Help Finding Calorie Content in Restaurants

I wanted to let you know about some very helpful websites, since this week's chapter talks about planning ahead before eating out.

Most restaurants have a website where you can view their menu. In the near future, many menus will be listing the calorie content on the menu. Some restaurants are already doing this, like McDonald's and The Bread Company (Panera Bread).
See this list at McDonald's which shows you all their items that have less than 400 calories.
And this nutrition calculator on the Panera (St. Louis Bread Company) site that lets you check out the calorie content of their items.
There are websites for most chain restaurants where you can research menu items. I suggest making yourself a list for your favorite places with 3 or 4 menu items you like that are healthy choices. (Note, that although there are a lot of lower-calorie items, if you have other dietary restrictions-- particularly sodium--it will be difficult to find very good choices in many cases.

This table from the Burger King site lists several nutrient amounts for everything on the menu.

Here's another helpful site for dining out: HealthyDiningFinder.com
On this site, you enter your zip code and a list of 30 or 40 nearby restaurants appear. When you choose a restaurant it will show you all the "healthy" options. Usually this means items under 750 calories, so they might not all fit into your meal plan, but at least you'll know!
They will also show you how to make your item more healthy when ordering, such as "salad dressing is not included in the calorie assessment" or "substitute fresh fruit for potatoes" or "order without the side of rice".

I particularly love to use this site when I'm out of town and may not be familiar with the restaurants in the area. However, it mostly uses chain restaurants and it's not often you'll find a local Mom-and-Pop diner with the nutritional information listed.

In the case you don't know how to find out what's in your entree, just ask the waitress to communicate your needs to the chef. In most cases they are more than happy to put the dressing, butter, or sour cream on the side, leave the butter off the fish, or make the pasta with marinara sauce instead of alfredo sauce.

Now, armed with all the information you need, you can still enjoy eating out, guilt free!

Please, if you've learned some great techniques for making dining out while watching your weight easier, do share your tips with us!