Most restaurant meals I eat are in the 1500 range. I’m pretty much the average size of women in their mid 40s in North America. Size 14.
Good for you, that you’re disciplined, feel sick when you eat too much fat and only have 10 lbs you could stand to lose.
Won’t go down the path of what I do and what I’ve done, what I could do or what I should do. I’ve posted on dozens of those threads on the old site.
This is 
Well, maybe that’s the difference. It’s not an issue of “self-discipline” for me. I just can’t eat that much food and not feel gross… (not gross because it would make me overweight or because overweight is “gross”, just "ugh, there’s way too much food inside my body right now…) If I eat 1000+ calories at a meal, I just have no interest in eating anything else substantial for hours (and hours) afterward. I will snack (long) before my next meal, and chances are good it will be an “unhealthy” snack, but if overdo that, it’ll just postpone my next “meal” that much longer (however unhealthy that too may be…)
I think healthy is a completely separate issue from quantity. If you consume too many calories you’ll gain weight. It’s pretty clear that volume constraints favor getting heavy by eating calorie dense foods, but people who eat too much certainly appear (personal observation, no footnotes) to adapt to eat more and more volume of food.
I count myself fortunate that for whatever reason I only want to eat until I’m not hungry. Not until I’m full, until I’m not hungry. Perhaps I should thank my mother for being a mediocre cook and ingraining useful habits. sigh
This has certainly morphed into something far beyond Applebee’s.
I don’t go out to eat because of necessity and watching my diet, but to enjoy the experience and (hopefully) something I can’t duplicate at home.
Different strokes and all that, I suppose.
This is an excellent point. I still don’t want a day’s rations in one meal but there are surely things I can’t do, or don’t have the time to do.
Sometimes it is about the experience.
Sometimes it’s road food when I can’t pack my own.
I tanked down a buffalo tender app at houlihans the other night. 1100 calories before my whole rack of ribs came so I don’t want to think about what the grand total was.
I envy your local Applebee booze experience. Unfortunately, I don’t think the memo about putting alcohol in the drinks ever got to the Brooklyn location (Sheepshead Bay), as I went thru 2 fishbowls of some drink or other and only got a sugar rush.
My wife and I have a running joke about Applebee’s stemming from my late mother’s love of the place. We were forced into taking her there a number of times and listening to her glowing commentary about what a great chef they must have in the kitchen, while we sat there picturing the minimum wage kid placing the sealed plastic bag into boiling water or emptying it out onto a then microwaved plate. At least it saved us money compared to the places we tried to take her, only to have her compare them unfavorably to her beloved Applebee’s. Yep, chicken fingers or boneless wings is definitely the way to go. Well, that plus a nice hidden airline shot bottle of booze to pour into a drink so the rest becomes moot. 
My late grandmother insisted on going to Outback Steakhouse for “shrimps.” The steaks are okay. I thought the shrimp might as well have been rubber but grandma loved them. I’m glad for our monthly trips.
Sheepshead Bay has a special place in my heart. I raced (sailboats) out of there 1979 - 1982.
Taking another look at the Applebees menu the Grilled Chicken Wonton Tacos, the small sirloin, the sweet and savory grilled chicken, and the grilled chicken breast look like choices for me. A side of steamed broccoli and the French onion soup would do nicely as well. I love tomato-basil soup but my wife’s version is so good I couldn’t possibly order it out.
Dinner went off without a hitch Friday night. The table decided on neighborhood nachos to start. They had some kind of roasted jalapeno on them, which I thought was good. Other than that, they were fair.
I decided to go the simple route. I got the 6 oz sirloin, baked potato and green beans. All very acceptable.
The others had bourbon street chicken and shrimp and some stir fry meal. Everyone seemed happy and ate everything.
The company was terrific, and it was a very fun night with good friends. Thanks for the “keep it simple” suggestions. That really worked out well for me!
Heidi,
You started a thread that has been all over the map with lots of interesting discussion. That’s a success by any measure, as is that your family dinner went well.
hugs, dave
Thanks! That’s what I love about this site. You can never predict what direction things will go in! But it’s always interesting!
No Oriental Grilled Chicken Salad for me, thanks. I’m on a diet. I’ll have the Classic Bacon Cheeseburger with fries instead. It’s 200 less calories and 15 grams less fat and 42 grams less sugar. 
Boy you can sure learn a lot when you read the fine print!!!
Wow that is quite a salad!
Does anyone remember wendy’s taco salad bar? Lol
I’m pretty sure a plate full there would be a few thousand calories.
