Hartley said people tend to ignore calories when dining out. Stay away from the obvious, like loaded potato skins, lots of cheese and cream sauces. Broth-based soups are good, as are appetizers like shrimp cocktail. Don t go for fried appetizers. Restaurants are competing for business, so many of them offer large portion sizes.
Portions are probably three times more than normal.
Have the serving person put half in a to-go box before bringing the entree to the table. Do that before, so you won t be tempted to eat the whole thing. We tend to eat as much as we are served. If there is bread on the table, take a slice per person and don t order more. At a Mexican restaurant, take out 10 or 12 chips for munching and send the basket from the table.