Eating Out

liza0109

I have been maintaining for about four weeks now after losing 50lbs.
My husband and I went to lunch yesterday at a popular chain restaurant and I decided after looking at their menu and mfp I could not eat there and be comfortable with that decision.
We left and chose a different restaurant with healthier choices.
My husband thought I was worried about it too much and that everybody deserves to "cheat". For me, it just wasn't worth it.
Does eating out and making the right choices get easier? I feel it takes me forever to decide what to order at a restaurant!

cwolfman13

I don't eat out that often...for my wife and I, it's definitely an occasion...something we do maybe two or three times per month. In the grand scheme of things, going out and just enjoying myself on occasion for a singular meal is pretty irrelevant to the whole and isn't going to impact my health or weight maintenance one bit.

KatiePapaya

Honestly? It gets easier the further you get into maintenance...I once couldn't order a small hot chocolate because I was freaking out so much about the unknown calorie content! Realistically, you're not going to go 3500 calories over maintenance in one day, and even so, what's a pound going to do? Eat what you really, really want, just for one night.
(I've been maintaining a 55lb loss for nearly a year now, so trust me, it gets easier!)

plateaued

One thing I have discovered is side dishes. Order them a la carte. My local sports bar has a fat/carbo loaded menu of burger, fries, nachos, etc., but sides of a chicken breasts, strawberries, salad and other healthy choices.

funchords

Congrats on reaching your goal!

I think you were right to leave -- you can't enjoy it if you're fretting over eating there. Cheating is a brain trick, but you're not fooling anyone.

Instead, think of it this way. You learned as you lost 50 lbs. that the body doesn't reset at midnight. You could be under your goal by 300 one day, and over your goal by 300 the next, and it all works out as if you hit your goal both days. This works over longer time periods. As I'm entering into maintenance, I am logging daily but I am looking weekly.

This horizon gives me more flexibility and helps me to manage my deficit. We just had a big storm that cut into my exercise, but I saw it coming and packed in some extra work on the nicer days. I was over my daily goal 3 of the last 7 days (two of those were during the storm) but I was under for the week.

Hope that helps.

Francl27

It's tough for me too. The problem is that we eat out fairly often (I'd say 2-3 times a month), so I can't use the 'enjoy your meal' excuse. More often than not lately, we end up eating at home instead because we can't agree on a restaurant (tired of chains, and the local restaurants don't always have obvious healthier options, and I just don't feel like blowing my calories on something I don't really crave at the moment). Once a month I tend to just have a 'cheat meal' though but I try to make up for it the rest of the week (doesn't always work).

Technically I'm still trying to lose a couple pounds though, so it's even harder.

cwolfman13

KatiePapaya wrote: »

Honestly? It gets easier the further you get into maintenance...I once couldn't order a small hot chocolate because I was freaking out so much about the unknown calorie content! Realistically, you're not going to go 3500 calories over maintenance in one day, and even so, what's a pound going to do? Eat what you really, really want, just for one night.
(I've been maintaining a 55lb loss for nearly a year now, so trust me, it gets easier!)

I would add to this, that maintenance isn't really a set number...it's most definitely a range. Also, maintenance and energy equilibrium is what the body strives for and is very good at...just like you don't really lose weight from dieting one day, you don't gain weight indulging for one day...even if you went 3,500 calories over your maintenance calories one day, your body isn't going to automatically store that as fat...it takes consistently doing something (either over-eating or under-eating) to over-ride your body's ability to maintain energy balance.

As you get further into maintenance it gets easier, largely because you start to see the bigger picture...you start to see that these kinds of things are largely irrelevant to the bigger picture and that your health and maintenance of your weight is largely dependent on what you're doing consistently the vast majority of the time..not occasional indulgences. I also don't call those occasional indulgences cheating...I just don't think about things that way.

__freckles__

As you get further into maintenance it gets easier, largely because you start to see the bigger picture...you start to see that these kinds of things are largely irrelevant to the bigger picture and that your health and maintenance of your weight is largely dependent on what you're doing consistently the vast majority of the time..not occasional indulgences. I also don't call those occasional indulgences cheating...I just don't think about things that way.

^^He said it much nicer than I'm going to. If you can't go out and enjoy yourself at a restaurant with your husband without freaking out about calorie content, that's just silly in my opinion. Do your best at guesstimating and just enjoy your freaking food.

Sabine_Stroehm

We eat out A LOT. Dinner out at least once a week, sometimes twice. I eat lunch from work choices 2-3 times a week. It does get easier. You get better at thinking of it as it is: either a special occasion or an indulgence (for me, pizza, because it does a number on my tummy) or "just another meal". When it's just another meal (most of them) I eat as I would at home. I find a way. Meat and veg, sauce on the side that I may use as a dip... A big salad with steak or chicken...and a glass of wine.
Maintenance is a range, yes. And you learn how to live comfortably in that range by making choices. It does get easier.

jgled

I find my caloric count much higher even when I am careful at restaurant. Portions are larger.it's hard to push that plate away not eating it all. We usually eat out once a week but am now cutting back on it some only been on the program 2 weeks and doing great. Have a potluck tomorrow and already know it will be tough not to try everything. Thought about not going but friend this is for flew across the country to see everyone and I need to be there. Wish me luck...

Sabine_Stroehm

jgled wrote: »

I find my caloric count much higher even when I am careful at restaurant. Portions are larger.it's hard to push that plate away not eating it all. We usually eat out once a week but am now cutting back on it some only been on the program 2 weeks and doing great. Have a potluck tomorrow and already know it will be tough not to try everything. Thought about not going but friend this is for flew across the country to see everyone and I need to be there. Wish me luck...

If you're in the U.S. ask for a doggy bag/to go box. I regularly take half home.

RaspberryTickleChicken

Congrats first and foremost on getting to your goal. (*)

And I do believe it does get easier eating out. It may take more advanced planning but certainly can be done. Whenever possible I look at the restaurant's menu ahead of time & get an idea of what is available & what I will have. Then I plan the rest of the day accordingly. So if I was going to have a heavy dinner I'd have a lighter lunch & breakfast. Perhaps tack on an extra 10 minutes of cardio etc to compensate. But I also subscribe to doing the 90/10 so if I go over once a week I'm still on track.

What it boils down to is that you have to make eating choices that you are comfortable with. And the whole cheat day works for some while it opens the door down the wrong path for others. So knowing your own limitations is also key.

gothchiq

I kind of gave up on being able to eat at restaurants unless I want to be fat again. Everything they have is basically a calorie bomb with more than a day's allotment of calories for me. All I order out any more is a salad with dressing on the side, (nothing fried in there, etc), water, and coffee rather than dessert. Luckily it is rarely an issue because it costs too much money to go out anyway so we only do it like once every 3 months.

VegasFit

Congrats on your loss! I can totally relate to this. In the beginning of my weight loss I was really strict with myself and would avoid eating out just because I know my personality. It was all or nothing for me at that point. As I've progressed, I do have occasional cheat and enjoy weekend meals out with my family and BF but I still find myself watching what I order. It is what works for me and honestly my habits have changed so much that I am not comfortable ordering what I might have ordered off a menu a year ago or eating as much. I have to say my BF is very understanding and if I don't feel like overindulging on an outing he'll order healthy too cause our habit is usually to split items. You will find a balance that works for you.

gothchiq

My inlaws always want to go to the grossest, greasiest low quality places. If there's not a salad available I just have to get the cheapest thing I can find, mash it around and sort of pretend to eat it and then hide it under my napkin, but really basically consume as little as possible. It's frustrating and puts me in a bad mood. It's usually hours later before I can get away from them and get something decent/acceptable to eat. >.< Once I started using MFP and seeing how many calories there are in even the "healthy" restaurant food, I figured it was entirely too much of a headache, even if someone else is paying. I dread it and avoid it whenever possible.