How can you possibly estimate calories from meals at a restaurant?

fzermer

Once a week, I eat with friends at differing Asian restaurants. Many of the entree's are multi ingredient items, shared by the group. A cup of rice is easy enough to estimate, but the rest seems impossible.

Liftng4Lis

Look for like items in the database and always guesstimate up. After you do this for awhile, it gets pretty easy to grasp portion sizes.

fzermer

I guess that's the only option, but I have a difficult time estimating how many grams of a particular item I've eaten. I will probably just call the meal 1000 cals and be done with it.

eileensofianmushinfine

often when looking up meals, you can look up by the restaurant (if it's a chain) or the type of food -- you can check multiple listings to see if something is listed in an alternative measurement -- cup, ounces.... OR another option may be to weigh something comparable on the scale to get an idea of what size different gram amounts are.

higgins8283801

I use their nutritional info if they have it, or if not take the highest calorie info for something similar in the database.

Khukhullatus

I tend to just search for the dish then always use the highest calorie version I can find. That way, I figure I most likely won't be under. Unless you really beat some people to a few dishes, you could always just take the serving size and divide it by the number of people at the table. That is what I always used to do with blender drinks when I still drank.

Mentiri

I've had good luck asking my favorite restaurants for recipes. I use those when I eat similar dishes at other restaurants, too.

Cortneyrenee04

There's just no way to know. I way overestimate the meal, try not to get too full, drink lots of extra water, and have an extra work out. That said, I limit meals I don't cook myself to once a month, if that. It's really helped the pounds fly off.

procolorer

higgins8283801 wrote: »

I use their nutritional info if they have it, or if not take the highest calorie info for something similar in the database.

This!

Mr_Knight

fzermer wrote: »

I will probably just call the meal 1000 cals and be done with it.

A 1000 calories of what is essentially chinese fast food is a depressingly small amount of food.

I'd consider using a bigger number...

Christine_72

I went to a buffet last night and had lots of different foods and desserts. Have absolutely no idea how many calories I had. So I did a quick add calories and hopefully overestimated..

_Terrapin_

Five Guys bacon cheeseburger is 920 calories. A 1,000 will just leave confused and then coming back and saying "I weigh everything and am not losing"

snarlingcoyote

weightloss.about.com/od/eatsmart/qt/eyeportions.htmhttp://

Here's a guide to guestimating portion sizes. Take that, guess how much you ate, then find something that seems as close as possible to what you ate and take a stab at it. You can usually even look up ingredients if you are completely in the dark. My Fitness Pal has a LOT of different foods in it - including a couple I was shocked to find from local places, so there should be something similar in the database somewhere. If not, this is your chance to contribute!

Kazzsjourney2

Im the same as the others, look for it in the list going for the highest value.If you are eating out once a week or once a fortnight if you are slightly off it wont be a major issue, but if you are eating out numerous times per week is where it will become more of a issue.

fzermer

eileensofianmushinfine wrote: »

often when looking up meals, you can look up by the restaurant (if it's a chain) or the type of food -- you can check multiple listings to see if something is listed in an alternative measurement -- cup, ounces.... OR another option may be to weigh something comparable on the scale to get an idea of what size different gram amounts are.

Fortunately, these are not chain restaurants I visit. They are (usually) family owned, like most in a "China Town" sections of a large city.

fzermer

Cortneyrenee04 wrote: »

There's just no way to know. I way overestimate the meal, try not to get too full, drink lots of extra water, and have an extra work out. That said, I limit meals I don't cook myself to once a month, if that. It's really helped the pounds fly off.

Heh - I would eat in China Town daily if I could, so I limit myself to once a week. It's my cheat day!

fzermer

Mr_Knight wrote: »

fzermer wrote: »

I will probably just call the meal 1000 cals and be done with it.

A 1000 calories of what is essentially chinese fast food is a depressingly small amount of food.

I'd consider using a bigger number...

I never eat Chinese fast food, especially buffet's. These are full meals, usually 3-5 entree's shared with the whole table.

fzermer

_Terrapin_ wrote: »

Five Guys bacon cheeseburger is 920 calories. A 1,000 will just leave confused and then coming back and saying "I weigh everything and am not losing"

Maybe so, but I am loosing weight.

Sunhee123

FoCoAlphaNerd wrote: »

I tend to just search for the dish then always use the highest calorie version I can find. That way, I figure I most likely won't be under. Unless you really beat some people to a few dishes, you could always just take the serving size and divide it by the number of people at the table. That is what I always used to do with blender drinks when I still drank.

I like this idea, it's doable!!!

daw0518

I try to go to restaurants that have nutrition info or that have foods that are simple enough to estimate. Otherwise, I just don't even try. For example, today I had nachos at a local bar that is totally unique to my area. I wouldn't even know how to find an estimate so I didn't think it was worth it. There are different sizes, different toppings, etc. There was just no way.

I agree with the sentiment of others though - once a week seems like kind of a lot to be doing that. You could be negating much of your deficit every week and not even know. That's just a choice you have to make. I personally try to go out only once or twice a month, and if I do go out more than that I try to get a salad or something that's easier to track/not as at risk of being sneakily high calorie. Unfortunately, there's really no way to estimate, & trying to estimate is how many of us got to the place of needing to lose weight!

arditarose

daw0518 wrote: »

I try to go to restaurants that have nutrition info or that have foods that are simple enough to estimate. Otherwise, I just don't even try. For example, today I had nachos at a local bar that is totally unique to my area. I wouldn't even know how to find an estimate so I didn't think it was worth it. There are different sizes, different toppings, etc. There was just no way.

You must live near a lot of chains then? I can't think of a single restaurant I would choose to eat dinner at that would have the nutritional info listed.

fzermer

OK folks, I just chose all the foods from the db and added to my "Dinner" total, being liberal with the serving sizes. The total came to 1047 calories, bringing my daily total to 243 over target.

eileensofianmushinfine

fzermer wrote: »

OK folks, I just chose all the foods from the db and added to my "Dinner" total, being liberal with the serving sizes. The total came to 1047 calories, bringing my daily total to 243 over target.

only being 243 over and having dinner out....for me (and only me), I'd call that a win!

Aviva92

for only once a week, i'd probably just skip logging, but that's just me.

jennifer_417

Liftng4Lis wrote: »

Look for like items in the database and always guesstimate up. After you do this for awhile, it gets pretty easy to grasp portion sizes.

This. Losing weight can often be more of an art than a science.

lemurcat12

I go out to non-chain restaurants (much more worth it, IMO) at least once a week and it's just not possible to estimate and the log something like it never works for me, as sizes are too different and the specific meal is never that similar anyway. You can do the try to reconstruct method--I always add in a bunch of extra butter--or just put in 1000 (or more if that seems more reasonable). If I have something simple (like meat and sides), I'm more likely to try to reconstruct, if I do something like several dishes shared with a table (as described), I just don't bother, but do a rough estimate and try to make sure I got a good bit of exercise that day, ideally. ;-) Anyway, I have lost fine doing this.

I don't skip logging it since I figure a rough estimate of my weekly calories is better anyway, for comparison purposes.

Train4Foodz

If I know that I'm having a 'treat' and I'm really not sure of the portion sizes at the place im going or of any of the nutritional info then I tend to go along the lines of some of the above replies.
I log to the highest value and then quick add calories to around 200 or so to be sure I'm not under-logging.
It's relatively easy at chain places because the nutritional info is listed but as has already been stated, 1000 calories will get you very very little at these places!

If you know you are going to be eating out and you know that the place you are going is going to have a high calorie count, I would suggest planning your day around it.. Maybe have a smaller breakfast and drink plenty water.

Most importantly, one day in a week/fortnight/month if done in 'moderation' isn't gonna destroy a healthy lifestyle. Enjoy the food and move on the next day.

I find that across the course of a week, an 'over day' usually ends up having little impact and balances out nicely.

All the best,

Adam

fzermer

Update: my actual overage today was 298...Not much difference than the 243 I had posted but I want to be accurate.
Anyway, thanks to everyone for all of the tips!

lulufee317537

In my experience, restaurant calories are up to twice as much as the dish would have if you made it yourself. Even from a place like Laughing Planet, the Soylent green bowl with pesto has like 690 calories!
Imagine less healthy places and how much calorie inflation is going on!

fzermer

lulufee317537 wrote: »

In my experience, restaurant calories are up to twice as much as the dish would have if you made it yourself. Even from a place like Laughing Planet, the Soylent green bowl with pesto has like 690 calories!
Imagine less healthy places and how much calorie inflation is going on!

Agreed, lulufee. Which brings me back to my original question...!

honkytonks85

There is absolutely no way to know since quantities will vary, sometimes adding hundreds of cals to a meal.