The 5: Dine out without pigging out

Eating healthy at home can be accomplished with relative ease. You prepare the food, so you know what to expect. Do you know exact calorie, fat, carb, and protein counts? Maybe, maybe not. You could always find out by visiting sites like DietDetective.com, but there's not always time for such measures to be taken when you also have nine thousand other things that need to get done before the new episode of Lost comes on. So, in most cases we go by educated guesses. Again, not all that difficult to do when we're the ones making the food.

However, things can become much trickier at restaurants -- especially those where the healthy menu options are limited. To help you along, here are five healthy suggestions from Self magazine that should make your restaurant dining experience both enjyoable and guilt-free.

1. Quiznos - Black & Blue Salad. Go with reduced-fat dressing and only use half of the amount they give you. Also, ask for additional tomatoes and mixed greens.

2. Burger King - Tendergrill Chicken Salad. Lightly drizzle with 1/2 packet of low-fat dressing.3. Panera Bread - Soup/Salad Combo. Opt for low-fat vegetarian black bean soup and half-size Orchard Harvest Salad. You can also throw in 1/2 of a whole-grain baguette.

4. Chili's - Guiltless Grill Salmon. Enjoy this omega-3 rich fish dish with a helping of black beans and steamed seasonal vegetables (sans Parmesan cheese topping) on the side.

5. Ruby Tuesday - White Bean Chicken Chili. Compliment this hearty bowl with a side of Premium Baby Green Beans.

Still, if you ever find yourself in a jam, not knowing what the heck to order, an answer is only a text message away. By texting DIET1 (34381) on your cell phone and entering the particular food you're thinking of eating (ex. "Whopper Jr. at Burger King"), you'll initiate an almost automatic text response listing the nutritional breakdown, helping you to decide whether or not it's a healthy choice.