How do you log food when eating out?

LazyFoodie

With all the weighing and measuring of everything I eat at home, I get sort of crazy about having to guessitmate whenever I eat out. I normally eat at non-chain restaurants that do not have nutritional/calorie information available. Life does not stop when I am trying to lose weight so as much as I try to eat healthy foods at home, social events mean I am eating out at least two or three times a week either at restaurants or at other people’s homes where I have no control over ingredients in the dish. I would also feel too much like a crazy person to bring a measuring cup/scale when I go out.

So I eat at large deficits during the work week to account for these going out meals which usually just means I stay as low as I possible can- usually 1000-1400 with daily workouts to balance out these going out meals. It has been going okay so far with a downward trend in weight, however I would love to have greater control/sense of knowing how many calories I am really eating every week. I am trying to lose about half a lb to a lb a week so a few hundred to a few thousand calories that I could miscalculate per week really does matter.

For instance, last night, I went to a restaurant with family where we had a 16 course meal family style. I tasted a bit of every dish including the two desserts and a glass of wine and logged it as 1,950 cals. However, who knows, I think the real caloric intake could be over or under a few hundred calories. Maybe I underlogged as much as 1,000 cals for the meal? No idea!

Same thing with lunch the day before which was an Indian lunch buffet. Tried a little bit of four different curry dishes, had serving spoon full of a chickpea salad, and four pieces of garlic nan. I tried looking up similar items on the database but I had no idea what the weight of each piece of garlic nan was so my four pieces could be 2 or 8 pieces on the database for all I know. The curries I found in the database could have much different ingredients than what I ate and I can’t accurately estimate how much I ate as I am unfamiliar with their plate/ serving spoon sizes. I ended up logging the meal as about 1,550 cals but I am afraid I way underlogged as I imagine all restaurant dishes to be loaded with oil and butter.

So anyway, how do you guys log food when you eat out? Any tricks to be more accurate in calculating restaurant food?

markjacobs1987

Honestly at. Non-chain restaurant guessing is really the best you can do. One thing I can tell you for sure though is be really careful of buffets. Sounds like you ate a bunch and had a binge eating day at the restaurants. Try to keep your portions down to a reasonable amount if you want to lose between 1-2 pounds a week. One binge eating day can set you back a few days on your weight loss. I'm not saying you can never have a cheat meal ever. Just make sure 80%ish of your week is healthy and fitting your calorie goals. Also try not to dip below 1200 calories. 1400 calories is fine, but upwards of 1600 is an ok amount for losing weight for a starting point. Of course depending on your metabolism will depend on how much you should eat. Just track your calories and check the scale every 2-3 weeks to see if you are on track and you can adjust from there.

LazyFoodie

I guess it depends on the definition of "binge" eating. When I am watching what I eat, even if I'm at a buffet, I tend to end up feeling full but not overly stuffed. If I really let myself go, I could eat twice as much as I am actually eating now. I just think its a lot of calories anyway because of the butter and oil the food is cooked in.

I have to go below 1,200 some days as I eat a lot on the weekends. I've averaging out about over 1,600 cals a day if my guessitmates are at all correct so I don't see it as a problem.

dopeysmelly

I don't bother. I just focus on eating in moderation, which generally means skipping bread/dessert and just having one drink. When I'm away on business, I skip the hotel breakfast and take or buy my own. I use it as a challenge to make good choices (lean proteins, vegetables, try and get fiber) without the prop of MFP.

If you're still losing while doing what you're doing, then whatever you are doing is working for you.

Zerodette

For non chain restaurants, I just use similar dishes from chain restaurants. So the local seafood places become Red Lobster, and so on. I am set for 2lbs a week so I have a relatively large amount of deficit room in case I'm under.

You either have to accept having to guess, or cut down on what you eat at the restaurants by a lot to make it less likely you underestimate the calories (1 piece of naan instead of 4 for example). I try to eat a salad or bowl of veggies before going out, to help with that.

stuffinmuffin

I just make guesstimates from the food database and forget about it. If I know it's going to be an indulgent outing then I'll bank calories a few days before for it. I generally like to enjoy going out to eat. (I don't do it that often).

lemurcat12

I have dinner out at non-chain restaurants once or twice a week and I've stopped even bothering trying to log accurately, because it's basically impossible. What I do instead is try to have room in my day (I'll generally quick add 1000 or some such, depending on what I eat, although sometimes I try to estimate and just add some extra butter), and choose carefully. That means I wouldn't do the family style or buffet style options, but order a meal of my own that is largely made up of vegetables and the protein. I'd try to watch portion size on everything, and I wouldn't eat the bread on the table unless it was really and truly worth it. Tasting everything is simply not possible to even estimate and probably a good way to let the calories go out of control.

I don't always do this--if we go out for Indian I always have naan (because I LOVE it) and just try to skimp on the rice, and sometimes for a special occasion I decide it doesn't matter that day (the occasional potluck, for example), but if you are going to eat out frequently you have to find a way to make it fit without starving yourself the rest of the week or driving yourself crazy.

gamesandgains

I guesstimate and over compensate a lot. If I feel like I ate 40g's of carbs I enter 60g's just to be sure. Assuming i'm dieting, of course.

meridianova

one of the things that helps me, especially at buffets, is knowing that the utensils they provide have standardized serving sizes. a small salad dressing ladle is going to be two ounces, as is a large side-dressing containder. a small side-dressing container will be one ounce. those little tongs for shredded cheese or nuts/seeds is one tablespoon. it gives me a benchmark to help me zero in on what i'm eating. it won't be perfect, but it'll be closer than just guessing. if you can piecemeal things, do it... 6 brussels sprouts, 4 baby carrots, 10 medium-sized shrimp... all of those will have entries in the database that allow you to do individual counts rather than weights. again, it won't be perfect, but it'll be close.

rlwilson1967

I eat out a lot also, and I try to track via things that are in the database and similar to what I have eaten. If there are multiple options that have higher calorie counts, I log the highest cal count, and usually double it. So I may be over estimating, or I might not, but I just try to eat better on the days that I don't eat out.

LazyFoodie

Thanks! the serving utensils size is a big help for buffets/ pot lucks. maybe a trip to bed bath and beyond is in order to get familiar with what different utensils of different sizes look like.

SingRunTing

At chain restaurants or restaurants that provide the information, I just use what they list on the nutritional tables. I know it can be off, but its good enough for the once in a while.

At non-chains, guesstimating is the best you can do. Its easier if you order something simple. Guesstimating the calories in Steak, rice, and veggies is easier than guessing the calories in chicken alfredo because you can eyeball the portion size easier.