels Grilled Chicken Dinner

The taste was awesome! I love grilled chicken and this was one of my all-time favorite chicken meals. The broccoli was great, the potatoes were great, and I didn't feel like I was missing my cheeseburger and fries.  It's nice having a "safe meal" at a restaurant that I know I both love and fits with my eating goals.

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