Help For the Non-Cook, Serial Restaurant Go'er

aldaerr

glassyo wrote: »

I don't cook either, OP (well, every once in a while I'll try to make some chicken or something in the crockpot but it never comes out how it should) so here's what I do. (But, really, you should look up the nutritional info yourself.)

If I get a sandwich at Subway, I have them rip the good part of the bread out. That usually saves me about 50 calories. I also never get cheese. My sandwich choice lately is the grilled strips Monterey but I sort of de-Monterey it. It's usually just the bread, grilled chicken strips, some veggies and a bit of mustard. That runs me about 250 calories for a 6 inch. Or I'll get a grilled chicken strips salad with sweet onion sauce as the dressing on the side. Or, if I'm really short on time, I get a double order of the chicken strips and some mustard for dipping. Really good calories to protein ratio there.

Any other place, I get a side salad and some sort of grilled chicken. It usually runs me under 200 calories. I prefer to eat light during the day and eat most of my calories at night.

It's a good idea to check out the restaurant's websites for nutritional information. It's really easy to go crazy at places like Chipotle and knowing what you want and how many calories you're willing to have it for helps in those situations.

For dinner, I stick with cottage cheese or greek yogurt and mix pb2 in them. When I'm out of my jars of pb2, I'll start mixing in protein powder. I also have some cut up cantalope (that you can buy cut up) or any other kind of fruit. I also nuke eggs. I eat other things but they're really on the my moderation is not anybody else's moderation side.

This is really helpful, thank you!!

cwolfman13

I don't think you're going to be able to get away with not checking any charts or whatever...there are plenty of restaurants who have their nutritional information posted and if you're going to do this, you have to put some work in.

From there, I'd recommend getting into cooking...maybe start with a few meals per week. Also, you don't have to have any fancy recipes to make a good meal. I only very occasionally use an actual recipe for anything, and that's usually a special occasion. marinate and/or otherwise season some meat, poultry, or fish...grill that *kitten* up and serve with a side of veg and a starch. Boom...kick *kitten* meal in less than 20 minutes.

aldaerr

AlisonH729 wrote: »

Wait, so, do you not cook like, at all? We're talking not even baked/grilled chicken & steam-in-bag vegetables for dinner.

Nope. Unless it's grab-and-go type food (granola bars, English muffins, fruit), I'm getting all of my food on the outside. I can't remember the last time I actually got a cart and went 'grocery shopping' at a grocery store.

I can tell a lot of people don't understand it. Obviously, it's not for everyone, but it's my lifestyle. I have tried to buckle down and learn to cook, many times. It never lasts more than a week. I usually end up getting discouraged after setting aside a large amount of time finding recipes, making lists, buying all the ingredients, trying to recreate the meal. Then, I'm never satisfied with the final product, it ends up being way too much food, and I throw half of it away. I should also add that my fiancée is a vegetarian, and I'm not. If we had to come home and cook everyday, we'd have to make two different meals.

Bottom line is, I'm not consistent when I'm in the 'I'm going to learn how to cook this time' mindset. If I want a fighting chance at a healthier diet, I need to learn how to do it as it fits into my lifestyle.

Ttresnjak

There's a company called Personal Trainer Food that will deliver diet meals to you. I haven't tried them (don't have the freezer space), but I think you just need to nuke the stuff. They show up on groupon/living social sometimes.

allaboutthecake

Since you eat out so much, I would highly recommend you break down & take a look at the nutrition on it. Pay attention the most to the sodium. Restaurant food is notorious for the salt. You could also check out My Fit Foods. They aren't easy on the salt, but they have it all pre-packaged & ready to eat for you. They even have a micro in their store, you can zap it yourself & eat it right there. And if you want, they can set it all up for you on your calorie/macro based daily diet so all you have to do is buy it and eat it. I think they even deliver, too. Its a no-brainer for those who don't have the desire to cook. It could even save you a few precious hours in your busy life by not wasting time sitting at a restaurant waiting on a harried server.
Good luck on your weight loss journey.
HTH

Mr_Knight

aldaerr wrote: »

I'm looking for stuff I can buy/order without checking nutritional charts or having to analyze whether or not it's a good choice.

Well, you're basically ****ed, then.

It ain't gonna happen unless you are willing to put *some* level of effort into it.

apryldp

I don't like the negative and unsupportive comments. It's hard enough to ask for help then to be judged and criticized. I don't like cooking and I don't believe in for fir in you because you'll ultimately regress. The first tip I have is to eat half of what you get. That's an automatic calorie reducer. Good luck! Stay true to you.

MelodyandBarbells

apryldp wrote: »

I don't like the negative and unsupportive comments. It's hard enough to ask for help then to be judged and criticized. I don't like cooking and I don't believe in for fir in you because you'll ultimately regress. The first tip I have is to eat half of what you get. That's an automatic calorie reducer. Good luck! Stay true to you.

Well, half of what? 250 calories? A thousand? 1500? The OP has got some really good advice - no matter what he does eat, no one can look up nutritional information for him

AlisonH729

aldaerr wrote: »

AlisonH729 wrote: »

Wait, so, do you not cook like, at all? We're talking not even baked/grilled chicken & steam-in-bag vegetables for dinner.

I should also add that my fiancée is a vegetarian, and I'm not. If we had to come home and cook everyday, we'd have to make two different meals.

I like to cook, so it's hard to wrap my head around. But I can see how this would make it even more difficult. I'm kind of artsy, but don't really have a lot of spare time so I think of cooking as a creative outlet. So for a while I tried to cook 'Meatless Mondays' (just for fun) but it was still a challenge to come up with new & interesting vegetarian meals, and that was only once a week!

Hey, if it works for you go for it! But I do agree that you're going to have to do some research about what the best options at different places are going to be. Cooking or ordering in, either way its gonna require some prep.