Yes, you can eat away from home and still lose weight! Here are 20 strategies for avoiding diet sabotage at a restaurant.

These days eating out is a means of survival, and it comes as no surprise. We're constantly on the go, rushing here to there with little time for ourselves let alone time to cook a well-balanced meal.

With convenience, however, comes a price tag--one that can cost our waistlines dearly. Often loaded with fat and calories, restaurant meals can easily sabotage the most dedicated of dieters. Don't despair! With a little detective work and a bit of creativity, anyone can eat out and still stick to a healthy eating plan. Sound impossible? Read on.

Plan ahead
Choose restaurants that offer healthy choices.

Budget your fat and calories during the day so you can give yourself a little leeway when you eat out.

Collect menus from your favorite restaurants so you can plan your selections.

Don't arrive at the restaurant feeling ravenous. Eat a small snack, such as an apple, a yogurt or a glass of tomato juice, about two hours prior to the meal.

Control portions
Ask your server to put half your meal in a doggy bag before it's served.

Share an entrée with your spouse or friend.

Order two appetizers in place of an entrée.

Stay away from buffets or all-you-can-eat restaurants.

Avoid larger-than-life portions of seemingly "healthy" foods: bran muffins as big as your head are usually chock-full of calories and fat. Other fat traps include tuna, egg, seafood and chicken salads.

Order salad dressings, sauces and gravies on the side so you can exercise damage control.

At the salad bar, take it easy on the creamy dressings, bacon bits, cheeses, olives, nuts and seeds.

Choose wisely
Ask questions on how food is prepared. Often, that harmless piece of grilled fish you ordered can be swimming in butter or oil.

Ask for substitutions: get tomato sauce instead of cream sauce on your pasta; see if you can get an egg white omelette instead of one prepared with whole eggs; or see if you can get an entrée grilled instead of fried.

Choose lean cuts of meat: loin, round, flank, shoulder, leg and extra-lean ground beef.

Enjoy fish, seafood, skinless poultry, pastas with tomato-based sauces, fruits and vegetables, and whole grains.

Know what to look out for on menus. Avoid anything that is described as creamed, breaded, Alfredo, Hollandaise, tempura, batter-dipped, au gratin, en croute, phyllo-wrapped, in puff pastry, pot pie; or with béarnaise, béchamel, beurre blanc or crème fraiche.

Choose items that are served broiled, grilled, baked, boiled, roasted, poached or steamed.

Order pizza plain or with veggies--no meats. Better yet, ask for it to be prepared with half the cheese. And, before you indulge, take a napkin and blot the top of the slice. In doing so, you can eliminate a couple teaspoons of oil.

Substitute a side salad or baked potato instead of French fries.

Order your latte or cappuccino with skim or 1% milk.

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