Don't Over-Indulge At Restaurants

Arnold took me out for a special Birthday treat…my choice! I decided The Cheesecake Factory. I didn’t want cheesecake. I wanted those avocado rolls that I had there several years back. This pregnant lady was craving! Actually, I have wanted to go back there since the day I tasted them, we just never did.

We got there, I looked over the menu, front and back….2 or 3 times and they weren’t on there!! I asked the waitress, almost in a panic what had happened to their avocado rolls that used to be on the menu. She said she had worked there for quite a while and they hadn’t had them ever since she started …sigh!

I didn’t want to be rude and say we were leaving, because we were only there for the avocado rolls. Plus, I was hungry and good luck finding a place where you don’t have to wait for 20 minutes to get a table on a Saturday night.

We decided on their stuffed mushrooms as an appetizer to share. I wasn’t disappointed…OK, I wasn’t disappointed in the mushrooms, but I was still disappointed about the avocado rolls.

For my main course I ordered the grilled salmon with veggies & rice (I only ate half, the other half made it home for lunch the next day!). Dessert was their strawberry cream cheese crepes that we shared. Everything was delicious!!

So with all this delicious (mostly unhealthy) food starting at you from the menu, how do you make good choices?

*Order a small appetizer and share with your spouse

*Skip the drinks (yes, the soda too). I had water with lemon. Refreshing and no calories!

*If you’re going to have an appetizer and a dessert (like we did), make your main course a healthy one!

*Whatever your main course is, make sure you’re getting veggies as a side dish instead of fries or mashed potatoes, etc.

*Don’t eat your entire main course, save half to bring home for lunch the next day

*Share a small dessert with your spouse (we could have gone for their huge slice of cheesecake, but instead we choose the small crepes to share).

*If you go out often, skip the appetizer AND dessert, just go for a nice healthy main course (and if it's a big meal, eat only half and save the rest).

If you follow these tips, you get the best of both worlds. You don’t have to cook. You get to enjoy delicious food, but you’re not overdoing it! 

**Let me know if you have any other tips :)