Tips for eating out?
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If you know where you are going then look up the menu and choose something in advance and enter it on MFP. If your concerned about the extras then workout a little extra in the next few days or eat a little less in the next few days. I honestly would just enjoy the meal and not look like a weirdo when it comes to food on a first date. You only get one chance to make a first impression. Good luck!0
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CorinnaShaw wrote: »If there is steak, I am definitely ordering that. I am not worried about butter. I just don't want them using canola or vegetable oils since those turn into transfers when cooked at temperatures over 300F. Oh well. I will just get the plate with no starches on it and try not to eat anything else for the day. I almost never eat out so this is a tricky situation for me.
What do you mean canola oil turns Into transfers???
Not sure if that is a typo or what..?.
Anyway my advice is same as given upthread by poster with cute puppy avatar - eat lightly in rest of day before going out, do some extra exercise ( without going over board, I mean an extra half an hour or so, not be on treadmill all night) and order something light but 'normal' eg chicken or steak with salad and sauce on the side, and then use the sauce sparingly, drink low calorie drinks, skip bread rolls and fries (or have small portion if you want to) skip dessert or have a low calorie option like fresh fruit salad or share dessert with your date.
Do not take your own salad dressing or ask the waiter a million pedantic questions or pretend to be a diabetic or a person with allergies, that is just silly.0 -
I think she meant trans fats... not sure if what she said is true or not, but I'm pretty sure that's what she meant.
The post above is the best advice. Try to preplan, look up the restaurant's menu as another commenter suggested. If you're really, really, concerned... eat half of whatever you order, and take the rest to go (eat it later or toss it, up to you). You'll be hard pressed to find any restaurant above the quality of Taco Bell that doesn't offer a healthier meal option, and if he's taking you to Taco Bell, he ain't worth it.
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paperpudding wrote: »CorinnaShaw wrote: »If there is steak, I am definitely ordering that. I am not worried about butter. I just don't want them using canola or vegetable oils since those turn into transfers when cooked at temperatures over 300F. Oh well. I will just get the plate with no starches on it and try not to eat anything else for the day. I almost never eat out so this is a tricky situation for me.
What do you mean canola oil turns Into transfers???
Not sure if that is a typo or what..?.
Anyway my advice is same as given upthread by poster with cute puppy avatar - eat lightly in rest of day before going out, do some extra exercise ( without going over board, I mean an extra half an hour or so, not be on treadmill all night) and order something light but 'normal' eg chicken or steak with salad and sauce on the side, and then use the sauce sparingly, drink low calorie drinks, skip bread rolls and fries (or have small portion if you want to) skip dessert or have a low calorie option like fresh fruit salad or share dessert with your date.
Do not take your own salad dressing or ask the waiter a million pedantic questions or pretend to be a diabetic or a person with allergies, that is just silly.
Trans fats. Yeah. Typo. I hate when that happens.
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I actually am a type 1 diabetic. I am wondering if I can use that as an excuse. Hahaha0
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Oh well if you really are a type 1 diabetic of course use that as reason not to have a super sugary dessert. That's not an excuse, that's just following your medical requirements.
But I'm sure you can still follow rest of advice about eating something light but normal without making a drama of it on the date.
Type 1 diabetic or not, there is still no need to bring your own salad dressing.0 -
paperpudding wrote: »CorinnaShaw wrote: »If there is steak, I am definitely ordering that. I am not worried about butter. I just don't want them using canola or vegetable oils since those turn into transfers when cooked at temperatures over 300F. Oh well. I will just get the plate with no starches on it and try not to eat anything else for the day. I almost never eat out so this is a tricky situation for me.
What do you mean canola oil turns Into transfers???
Not sure if that is a typo or what..?.
Anyway my advice is same as given upthread by poster with cute puppy avatar - eat lightly in rest of day before going out, do some extra exercise ( without going over board, I mean an extra half an hour or so, not be on treadmill all night) and order something light but 'normal' eg chicken or steak with salad and sauce on the side, and then use the sauce sparingly, drink low calorie drinks, skip bread rolls and fries (or have small portion if you want to) skip dessert or have a low calorie option like fresh fruit salad or share dessert with your date.
Do not take your own salad dressing or ask the waiter a million pedantic questions or pretend to be a diabetic or a person with allergies, that is just silly.
Aww, thanks! Every time someone comments on how cute she is, I give her a treat (just for fun
) so I will give her a treat from you! 0 -
Yes, you COULD lose weight eating candy bars all day long. No, this would not be a great long term plan health wise.CorinnaShaw wrote: »So, I could lose weight and be perfectly healthy eating candy bars all day long?
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For every one here saying a calorie is a calorie, here you go. Feel free to fight the MyFitnessPal dietitian here.
http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/ask-the-dietitian-is-a-calorie-a-calorie-2/0 -
What I am gathering from the "a calorie is a calorie" thing though is o can go to McDonald's and order a large meal (which will run around 1,000 calories depending on the meal) then go to the 99 cent store and spend the rest of my calorie allowance eating a ton of candy so long as each serving is low in calories (which all non-chocolate or vanilla candies are) and still lose weight because I stayed under my caloric deficit.
My diary is open. I go to McDonald's often. I have lost a good 80lbs. While I don't order large 1000 calorie meals at McDonald's (I mostly order coffee), still, my fish and chips meal the other day was a good 2000 calories.
I am not sure what your point is? Or where you find these mythical candies that have less calories than bananas.
Yes, a caloric deficit is a caloric deficit--regardless of how the deficit was achieved.
If you consistently eat less calories than you spend eventually your body will use some of its reserves to fuel that deficit.
This does not mean that some methods of achieving a deficit are not more optimal than others and more suitable for some individuals than for others.
And it does not mean that you shouldn't be selective as to what you spend your calories on!
Selective so that you can get all the nutrients you need, selective so that you can enjoy the food you eat, and selective so that you can minimize hunger while losing weight.0 -
CorinnaShaw wrote: »For every one here saying a calorie is a calorie, here you go. Feel free to fight the MyFitnessPal dietitian here.
http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/ask-the-dietitian-is-a-calorie-a-calorie-2/
Why would I fight her? I agree with her!
You asked if you would lose weight if you ate chocolate all day long. The answer is yes, if you eat less than your caloric allotment.
If you were to ask if you can eat frozen pizzas all day long and lose weight, the answer would also be yes, if you eat less than your caloric allotment.
Do you really think that anyone here is advocating that you should ONLY eat chocolate and frozen pizzas each and every day and nothing but chocolate and frozen pizzas?
You do understand the difference between every day and once in a while, right?0 -
That's not the point. The point is I asked for tips on how to avoid unwanted ingredients in a restaurant meal and people said that ingredients don't matter because a calorie is a calorie as if eating clean and macronutrients were irrelevant. That is what irritated me.
There is a reason why people who low carb can eat more than people who calorie count and still lose weight. Different macro and micronutrients all get absorbed and used differently which means they also will require different amounts of energy to use. That is why I want to know if it is okay to ask if sugar is added to things. And then the vegetable oils for obvious reasons.0 -
CorinnaShaw wrote: »That is why I want to know if it is okay to ask if sugar is added to things. And then the vegetable oils for obvious reasons.
And the answer is that if you are trying to hide from your date that you are not as flexible in regards to food as every other person in the whole world... then you might actually not be able to not be as flexible as you aren't : - )
Or something like that!
Call the damn restaurant tomorrow and find out how they prepare their food. Ask them what they have on their menu that's "clean", however you define clean as.
Then show up, order the damn thing. if it is not prepared the way you ask set it aside and gaze into your date's eyes instead of eating.
Here are some thing *I* consider "clean" and which I sometimes TRY to order: Steak medium rare with steamed veggies, no sauce or margarine, please. Garden salad with oil and vinegar dressing, on the side, please. Salmon or fish entrée with steamed (or boiled) veggies, no sauces or margarine please. Wedge of lemon too!
Why do I say TRY? Because quite often your veggies will still arrive gooped up with margarine (yes, the trans-fatty kind).
When they do, just grin, eat them, log a tablespoon of margarine in MFP, and move on with your life. Or leave them on your plate un-eaten.
Anyway: how many grams of fructose and/or trans-fats have you eaten during your life to-date? You would have to be quite unlucky for the next gram or two to be the ones that kill you!
OH: and try to enjoy your date. If you are more concerned about the food than about the guy you're meeting... it will show!
Have fun!
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Yikes. Sorry OP, I was a bit of an *kitten* in my previous response to you!
I see that you don't even know the restaurant you're going to.
Just look through the menu till you spot a dish you can convert into protein+veggies when you are placing your order.
Then, without asking the waiter how they would prepare the dish normally, and without discussing the dish in great detail, tell the waiter exactly how YOU want your dish prepared.
For example: I will take the 6oz steak, medium. Or: I would like the grilled fish entrée, or grilled chicken breast. I would also like some steamed veggies on the side and no sauces or margarines on my dish please.
If the waiter says they won't do steamed veggies, the ask him to substitute a garden salad with dressing on the side
Best of luck.
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OP, if it helps... Last weekend my husband and I went away to celebrate our anniversary. I decided that I would not "diet" and enjoy myself eating out. I also went swimming, still hit the gym one day, and walked a lot, but I also ate a giant brownie, several other desserts, and lots of restaurant food. Oh. And wine. Lots of wine! I still lost a lb this week despite that. I'm sure my activity and eating in a good deficit the other days helped a lot.
My point is that one meal out, especially if you pick your meal wisely or exercise a bit more that day, won't do much damage to your health/weight loss goals.0 -
CorinnaShaw wrote: »That's not the point. The point is I asked for tips on how to avoid unwanted ingredients in a restaurant meal and people said that ingredients don't matter because a calorie is a calorie as if eating clean and macronutrients were irrelevant. That is what irritated me.
There is a reason why people who low carb can eat more than people who calorie count and still lose weight. Different macro and micronutrients all get absorbed and used differently which means they also will require different amounts of energy to use. That is why I want to know if it is okay to ask if sugar is added to things. And then the vegetable oils for obvious reasons.
Well they said that because those things don't matter from a weight loss point of view.
I don't agree with premise of second paragraph - I disagree that people who low carb lose more weight than someone who doesn't, if calorie counts are equal.
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- And anyway it makes no difference if a bit of added sugar is in the salad dressing or not - there will be a bit of natural sugar in the vegetables and fruit of the salad itself anyway, even in things like tomatoes.
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- A grilled steak/chicken/fish with garden salad or steamed vegies and minimal sauce ( ask for it on the side so you can just put a smidgen on) and no bread or fries is a low carb meal and is suitable for diabetics, even if the sauce contains a tiny bit of added sugar.
You are making a mountain out of a molehill OP0 -
OP you're massively overthinking this. Go, relax, enjoy yourself, and stop worrying about the content of one solitary meal. You posted about eating less than a third of your daily cals today - to me that kinda seems more unhealthy than ingesting a tiny bit of trans fat on a one-off occasion. You asked in your OP whether you should even be thinking about all this on a first date and whether it would come across as obsessive - in all honesty it does sound like you're overly hung-up on all this in general, and yes, if you sit there agonising over what might be in or on your food then he probably will think it's a little weird.
I don't mean to be rude or unsupportive here; I just think healthy, balanced weight loss can be achieved without minutely analysing every morsel of food, and it sounds to me like you might be obsessing over tiny details without looking at the bigger picture. Good luck on your date, I hope it goes well.0 -
CorinnaShaw wrote: »I have a date tomorrow and he is taking me out to eat. I don't know where we are going but restaurants tend to cook things in unhealthy vegetables oils or put sugar in everything. I plan on getting whatever dish has the most meat and veggies, but how do I keep them from sneaking sugar or unhealthy fats into stuff? Do I lie and say I have allergies? If I tell them I am type 1 diabetic, will they cater to my requests? Is it something I should not even think about on a first date as it may come across as weird and obsessive? Can I make requests for them to use butter or olive oil instead of vegetable oil or canola oil? How do I avoid ingredients I don't want?
It's amazing how the most innocuous question can garner so many assumptions by people who are supposed to be helping, not attacking. She does not know which restaurant she is going to, so she can't look it up in advance. OP, it's your first date, which makes it tough. Sticking to grilled meat or fish and steamed or boiled vegetables should do it, as others have mentioned. Ask if they come with sauce. If the answer is yes, ask them to give it to you on the side, then don't use it. Good luck on your date!0 -
I read the post and a couple of responses and I am throwing my .02 worth in.
Unless this person knows you a bit before the date, I would not do anything weird like bring my own dressing or anything. To me that is sort of a thing you do when you get know each other and explain health issues or diet restrictions, or tell more about your self.. but it could be a topic that opens a dialog.. who knows... feel the moment... etc..
This is the time that you need to hold back a little not because you are worried about what he thinks.. but do not spend time explaining or giving too much away.. besides the date may not go well and you have not given too much of your self right out of the gate.
I think the idea is for a second date and a third date (if you really like this guy).
Eating together is something you will always do .. it is one of the primary things we all do together. Keep it simple for now, As for calorie counting, etc.. enjoy your meal no matter what it is. Get what you would order off the menu under any other circumstance and forgive extra calories this time, tomorrow is a new day you will not eat more than 3500 calories to gain a pound...
You are over thinking this a lot... You must enjoy your life and make a good impression, you already thought somethings would look weird.. don't do it. First dates are already awkward.0 -
I clicked on this post curious, but now I feel a little sad. Corinna, you are a beautiful person and are clearly intelligent and invested in your health. I can understand why such a great guy would want to take you out on a date.
That being said, and take it from an old married lady (to a super hunky military dude
Men are interested in YOU, really and truly. Hopefully there are a LOT more dates, and then every day meals together, and eventually anniversary dinners and kids' birthday parties to navigate. He asked you out... so he must like what he sees in you
Choosing the best option when you eat and the best meal for your body is what's important, not counting every calorie and gram of fat. Taking care of your body and soul so you have something to offer the relationship is most important.
I've moved all over the world with my husband. We are getting ready to move back to the states from Germany and I can tell you how stressful it is to live without a kitchen and pots/pans/plates for three months. I tend to plump up a little due to the stress and eating out. Love is about who you are, not your body.
Enjoy your wonderful date, be your wonderful self, don't get distracted by the details of one meal.... eat reasonably, focus on the conversation, and see if he's the kind of guy you want to be with. It's easy to miss a jerk if you're focused on if there's butter on your plate or sugar in your salad dressing. At the end of the night you want to be thinking about what awesome things he told you, and how you felt when he looked at you.... not what to log on myfitnesspal. Balance is all things.
Let us know if he's a winner and if he's deserving of YOU!!!0
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