Logging restaurant meals: Any long-term workable advice?

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  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    I eat out 3-5 times per week. I log it all, regardless of whether it's a chain restaurant or not. Get familiar with what serving sizes look like. Ask questions about ingredients. Use the web to look up recipes for what you see on the menu. If eating out is a regular part of your life, you'll figure it out.
  • alereck
    alereck Posts: 343 Member
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    I think if you eat out no more than twice a week you shouldn't worry too much about it. If you are eating more than twice a week try to stick with healthier choices and smaller meals. I've always had two cheat days out of the week even when I was cutting and never had a problem losing weight, I was very diligent on the other days of the week though.

    Just one thing to keep in mind, I find it very hard to keep restaurant meals under 800 -1,000 calories even when eating salads. They focus on flavor which means tons of butter and sauces. I can eat tons of broccoli at home which I boil worth very little calories, the plain ones at chain restaurants are usually 3xs the amount of calories. So even when you think you're making good choices the calories are always higher than if you cook at home.

    Otherwise focus on one thing at a time, enjoy life now and worry about your weight later. If I could afford eating out more often I would, even if it meant gaining a bit more weight.
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
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    Thanks for the helpful suggestions and replies, all!
    h7463 wrote: »
    Most smaller restaurants have started to post their menu online, and many will please their customers by modifying some of their dishes. This might just give them an edge over the chains, anyway.

    That's not really the case here. Most restaurants don't have websites at all, or if they do, they're basic sites with address and phone number information. As for modifying ingredients, that's sort of a no-no. But I agree, I've seen both these trends when I've visited parts of the United States.

    DavPul wrote: »
    "Hi, I would like to lose 40 pounds without making any changes in my lifestyle. Any tips?"

    I think that's a little unfair, TBH. I'm making major lifestyle changes. I'm just trying to find a way to make this work in the long run. I know that giving up my social life entirely isn't realistic and was my downfall the last few times I've tried this. So I'm trying to approach it differently this time around.
    strawberrypopsicles wrote: »
    Some tips: Most restaurant portions are way too much food for one person so try to split with your friends as much as possible or opt for an appetizer as a meal.

    Yep and yep. Great tips! I do most of these already. And I don't have any qualms about sending half a meal back uneaten, either. Yes, I know it'll get wasted. But I figure, better in the trash than on my hips. (I do, as much as possible, try to share or order smaller portions to avoid waste. But I'm not going to clean my plate out of guilt either.)
    terar21 wrote: »
    I love eating out, especially at small local restaurants at home or when I travel. I also work in an office where we have access to free catered food. What I try to do is:

    1) know that it's a day when I need to burn some extra calories to compensate.

    2) log from other chain restaurants with similar meals to get a nice ballpark. It won't be exact but will give you a good idea. I look through the list of chain meals and get a good idea of what the average is and pick something in the middle. if there doesn't seem to be a middle-range meal, log the high one. Just make sure you don't log the lowest one because chances are that what you're eating could be much higher. This works well for me.

    3) I build the meal by logging with the ingredients it's made from (this is also ballparking). This is easier when it's a simple meal and you are familiar with what it takes to actually cook the meal.

    Just realize it's probably a maintenance day and that's ok to have every now and then.

    Some combination of these is probably going to be my strategy, with an emphasis on #1 and #3. Using "similar" chain food meals isn't all that helpful since I tend to avoid eating at places that make food that's too much like fast food chains anyway. Luckily, it's usually healthier, so I figure that's a win. The last thing I'd want to do would be to start eating more junk just because it's easier to track.

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