How To Eat Low-Carb At Your Favorite Casual Dining Restaurants

Last week I was interviewed by my local newspaper here in South Carolina--Spartanburg Herald-Journal--for an upcoming feature story about how I've turned my weight loss success into a business and an interesting topic of conversation came up that coincides with a blog post I've been working on for a while. I told the freelance writer who was interviewing me last Friday that we were just on our way out the door to go to lunch at Denny's and she said, "Well, you can't eat anything healthy there, can you?"

Opportunities to educate never end. :)

I explained how with just a few substitutions of key ingredients that inevitably end up on all the dishes (in the case of Denny's, that would be pancakes or French fries), you can have a very nice low-carb friendly meal that will keep you on the straight and narrow as you pursue a healthier lifestyle. She was surprised because conventional wisdom is that the large portions and high calories served when dining out will prevent you from eating healthy. Not necessarily, as I'll SHOW you today.

After I shared this YouTube video about which restaurants are good for low-carbers, I decided to start taking pictures of the foods I order so you can visualize exactly what I'm getting when I go out. These were taken at various times over the past few months and are a good representation of the kind of things you can order when you visit your favorite casual dining restaurant (I may hit fast food in a future blog post, but I'm not a big fan of it).

In no particular order, here's what I ate at various places:



Christine and I really love to go to Denny's because they allow you to make reasonable substitutions with all of their meals to make them perfect for anyone who is livin' la vida low-carb. As long as you avoid the starchy (hashbrowns and French fries) and the sugary (French Toast and pancakes) menu items and choose better options instead, you'll be good to go.

Here's a sample of what I recently ate on our trip to Denny's:



This is the Meat Lover's Scramble and I substituted mixed veggies consisting of squash, broccoli, peppers, and green beans for the hashbrowns and a side salad with Ranch dressing for the pancakes. You get two slices of bacon, two sausage links, and a ham, sausage, bacon, egg and cheese scramble with it as well. One thing's for sure, you WON'T leave hungry after eating this meal!

TOTAL COST: $7

Here's what Christine had for her meal at Denny's:



A simple two chicken breast meal with mixed vegetables and a side salad (not pictured) is plenty of protein and non-starchy carbohydrates to keep you satisfied for hours. Adding some butter to your mixed veggies will give you some much-needed extra fat to make this meal tastier and healthier.

TOTAL COST: $9



Although I was quite upset with Ruby Tuesday when they decided to remove their outstanding low-carb cheesecake from their menu and when they pretty much turned their back on the low-carb consumer after trashing their low-carb menu in 2006, I've begun to warm back up to them because they do offer some excellent dishes for low-carbers to enjoy.

There's one meal I must get when I go to Ruby Tuesday:



The Mini-Burgers & Salad Bar deal is one of the best things around for someone following a low-carb lifestyle. You get unlimited trips to the fresh salad bar where I get a bed of spinach leaves piled high with cheese, eggs, sunflower seeds, bacon, and dried cranberries with Ranch dressing on top to start off. Then I order the mini-burgers without the buns and eat them with mayonnaise and pickles. Add a bowl of mashed cauliflower (YES!) with a couple of dollops of butter and this meal is to die for when you are livin' la vida low-carb!

TOTAL COST: $9



I know what you're thinking--wait a minute, Jimmy, are you saying I can eat at Olive Garden on my low-carb lifestyle? Yep, as long as you can avoid the temptation of those hot buttery garlic breadsticks (a tall order to ask of low-carb newbies, but not too bad once you've ditch the carbs for a while). Load up on some of their famous salad (sans the croutons) and don't forget to put lots of cheese on top, too! But please avoid the "no sugar added" dessert sham they have to offer at the end of the meal. Not good!

Here's a wonderful dish I ordered at the Olive Garden:



A delicious grilled salmon steak with a touch of lemon and seasoning that is oh-so-yummy and full of healthy omega-3 fats along with a generous portion of non-starchy veggies (mostly broccoli) that I ate with butter to increase the fat content of the meal. You'll never eat this low-carb (about 2-3g carbohydrates) in an Italian restaurant!

TOTAL COST: $13



I got excited about Applebee's when they introduced world-famous chef Tyler Florence into their marketing efforts to spruce up their menu in late 2006 with a fabulous covert low-carb dish called the Crispy Brick Chicken. So imagine my surprise when Christine and I went there recently and they've removed it from their menu. GASP! Why do they always remove the GOOD stuff?! Oh well, it was hard, but we found something to eat there.

Here was my choice for a meal from Applebee's:



I adore shrimp and always have since I was a kid, so imagine my delight when I got to choose a salad made with spinach leaves--my favorite low-carb veggie--along with some almond slivers, diced tomatoes, a little cheese from Christine's salad, and I substituted Ranch dressing for the warm bacon vinegarette (too much sugar in this dressing!). Not too filling, but the full-size version of this meal is a refreshing low-carb dinner.

TOTAL COST: $12

Not to be outdone with my salad, here's what Christine ordered:



A spicy chicken breast cut up into bite-sized pieces on top of a bed of salad greens, cheese, diced tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, and Ranch dressing. The chicken was quite savory with a hint of spiciness to perfectly complement the cool salad ingredients. Not too shabby for a low-carber to order and enjoy!

TOTAL COST: $11



Finally, I can't say enough good things about Cracker Barrel. While all the other restaurants have pretty much given up on catering to the low-carb community with a specific menu, they have been one of the only major national chains to keep a low-carb menu prominently displaying options for controlled-carbohydrate lifestyles. WOO HOO, Cracker Barrel! Check 'em out for yourself:



I ordered something off Cracker Barrel's dinner low-carb menu:



Smothered Grilled Chicken Tenderloins with a side salad and a double portion of green beans (with butter on top, of course!) made this a wonderful low-carb meal. I'm a big fan of cheese and bacon, too, and you get plenty of it with this menu item. The green beans are those sweet kind that have a little bit of crunch to them--but what else would you expect from Cracker Barrel?"

TOTAL COST: $9

So there you have it! Suggestions about how you can eat low-carb at your favorite casual dining restaurants. This is by no means a comprehensive listing of what you can order when you eat out, but it gives you an idea about what you can do to make virtually ANY meal a low-carb one. Steaks and salads are ALWAYS acceptable, although be careful about hidden carbs in sauces, toppings, and dressings.

Livin' la vida low-carb need not be difficult or inconvenient to follow. When you make this your permanent lifestyle change, adapting to what fits YOUR life is important. And that will include the occasional visit to restaurants.

LLVLC On YouTube (Episode 6): Which Restaurants Can You Go To On Low-Carb?

The next installment of our growing by leaps and bounds YouTube video series is now online and today you'll have a chance to WIN a really neat FREE prize just for watching and commenting on the video. WOO HOO! If you haven't heard about the videos my wife Christine and I are making on YouTube yet, it's a new series we have called "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb On YouTube." This is an extension of the "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" family to help spread the positive message of the low-carb lifestyle even further.

In Episode 6 today, I thought it would be important to discuss how to eat out when you are on the low-carb lifestyle. A lot of low-carbers erroneously think that their life has to change dramatically to the point that they can't go to a restaurant anymore when they start eating this way. Oh contraire, my dear, and today's video will share how you can stay committed to livin' la vida low-carb AND go out to eat, too! WOO HOO!

See where Christine and I recommend you go and NOT go while low-carbing:



Some of the better restaurants to visit when you are livin' la vida low-carb include Denny's, Ruby Tuesday, Hardee's, Golden Corral, Captain D's, Cracker Barrel, and The Cheesecake Factory (although pretty much ANY restaurant you can make your own low-carb meal). But there are a few places you probably should avoid: Olive Garden, IHOP (puts pancake batter in their EGGS!), Applebee's (although you CAN find ONE low-carbish meal if you play around with it), KFC, and McDonald's, just to name a few.

Leave a comment for Episode 6 and you could WIN $20 in FREE GIFT CERTIFICATES for Captain D's restaurants which recently added a healthy choices menu for you to pick and choose the grilled meats and veggies that suit your healthy low-carb lifestyle! YEAH for that! Watch the video, give feedback, and tune in to the next video to see if you were a winner!

See all of our other YouTube videos and comment on them, too:

- Promo video--A half-minute promotion of the new video series
- Episode 1--Introduction of Jimmy & Christine Moore
- Episode 2--What kind of fruits can you have on a low-carb diet?
- Episode 3--What kind of veggies can you have on a low-carb diet?
- Episode 4--What does a low-carber do for something sweet?
- Episode 5--Why is fat so healthy for you on the low-carb lifestyle?

Special thanks to everyone who has subscribed to our YouTube videos and we just keep growing and growing in viewers each time we record a new video. We've been trying to do about one a week (which is a minor miracle if you knew the crazy busy schedule I am on right now!), so we appreciate your positive comments. Keep the feedback coming and let us know if there is a specific topic you'd like for us to tackle. E-mail us anytime at livinlowcarbman@charter.net.

Atkins Diet Forcing Restaurants To Offer Low-Carb Options

I came across this pseudo-blog fashion and culture magazine web site out of New Zealand called Thread which featured comments from a lady named Megan Johnson regarding how the Atkins lifestyle has affected the dining culture in America and around the world.

Acknowledging that the Atkins way of eating has become a normal part of so many people's lives, Johnson said it is not unusual for people to ask for a sandwich without bread or a steak with a salad instead of a potato at restaurants these days. Most waiters and waitresses have gotten used to hearing from those of us doing low-carb and do what they can to please us with substitution requests.

Whenever I eat out at a restaurant where they know I am on the low-carb lifestyle, the staff is usually eager to accomodate my dining requests to make my meal low-carb. In fact, I just returned from eating at a major national restaurant chain which permitted me to have two side salads with Ranch dressing with my steak.

The restaurants who cater to my low-carb lifestyle will be the ones who will earn and keep my business. It took some of them a while to realize this way of eating wasn't just some fad diet that's here today and gone tomorrow. Most restaurants now realize the low-carb way is here to stay for good.

Johnson said in her article that despite negative press accounts regarding the Atkins diet, it still "continues to rise and rise in popularity." In fact, the latest opinion poll shows that 15% of Americans are now livin' la vida low-carb!

"Everyone is dropping potatoes like, well, hot potatoes and turning pro protein," she exclaimed.

It's true. Potato sales are way down from what they used to be during the heralded low-fat diet days of the 80's and early 90's. I can remember when eating a baked potato without butter, sour cream or bacon was considered good for you on a low-fat diet. And I had the displeasure of eating quite a few of these tasteless wonders back in the day when I was killing myself trying to lose weight on a low-fat diet.

Johnson points out the possibility that a low-fat diet was actively pushed by the U.S. grain association to get people to buy their wheat products. It would be hard to prove, but I wouldn't be surprised. It certainly would explain why the media is so incredibly vile against anything and everything that has to do with low-carb! Could the radical animal rights wackos and their push for an all-vegetable diet be the culprit behind the attacks on Atkins? Hmmmm?

The restaurant industry has been "shaken up" by the Atkins diet, according to Johnson, and has attempted to meet consumer demand for low-carb products to keep up with the change in eating habits that tens of millions of people have chosen to make their lifestyle.

"The industry has realised that it has to adapt to survive, and provide what their consumers want to consume," Johnson stated. "Both restaurants and the producers back to farm and plant level know that they will lose profits if they don’t change to meet demand."

Providing anectodal evidence, Johnson talks about a recent visit to New York City where she saw firsthand the tremendous impact the Atkins diet has had, even at places that used to be taboo for people who are livin' la vida low-carb.

"The protein phenomenon was in almost every restaurant and fast-food chain in New York. Even Subway, a sandwich chain, for crying out loud, was advertising a low-carb menu. At what one assumes is a place that thrives on their daily bread, low carbohydrate wraps are earning a crust ... as I rounded the next bend on Broadway, was low-carb bagels - that most sacrilegious part of Noo Yawkers’ diets - affected by the Atkins diet."

And in London, England, Johnson said she noticed a popular restaurant chain called Yates recently added a laminated "Atkins diet menu" inside the regular menu. One of the dishes served on their Atkins menu is a chargrilled chicken breast between two 6 oz beef patties! Now that's a lot of meat! The side dishes include mushrooms and a side salad instead of fries.

Although the Atkins lifestyle does not advocate drinking alcohol, low-carb or otherwise, Johnson said she had a colleague try a low-carb Michelob Ultra to see what he thought for this story.

"I made my friend test it in the interests of science and good journalism, and he won’t be again- 'It’s awful!' he said, spluttering low-carb beer everywhere across the high-protein laid table.

I'm not a drinker, so I couldn't tell you if low-carb beer is good or not. But what I do know is virtually ever food company is having to face the challenge of what to do about us low-carbers.

Do restaurants adapt to our changing needs or do they simply ignore our business and hope we change our lifestyles back to the way we used to eat? With more than 45 million people on low-carb at this very moment in the United States, I believe it is foolish for any restaurant to become so haughty and not do anything for their low-carb consumers. The result of ignoring us will mean a huge hit to their bottom line. If that happens, I bet they'll notice us then!

Maybe we can convince them this low-carb lifestyle thing is for real after all!

Don't Blow Your Low-Carb Plan When Invited To Dinner

This Fredericksburg, VA-based Free Lance-Star article contained some good information for people who are livin' la vida low-carb regarding being invited to friend's house for a meal. With summer cookouts just a few months away, these tips are really important and will keep you on track with your low-carb eating program.

This story was written by a registered dietitian named Jennifer Motl who has a healthy living web site at brighteating.com.

However, Motl did not begin her article on a particularly good note with me because she described the Atkins lifestyle as "meat-based."

I have emphasized this over and over and over (until I'm blue in the face!) that doing a low-carb lifestyle does not require that you eat a lot of meat. It just doesn't. There are plenty of other options for people to choose from when they are livin' la vida low-carb. Nuts, eggs, cheese, green beans, cauliflower, salads, just to name a few. The continual labeling of low-carb as meat exclusive gets a bit nauseating from time to time.

Nevertheless, what's not to like about eating steak, chicken, turkey, pepperoni, ham and more, especially since most of these foods have ZERO carbs?! The way some people describe Atkins, you would think this is all we eat. How boring would that be?

But Motl redeems herself in the remainder of her article by offering tips for both hosts and guests.

For the hosts: "Ask your guests to tell you what they like to eat, and attempt to make one or two of their favorites, even if they are just side dishes."

Whenever my wife and I are invited over to someone's house to eat, the first thing they always ask me is, "What can you eat on your diet?" Aside from the fact that I'm not on a diet and haven't been since starting my low-carb lifestyle (I know, it's just semantics), I politely reply by asking what will be served.

Most main course foods can be eaten as long as there isn't any gravy or sugary sauces on them. For example, I can usually eat meatloaf if it is prepared without bread and ketchup and chicken if it is baked without any sauce or gravy. Most hosts have been very accomodating by setting aside special versions of the foods that everyone else will be eating. And it's not that hard for them, either.

Additionally, if the host is serving a pasta- or potato-based side dish, then I request cauliflower or salad instead. Again, this is not usually a problem and is very easy for them to help you stay on your low-carb plan. However, make sure they don't try to serve you "low-fat" dressings or you'll be getting more hidden sugars and carbs than you bargained for. I usually request the regular version of Hidden Valley Ranch because it's got 1 net carb and is the best-tasting ranch dressing on the planet!

The article also suggests that hosts create a buffet to allow guests to pick and choose what they want to eat. I LOVE BUFFETS!!! It is the absolute best way for me to get exactly what I can eat without worrying about excessive carbs. If you are filling your own plate, then it is YOUR responsibility to get what you are allowed to eat and nothing more. This is the best option for people doing low-carb.

As for the guests: "Do not drop hints or hope the host will read your mind. Instead, state your [low-carb dietary needs] clearly and offer to ... bring a simple substitute if the main dish" is not low-carb.

This is great advice. Don't beat around the bush about your low-carb lifestyle. Some people may not know you are losing weight yet (it wasn't until I lost 100 pounds before anybody noticed!), so don't be bashful and tell the host you are eating low-carb. You might have to explain what that means to some hosts (who may think it only means meat!), but education is always a good thing. They may even thank you for offering to bring a sample low-carb dish for other guests to try. I know my low-carb peanut butter cheesecake balls have always been a hit with people who didn't realize they were "diet" (the recipe for this delectable dessert will be in my book, by the way!).

Motl gives sound advice when she proclaims, "If you are a picky eater or on a weight-loss diet, it's not polite to expect your host to revamp the entire menu to meet your preferences. Instead, eat whatever items and portions you are comfortable with and politely decline the rest."

EXCELLENT ADVICE, INDEED! Even if it means you'll have to eat when you get home, it's better to just eat what you can so you don't get derailed on your low-carb plan. I would only add that you should always be prepared with low-carb snacks wherever you go so you will never get hungry or feel left out when everyone else is eating. Livin' la vida low-carb is not hard is you make it a conscious effort.