Something that I thought when I first started getting serious about getting healthy was that I couldn’t eat out anywhere and that I should just make my own food.  As I continued eating healthy I realized with the help of MyFitness Pal that it is possible to eat out at restaurants with your friends and family and not feel left out.  You just have to figure out what your healthy options are and then see how many calories you are willing to basically spend on them.  As long as you are logging your food you can still keep on track to lose weight.

If I know that we are supposed to meet up with friends for dinner and a drink I will make sure to get a workout in and burn a decent amount of calories so that I can enjoy myself.  An easy way to burn a ton of calories is to go for a run around your neighborhood.  If the weather isn’t cooperating then hop on your computer and pick a workout that’s totally free!

Places that you typically associate with junk food actually have very healthy low-cal options for you to choose from.  Some of my families faves are Chick-Fil-A, Panera Bread, and Chipotle Mexican Grill.  The great thing about these chains restaurants is that they include all the nutritional information on their websites or like Panera right on the menu which is amazing and so helpful to allow their customers to make smarter choices.

Chick-Fil-A

So this meal was just under 400 calories and it hit the spot!  I had a medium diet lemonade, shared small fries, and had a side salad.  I just asked the employee if it was possible to get the salad without cheese and she said it was no problem!  I previously checked to make sure that the fires and salad dressing were vegan so the only thing I had to change from what I normally order was the cheese.

A good tip that I’m sure most people know about is to be careful with the condiments and dressings because they can add a ton of calories without even realizing it.  I only wanted half of the dressing because it was a side salad and I only ended up using half a ketchup so that saved some calories as well.

So you can see how easy it is with the app to track your calories even if you aren’t eating the entire amount of a certain food which is great it automatically re-calculates the numbers for you!

Chipotle Mexican Grill

My husband and daughter love this place as well because the ingredients are fresh and you can pick whatever combinations you want!  When we first ate here my “salad” had over 1,000 calories, the dressing cup alone has 260 calories!  I had cheese, chicken, sour cream, the guac, and then half a bag of chips!  Yes it was delicious but I would rather fit into my jeans and change up the ingredients.  I looked at the website to see how many calories were in everything and was shocked!  I like getting a salad here but you can order whatever you want just make sure that you have enough calories in your day to eat whatever it is that you feel like having.

Personally I love anything salty so there is no way I can go here and not have chips so a great tip is to order a kids size chip which is the perfect amount with only 140 calories compared to the big bag with 570.  That way it is portioned out and you aren’t guessing how many you actually ate.

For my salad I had brown rice, black beans, lettuce, corn salsa, guacamole, and instead of the dressing two spoonfuls of medium salsa.  I ate the entire thing because I was starving and had chips it was so good and yes it still had a lot of calories at 660 but you could maybe eat half of the salad or skip the chips all together.

Now this doesn’t mean you can’t eat meat or have a burger if you want just make sure you know how many calories you are eating and don’t go over your allotment for the day.  I thought that it would create a huge problem trying to eat out and completely avoid meat and cheese.  I have tried my best to find options at restaurants to help me complete my goal.  It is a little tricky but it’s not impossible by any means!

xo Meg