Eating Out and Starbucks
So my husband and I are in the process of moving from GA to El Paso, we're currently living in a makeshift hotel room thats really an old barracks. I hope to have our house soon but until then we have no way to cook anything and only a mini fridge big enough to hold a few bottles of water. Before I got to El Paso I was visiting my family in VA and NC/SC and was eating out a lot due to traveling, and now that were here I still have to eat out basically 3 meals a day. I am doing my best to make protein forward choices and I have started going to the gym here on post already. I guess what im trying to say is if im doing my best to make the best decisions possible (although I know it is not ideal) is eating out absolutely horrible? Also I am a coffee lover, and I tend to be at Starbucks once a day. I get a grande or venti iced coffee with 2% milk and sweet&low. I know ive seen people on here say they have multiple cups of coffee a day, and I think my grand total for an iced coffee is something like 35 calories from the milk. Just making sure this isnt going to kill me. Any thoughts or advice on places to eat would be great.
Eating out isn't necessary horrible at all. It just depends on what you're eating. Just like you can make horrible food choices at home, you can make horrible food choices in restaurants. Or, you can make good choices in restaurants.
And no, one iced coffee with 35 calories is not going to kill you.
Kelly
Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.
Thanks for the quick response, I think im just over thinking everything because I feel like it would be so much better to be eating at home. I tend to get a steak or chicken and veggies. And im glad to know my coffee wont destroy my Weight Loss, because its deffinetly part of my day I look forward to lol.
Do you know people that eat at home all the time and never eat out and are overweight and unhealthy? I mean, if I ate at home and made fried chicken and frozen pizza and brownies and french fries all the time, I'd gain a ton of weight back and my cholesterol would be through the roof. If I eat out and eat salads (with low fat dressing) and lean protein (and not stuff with a lot of high sugar sauce on it) and veggies, how is that going to be unhealthy?
Oh, sure, there are plenty of tempting unhealthy choices in restaurants. You have to be diligent (don't just think if it sounds or looks healthy it is, get online and look up the nutritional info) and you have to resist temptation to order dessert every night. But what matters is what you eat, not where you eat it.
Kelly
Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.
I eat out quite a bit... just remember to drink a LOT of water because any food you get "out" will be filled with sodium and may show you a bad # on the scale until it flushes!
Starbucks... oh, my friend, what I could tell you about my love affair with Starbucks!... Sounds like you have it well under control! I get Starbucks A LOT... but I get mine Skinny... a skinny latte to be exact.. with s/f syrup so it's both sweet and yummy!
Blanche Jackson 352/314/258.6/180 
My family and I eat out at least once a week. Not a lot, but I've learned to adapt pretty much any where we go. BK or McD's? I get a grilled chicken wrap and don't eat the tortilla. Mexican? I get chicken and bean nachos and don't eat the chips. Other places, just like you, I tend to go for grilled chicken and veggies. You CAN make this work. My belief is that we learn how to control what we are eating at each and every meal, whether we are at home or at a restaurant. I told my friends and family that me having this surgery would not negatively impact our fun together, and part of that fun includes restaurants....eating out on Sunday after chruch, girls' night out, vacations, etc. You got this! 
Starbucks is easy. Skinny lattes or, if you want to boost your protein, buy some protein shakes (vanilla or chocolate - premier protein is a good one) and use that as the milk in your iced coffee. I order a short iced americano in a grande or venti cup and add the protein shake for the milk. Great way to get your coffee fix AND some protein.
Other restaurants. I think fast food is probably the hardest. Grilled chicken sandwiches sans bread would be good. Mexican is a great option. Get beans and maybe some chicken or pork chili verde, or carnitas? I've done mexican twice and gotten side dishes of beans and guacamole both times. If you can plan ahead and check nutritional values online before going out that's always the best plan. Then you can choose what you want before you ever get to the restaurant.
One other thing that might be helpful is getting some chobani yogurts or something like it to store in your mini fridge. They're small so they should fit and then you can have an in-room breakfast a few days a week.
Thought of one more thing. If you like chili it's a great go to for protein and lots of restaurants have it as an option.
Good luck!
