Leave it on the side please.

I had originally planned to write about my dieting and dining out yesterday, but the kayak debacle trumped that by a mile.  So today, you all get sloppy seconds and can hear about the adventures of a dieting diner.  In an effort to kill sometime yesterday afternoon before our trip north to retrieve the kayaks, my sister, my daughter and I met my father for lunch at Legal Seafood (http://www.legalseafoods.com/), one of my favorites!  It was the perfect opportunity to prime the old man about the idea of stealing his kayaks as well an excellent test for the dieter on the go.  It is so much easier if we could all lock ourselves up in our kitchens and lovingly prepare all our own meals.  We'd know exactly what we were eating and it would probably speed up the weight loss process.  However, for most of us, that is not only not realistic, but completely boring!!

One of the very few "hobbies" my husband and I share is dining out.  In our former days as a couple we used to try lots of new restaurants and foods (he WAY more than I on the food front).  Looking back now this was probably not the best idea for my budding waistline.  Alas, I love food, new restaurants, being waited on, and most of all being able to open a menu and have a lot of different choices that require nothing more from me than a few words to a waiter!  Now let me tell you that when you go out to eat on a diet that once large menu is diminished to a handful of items that still have to be refined in order to keep the calories under wraps.  You could take the other route and just eat as you please, but then you'd have to make up for it by cutting out something later in the week.  Personally, I do better with consistency so I'd prefer to eat out and maintain my diet...and to know that I can in fact do it!

My "usual" at Legal Seafood is this steamed shrimp wonton meal that is served with snap peas and jasmine rice. This sounds pretty healthy and I'm sure it's a far better choice than fish and chips.  But even these things I'd venture to guess have more calories than you'd think.  I wish more restaurants would put their nutrition information on the menu (I know this is becoming pretty widespread in NYC and it really does make it easier to make smarter choices when you have the calories starring you right in the face as you order).  First off, there are four wontons and the are a decent size.  The snap peas are sort of greasy in texture so I'm betting they are coated in some sort of oil or butter.  I know rice is 4 points per cup.  Basically I was worried if I ordered my usual I'd be pulling in close to a 10-12 point lunch.  Sigh....say good-bye to the old standby and hello alternative options!

Now, you must picture this scene.  Two dieters, one toddler on a calorie rich diet, and one dad who is virtually a garbage disposal.  The waiter is this young energetic guy who is all too eager to tell us about the specials (I tune these right out as I know I won't be partaking).  On a side note, all the wait staff at Legal Seafood seem to be on some sort of happy pill...they must send them to Happy School before allowing them to serve customers.  Toddler meal ordered, pizza.  Torture to look at, even more so because I knew it would not be consumed.  (It's now sitting in my fridge....why, I don't know, because I know she will never eat it but I feel badly throwing away food....so the temptation will sit a day or so longer taunting me).  My sister orders a Cesar Salad that goes some thing like this: "I'll have the classic Cesar with Shrimp.  But you can leave off the croutons and the dressing?  Oil and vinegar on the side is fine.  Oh, and no anchovies.  Cancel that, anchovies on the side and give them to my father."  Basically my sister has ordered a salad that in no way shape or form resembles a Cesar...it's basically a pile of leaves with some shrimp.  Yummy.  Next up I order the Chopped Greek holding the dressing and the chopped olives (both of which I loathe) with shrimp.  I smile and say politely we are on a diet.  He offers me a variety of alternative dressing options, all of which I turn down.  It's just too hard to explain my aversion to condiments/dressing/vinegar to a stranger.  My dad flashes his smile and orders the Fried softshell crab sandwich special.  And since he's not only not on a diet but trying to expand his waistline, he'll take a side of fries with that.  At this point, while all smiles and laughs, you can tell the waiter thinks we are all a bunch of lunatics.

Despite sounding slightly lackluster, our salads were fabulous.  The shrimp was cooked wonderfully and the leafy greens were refreshing.  We both estimated 6 to 7 points for the lunch. Lord knows what the human disposal would have pointed in at!  So it is possible to go out and have a dining experience that doesn't have to be a diet buster.  I imagine dinner is a larger challenge.  I'll have to write about that when I cross that bridge.  Baby steps right?  The best part was that it gave me the confidence to know I could look like a total idiot to the outside world reworking a meal on a menu, but walk away knowing I exercised self control as well had a nice meal.  Until tomorrow, happy healthy eating to all!