Eating at restaurants used to be fun, now it's kind of stressful.

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dawn0293
dawn0293 Posts: 115 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Every time I end up going out to eat at a restaurant that doesn't publish their nutritional information I feel like I am playing Russian roulette. It should be mandatory that consumers are allowed to know the contents of the food you are serving them. I have no way to log any of this stuff accurately because restaurants have a way of sneaking fats and oils into just about everything! I could have eaten an entire stick of butter today for all I know. I used to love trying new places. Now it's just a headache. I feel like such a cranky old lady getting my feathers ruffled at what should have been a good time but I can't help but wonder if I am going to regret this tomorrow. Blah.
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Replies

  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    edited December 2014
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    Why not just eat half and take the rest home. Enjoy the ambience and don't stress. You are there to have fun, right? Tomorrow you can eat the rest for lunch.
  • court_alacarte
    court_alacarte Posts: 219 Member
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    queenliz99 wrote: »
    Why not just eat half and take the rest home. Enjoy the ambience and don't stress. You are there to have fun, right? Tomorrow you can eat the rest for lunch.

    this. or (2) if you feel better, order something "light" like grilled salmon or chicken and veggies or a salad with a vinaigrette dressing.

    or (3) you could, you know, enjoy yourself :) and get back on the wagon tomorrow. you can't expect yourself to be perfect all the time, especially if you still want to be social and go out and have fun. give yourself some leeway and don't think it's the end of the diet just because of ONE meal.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    Maybe realize that one meal isn't going to completely break you or take away all the progress you've made?
  • Lasmartchika
    Lasmartchika Posts: 3,440 Member
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    queenliz99 wrote: »
    Why not just eat half and take the rest home. Enjoy the ambience and don't stress. You are there to have fun, right? Tomorrow you can eat the rest for lunch.

    If eating out is that stressful, I would follow Liz's advice. Eat half. But if you don't go out to eat often, just log similar entries and move on with your day. Actually, whether you do or don't eat out often, log it and move on. It's all about learning to keep living your life without stressing, after all this is a lifestyle change, is it not? Will you stress for the rest of your life every time you go out to eat? I hope not. Eat, enjoy, be merry. You didn't gain all your weight in one day, you won't gain all your weight lost in one meal. :flowerforyou:
  • healthygreek
    healthygreek Posts: 2,137 Member
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    One of my greatest pleasures is going to a good local restaurant.
    I love sitting down to a great meal and a glass of wine or two!
    I try to choose well and make estimates of my calorie intake.
    I may gain a bit of water weight but it really doesn't make a huge impact in the long run.
    I could never stick with my healthy lifestyle if I couldn't enjoy this at least once a week.
    My favorite restaurants don't (and probably couldn't realistically) post calorie counts.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    Yeah, I routinely take half. I also cruise the menu for the best option and that becomes my new favourite. Also, if a restaurant won't publish or disclose their nutritional information, that's a big red flag. This includes Red Robin's and Cora.

    Watch out for the salads at Boston Pizza! You are better off with the Boston Brute.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    dawn0293 wrote: »
    Every time I end up going out to eat at a restaurant that doesn't publish their nutritional information I feel like I am playing Russian roulette. It should be mandatory that consumers are allowed to know the contents of the food you are serving them. I have no way to log any of this stuff accurately because restaurants have a way of sneaking fats and oils into just about everything! I could have eaten an entire stick of butter today for all I know. I used to love trying new places. Now it's just a headache. I feel like such a cranky old lady getting my feathers ruffled at what should have been a good time but I can't help but wonder if I am going to regret this tomorrow. Blah.

    1 - If it was mandatory that every restaurant provided nutritional content, there would be no local establishments...which are the best establishments and also tend to actually offer more fresh, high quality food and use high quality ingredients. Chain restaurants of a certain size are required to publish nutritional information.

    2 - Even restaurants that do provide nutritional information are allowed quite a bit of latitude and room for error...'cuz guess what, the dude in the kitchen making minimum wage isn't going to weigh out exactly X grams of butter or Y grams of this or that and the other. There's plenty of error already inherent in that published information.

    3 - The notion that one meal out is going to somehow be your undoing is ridiculous.

    4 - Learn how to make better choices...if you're really concerned, opt for grilled or baked items...get double veg, etc. Also, my wife and I will often split an entree when we're out...most restaurant servings are 2+.

    5 - I personally don't eat out that often anymore, so when i do I just kick back and enjoy. You don't get fat overnight...back to point 3, one meal is not your undoing and even if you do overeat, you don't gain fat overnight, that just now how your body works.
  • dawn0293
    dawn0293 Posts: 115 Member
    edited December 2014
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    Unfortunately everyone insisted on going to a local steakhouse no one had been to before for lunch. I got the smallest steak they offered because they said that they couldn't do the chicken without the sauce (I guess it must be premade and frozen that way?). I only took one bite of the garlic bread that they threw an entire loaf of on our plates and one small bite of the baked potato with butter. Ate all my salad, though. I can't do half at a restaurant unless I get kind of full. Honestly, I don't have that kind of willpower.
  • dawn0293
    dawn0293 Posts: 115 Member
    edited December 2014
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    PikaKnight wrote: »
    Maybe realize that one meal isn't going to completely break you or take away all the progress you've made?

    I'm not saying that it would. It could, however, stall my progress and I have been busting my butt to lose these last few pounds.
  • dawn0293
    dawn0293 Posts: 115 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    If it was mandatory that every restaurant provided nutritional content, there would be no local establishments...

    Why? If I could manage to figure out the calorie content of my own recipes by adding up the ingredients and such why couldn't a local restaurant?

  • woofer00
    woofer00 Posts: 123 Member
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    Taste everything, finish nothing, and enjoy the company of your dining companions.
  • allieallieoxenfree
    allieallieoxenfree Posts: 114 Member
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    I can sympathize with this! I went out to a celebratory lunch today and had what seemed to me to be a relatively light lunch of grilled eggplant with homemade mozzarella & tomato sauce, two pieces of fresh baked bread with a tiny bit of olive oil, a glass of wine, and a small latte. I came home and put it all into my diary, and it was a THOUSAND calories. I didn't even feel that full! Plus now I want to eat a normal dinner and snack, but I can't, unless I kind of just want to say screw the whole day.
  • allieallieoxenfree
    allieallieoxenfree Posts: 114 Member
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    Also, I don't really want to go out and eat a meal at a nice restaurant and leave still hungry. Maybe if I was okay with sitting down to lunch or dinner and stopping when I was still hungry, I would find the whole process less annoying.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    allieallieoxenfree wrote: »
    Also, I don't really want to go out and eat a meal at a nice restaurant and leave still hungry. Maybe if I was okay with sitting down to lunch or dinner and stopping when I was still hungry, I would find the whole process less annoying.

    why not stop when you are satiated?
  • dawn0293
    dawn0293 Posts: 115 Member
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    allieallieoxenfree wrote: »
    I can sympathize with this! I went out to a celebratory lunch today and had what seemed to me to be a relatively light lunch of grilled eggplant with homemade mozzarella & tomato sauce, two pieces of fresh baked bread with a tiny bit of olive oil, a glass of wine, and a small latte. I came home and put it all into my diary, and it was a THOUSAND calories. I didn't even feel that full! Plus now I want to eat a normal dinner and snack, but I can't, unless I kind of just want to say screw the whole day.

    Yup, those lattes can be calorie monsters, too. There are a million cute bistros downtown but I stick with Starbucks because I know their skinny latte is only 100 calories and won't mess up my whole day. Feeling so limited really sucks.
  • abatonfan
    abatonfan Posts: 1,123 Member
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    I agree. Unfortunately, I tend to avoid local restaurants, because I have to base my insulin dosages off how many carbs I am consuming (and it is challenging to accurately estimate carb counts at a restaurant that has no nutrition info). I like having a baseline of how much insulin to take, see how it affects my blood sugars, and adjust for when I have it next (was the meal high in fat? do I need to take insulin for some of the protein? is the entire chain inaccurate in their counts, and I need to add an extra unit to everything I eat?).
  • LACnessMonster
    LACnessMonster Posts: 25 Member
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    dawn0293 wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    If it was mandatory that every restaurant provided nutritional content, there would be no local establishments...

    Why? If I could manage to figure out the calorie content of my own recipes by adding up the ingredients and such why couldn't a local restaurant?

    It costs money a local business might not have to perform such assessments. It costs money to generate the information and put it together in a way that is usable to consumers, and honestly, it might not even be a priority for them to do so.
  • cbhubbybubble
    cbhubbybubble Posts: 465 Member
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    I think what surprised me when I started paying attention is just how high the calorie count is on so many restaurant meals. I shouldn't have been shocked, but I was. I do now order double salad instead of higher calorie sides like fries, etc. My hubby an I also often now split an entree, or if he's not there I take half home for the next day.
    jgnatca wrote: »

    Watch out for the salads at Boston Pizza! You are better off with the Boston Brute.

    True that some of the salads have crazy high calories, but the grilled chicken garden greens salad at BP is only 250 calories. It's my usual go to meal there. I preferred when they offered it with the poppy seed dressing for a little higher calories, but the raspberry vinaigrette is good, too

  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    healthygreek wrote: »
    One of my greatest pleasures is going to a good local restaurant.
    I love sitting down to a great meal and a glass of wine or two!
    I try to choose well and make estimates of my calorie intake.
    I may gain a bit of water weight but it really doesn't make a huge impact in the long run.
    I could never stick with my healthy lifestyle if I couldn't enjoy this at least once a week.
    My favorite restaurants don't (and probably couldn't realistically) post calorie counts.

    so much this …

    OP - if you can't enjoy a few nights out at a restaurant without stressing over calories what is the point of living? Just try to log as accurately as possible and move on …that is what I do
  • allieallieoxenfree
    allieallieoxenfree Posts: 114 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    allieallieoxenfree wrote: »
    Also, I don't really want to go out and eat a meal at a nice restaurant and leave still hungry. Maybe if I was okay with sitting down to lunch or dinner and stopping when I was still hungry, I would find the whole process less annoying.

    why not stop when you are satiated?

    ...I do? But, uh, thanks for the advice.

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