Hi Everyone-
I'm having to go out to eat and I'm trying to stay away from any white foods so now Italian more normal pick is out. Any ideas for healthy eating? Thai? Chinese? Japanese? Seafood(always a good pick)? Mexican?
HELP.

I try to opt for vegetarian restaurants, organic restaurants or sushi. Although you can get in trouble with vegetarian dishes, my experience is that restaurants specializing in vegetarian dishes are more willing to cater to special requests (no cheese, no oil, etc...).

With that said, you can generally find something healthy (or healthier) almost any where these days. Just be willing to speak up about getting the high fat items on the side.

I will go along with the tons of olive oil. Although we know that olive oil is better than most...too much of a good thing. We have an Italian restaurant in Mpls, Broaders, it is sensational. The right portions, good salad, excellent food. My only complaint is that EVERYTHING comes with a generous portion of olive oil. Otherwise, it's the best. Need to remember to ask for EVOO on the side.

PS If you weigh yourself tomorrow... my scale ALWAYS goes up after a restaurant meal. Do not take this as a sign that you were "bad" and gained 3 lbs. and now you are depressed about the 3 lbs. so might as well overeat all weekend long! Just get back on track Saturday AM.

Have a great night out and enjoy your dinner!!

Whoops. I totally missed the part about white food...

I used to be a vegetarian for health reasons... then I would go to a restaurant and have some cheesy, oily dish because it had no meat... I lost a bunch a weight when I started eating meat again because broiled fish and chicken were a healthier option than the 9 cheese lasagna...

Don't write off the white food if it is the healthiest thing on the menu. Everything in moderation...

I think that Japanese is the best of the Ethnics you suggested. Sushi is often very low (avoid the California rolls with Mayo... I usually get a sushi platter and say that I can't eat mayo and can they sub something else.)

Also, ask for dressing on the side of salad. Japanese salads here are ice berg with a giant glob of mayo...

Thai can be quite calor-if-ic. Lots of coconut milk... I love it so much, it is a treat worth saving up for.

Some Chinese restaurants take a very healthy stirfry and use a cup of oil to fry it in... If you can convince the wait staff that you don't want oil... you could be ok...

Mexican can be ok if you can avoid the cheese and sour cream and chips before dinner. A lot of Mex restaurants offer a grilled veg burrito/taco/whatever and this sounds like it should be a good option. Often they added a BUNCH of oil to the grill and the vegs have absorbed lots and lots of oil and grease. There is a Mex restaurant/taco truck near us that offers a "El Chipo" burrito (pronounced El Cheap-o) that is just whole beans and Spanish rice and the BEST salsa and is the best option on the menu... if you only eat half of it... as it is HUGE.

Italian is fine is you can avoid lots of cheese and limit your portion size and not eat a loaf of bread before dinner...

Fish is always an option...

And some of all the above suggestions can be taken with a grain of salt... A big part depends on your mind set... I think that WHY you are eating out needs to be taken into consideration. Is it a celebration or just a night out so that you don't have to cook? Sometimes the "treat" of eating out is having someone else cook and clean up and treats on your plate are not necessary. Do you eat out a LOT? If you ate healthy and at home all week, and will be doing the same next week... it probably doesn't really matter how many calories you eat in one meal...

IMHO, the biggest evil of (some) Italian cooking isn't white pasta, it's the zillions of fat calories (olive oil) that are added to the dish.

(Olive oil may qualify as a "good oil", but it's still fat calories.)

Italian doesn't have to be out. Some Italian restaurants offer whole wheat pasta (I know Romano's Macaroni Grill does, don't know about the smaller privately-owned places).