Newbie Needs Restaurant Help!

[Lose to Live]

I'm going into my 6th day of induction and am thrilled to have lost 9.5 lbs so far!!

I am trying my best to keep this induction "clean", but I am faced with eating a meal at an Italian restaurant over the weekend. I've looked at their menu and it would seem a best choice for me would be a caesar salad with grilled shrimp and no croutons.


I need a stamp of approval from one of you Atkins Masters before I actually go. I've struggled with being overweight for so long, and this 1st week has gone so well...I don't want to sabotage myself!

[momtomany1]

Good choice! With the croutons skipped, your salad would be mainly romaine, parmesan, and shrimp. All legal. If you really want to play it safe, take along your own dressing. I have put it into a ziploc baggie, and then just tore a corner and dressed my salad. If you call at an hour the restaurant is not at peak business hour, they may be able to check the carb count of their dressing for you ahead of time.

I would recommend you not even let them put the bread basket on the table! Much continued success to you!

[Laceylyn1031]

First of all congrats on the 9.5lbs thats astonishing for 6 days!! And also congrats for looking at their menu ahead of time and making a game plan, thats a great idea. Sounds really yummy by the way!

[Lose to Live]

Thanks, ladies! I will see if I can call ahead for a caesar dressing carb count.

I actually wound up eating out this evening and it was TOTALLY unplanned...Mexican Restaurant -- so I thought I'd never find something I could eat. But actually, I think I didn't do so badly. I wound up having a steak salad which consisted of beef strips, tomato, onion, lettuce, a tiny bit of guacamole, a little sour cream and no dressing. It was VERY good. If you see something in there that was a problem, please call my attention to it. I soooo want to do this right!!

[aidinmom]

I am happy to find someone on the board similar to myself. During my pre induction period, the time where I knew that I wanted to start and that I was really ready to start, I went on vacation with my family. The first night on vacation they picked and Irish Pub. My first thoughts were Irish=potatoes and Pub=alcohol, surprise, surprise I was right. So I ordered a Fiesta Steak Salad (I guess it was their take on Mexican) – but NO tortilla chip strips, salsa – on the side (and it did have corn and beans in it), no southwest ranch dressing but oil and vinegar on the side, and that did not work because it was balsamic. When did balsamic get so popular??? I was a bit cranky that night, since the only other person that seemed to like what I ordered was my son, who ate most of the steak. As I looked at my family having fish and chips and beer, and I sat there with my lettuce on a plate with no dressing Italian was easier, most Italian restaurants usually have a good steak on the menue, or even fish or shrimp. I am finding that a couple of cups of salad is about 1/2 to 1/3 of what they typically serve and the protein portion is really small on the salad. I was wondering if anyone has found that. I think of two cups is about two handfuls. And I feel more satisified if I eat something hot, instead of a salad.