Nothing is harder than staying lean when your health and welfare is at the hands of a series of short-order cooks and Hell’s Kitchen wannabes. Your taste buds are their concern; your health isn’t. But that doesn’t mean that to stay slim, you have to be a culinary wallflower. Here are some secrets for eating healthfully even when a stranger is doing the cooking.

Skip the bread…
A study published in Physiology & Behavior showed that people who ate a protein-heavy appetizer consumed an average of 16 percent fewer calories in their entrées than those who raided the bread basket. Pass on the rolls and ask for a shrimp cocktail instead.

Pass on the Booze…
Because your body sees alcohol as a toxin, it works to burn those calories first—meaning that the calories in the food you eat alongside the booze are more likely to be stored as fat. And liquor makes you eat quicker, too. When researchers in the Netherlands gave people a pre-meal treat of booze, food, water, or nothing, those who got the booze ate an average of 192 extra calories.

Skip the Combo meals…
At every fast-food restaurant, as soon as you decide on an entrée, you’ll be asked some variation of this question: “Would you like to make it a combo meal?” Of course, you’re tempted—who can pass up a bargain? But when you upgrade, you’re just paying a little more money for a lot more calories—that’s like giving the garbage man a tip to bring more trash to your house! People who take the upsell spend an average of 17 percent more money and receive an average of 55 percent more calories. You don’t want them!

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