A guide to going out to eat.
Azexas
Posts: 4,334 Member
You’ve been diligently logging your calories and now you run into the situation of having to go out to eat. Don't worry! Going out to eat shouldn't be feared.
You have a few options:
1. Don’t worry about counting your calories.
• One day of poor logging will not hurt you in the long run. Dust yourself off after your meal, and get back to your calorie counting. As long as this is not a habit of not logging, it shouldn't hurt your overall deficit.
2. Preplan your meal ahead of time.
• If you know where you are going, pull up the nutritional menu online. Several larger chain restaurants and fast food locations have their nutritional menu online. Make some choices that will fit your calorie and macro goals for the day.
• Look at the different options such as getting a grilled piece of chicken instead of a fried.
• What is written on the menu is not always set in stone and you can ask for substitutions if need be.
3. Figure it out when you get there
• Several of the larger chains have the calorie amounts next to their entries.
• There may be a “low calorie” section of the menu.
• Some menus also have a little heart next to items that are heart healthy or lower calorie.
Mom and Pop Scenario:
Say you are going out to eat to a smaller local restaurant and their nutritional menu is not available. You can choose to either not log that meal, or find something similar at a larger chain restaurant and log that instead. (For example, you are getting wings at your local pizzeria, you can log Buffalo Wild Wings instead).
If you know you are going out to eat a few days prior:
You can try to "bank" some extra calories each day prior to going out to eat so you have a little more wiggle room. (Try to save ,let's say, 100 calories each day to equal 700 extra calories at the end of the week). You can also try to score some more exercise calories prior to going out.
Things to consider:
• Restaurants and fast food places tend to have a lot of sodium in their food. If you weigh in the next day you may see a couple pounds of water weight.
• If you are getting a salad, you can ask for dressing on the side which allows you to control the amount of dressing on your salad, which gives you some control over the calories.
• You can always ask restaurant staff to swap sides for more lower calorie options (ie- steamed vegetables instead of mashed potatoes if you need a lower calorie option)
• Ask if a restaurant will do a half portion or a "lunch" portion. Save on money and calories.
Above all else: ENJOY YOURSELF. Going out to eat shouldn't be feared or viewed as a punishment. Enjoy the time you are spending with your friends and loved ones.
You have a few options:
1. Don’t worry about counting your calories.
• One day of poor logging will not hurt you in the long run. Dust yourself off after your meal, and get back to your calorie counting. As long as this is not a habit of not logging, it shouldn't hurt your overall deficit.
2. Preplan your meal ahead of time.
• If you know where you are going, pull up the nutritional menu online. Several larger chain restaurants and fast food locations have their nutritional menu online. Make some choices that will fit your calorie and macro goals for the day.
• Look at the different options such as getting a grilled piece of chicken instead of a fried.
• What is written on the menu is not always set in stone and you can ask for substitutions if need be.
3. Figure it out when you get there
• Several of the larger chains have the calorie amounts next to their entries.
• There may be a “low calorie” section of the menu.
• Some menus also have a little heart next to items that are heart healthy or lower calorie.
Mom and Pop Scenario:
Say you are going out to eat to a smaller local restaurant and their nutritional menu is not available. You can choose to either not log that meal, or find something similar at a larger chain restaurant and log that instead. (For example, you are getting wings at your local pizzeria, you can log Buffalo Wild Wings instead).
If you know you are going out to eat a few days prior:
You can try to "bank" some extra calories each day prior to going out to eat so you have a little more wiggle room. (Try to save ,let's say, 100 calories each day to equal 700 extra calories at the end of the week). You can also try to score some more exercise calories prior to going out.
Things to consider:
• Restaurants and fast food places tend to have a lot of sodium in their food. If you weigh in the next day you may see a couple pounds of water weight.
• If you are getting a salad, you can ask for dressing on the side which allows you to control the amount of dressing on your salad, which gives you some control over the calories.
• You can always ask restaurant staff to swap sides for more lower calorie options (ie- steamed vegetables instead of mashed potatoes if you need a lower calorie option)
• Ask if a restaurant will do a half portion or a "lunch" portion. Save on money and calories.
Above all else: ENJOY YOURSELF. Going out to eat shouldn't be feared or viewed as a punishment. Enjoy the time you are spending with your friends and loved ones.
90
Replies
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*takes notes* I'm meeting a friend tonight for drinks & apps. Thank you!7
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strong_curves wrote: »*takes notes* I'm meeting a friend tonight for drinks & apps. Thank you!
ENJOY!
And thanks everyone.0 -
Pretty much spot on.
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This. All day long. No stress, no overthinking, just good advice.3
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This really should be a sticky lol3
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Did your other thread get deleted or what? I remember posting on this thread a while ago.0
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You're not crazy! I promise!0 -
Most excellent advice!0
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think all noobies should read this! one meal doesn't undo weeks of hard work!4
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Great post! One I'd like to add for obsessive loggers like myself who refuse to take a bite of something I haven't logged:
If you absolutely must log a meal you have when dining out (and the above options just won't do), give yourself a set time limit (say 1-5 min) to stress about figuring out the best way to log it, then after that just log your most educated guess at the time and move on. The fact that you're putting that much thought into it means you're already a few steps ahead of the game.9 -
DuckReconMajor wrote: »Great post! One I'd like to add for obsessive loggers like myself who refuse to take a bite of something I haven't logged:
If you absolutely must log a meal you have when dining out (and the above options just won't do), give yourself a set time limit (say 1-5 min) to stress about figuring out the best way to log it, then after that just log your most educated guess at the time and move on. The fact that you're putting that much thought into it means you're already a few steps ahead of the game.
Agreed. That's why I said "Enjoy yourself" at the end. In the beginning I found going out to eat stressful, but it's about a system that works for us. I tend to preplan before I go out and choose things that will fit into my goals. But then there are days where I fall under choice 1 and say screw it, I won't log.2 -
I like this! I did the side substitution the last time I ate out! Steamed broccoli instead of french fries!1
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UltimateRBF wrote: »
Curious, why?3 -
TAKE 1/2 HOME!!!
I do this ALL the time, now1 -
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UltimateRBF wrote: »UltimateRBF wrote: »
Curious, why?
Why is the other thread slated to be deleted? I have no clue!
No why would you wanna repost your comment? Reforming an OP and updating seems proactive but copy and past a reply is redundant unless im missing something1 -
UltimateRBF wrote: »
I did throw the Enjoy yourself from the last thread in there like you had suggested before 1 -
UltimateRBF wrote: »UltimateRBF wrote: »
Curious, why?
Why is the other thread slated to be deleted? I have no clue!
No why would you wanna repost your comment? Reforming an OP and updating seems proactive but copy and past a reply is redundant unless im missing something
You're missing something, I will explain later.0 -
UltimateRBF wrote: »My reply from the original thread, before it gets nuked:
This is great! One thing I'd like to add:
Enjoy Yourself!
So many posts seem to approach dining out while "dieting" with dread. Some anxiety is normal but I think perspective gets lost when people focus too much on eating correctly (whatever that means), and forget all the other aspects of dining out. Enjoy the meal out-that you didn't have to cook!- whether it's at a fast food joint or a fancy restaurant. Relish your favourite dish or adventuring with new flavours. Cherish the memories with friends or family. (And if it's a catered work affair, revel in free food!)
Then I redact why I asked why ahaha its contructive. sorry I took that a bit differently.1 -
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#2!!!!!!! I pre planned what I wanted to have at a ladies brunch before I went. It was a local place so I had to use random entries to get the whole meal. I'm glad I did. I would have blown 900 calories on what I thought would be a well rounded meal. That's over half my day
I changed my mind before the restaurant and instead ordered a short stack of banana nut pancakes and sipped coffee and water while chatting with my friends! I saved myself 550 calories just by taking the time to pre-plan. Other times it's totally worth it to splurge, but not that day. 4 -
UltimateRBF wrote: »UltimateRBF wrote: »
I did throw the Enjoy yourself from the last thread in there like you had suggested before
Ah sweet, well I can delete my now-reposted comment if you want then.
Nah, keep it! It's something that should be stressed more than once.0 -
love it. great advice/thoughts/ideas. 0
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DuckReconMajor wrote: »Great post! One I'd like to add for obsessive loggers like myself who refuse to take a bite of something I haven't logged:
If you absolutely must log a meal you have when dining out (and the above options just won't do), give yourself a set time limit (say 1-5 min) to stress about figuring out the best way to log it, then after that just log your most educated guess at the time and move on. The fact that you're putting that much thought into it means you're already a few steps ahead of the game.
Agreed. That's why I said "Enjoy yourself" at the end. In the beginning I found going out to eat stressful, but it's about a system that works for us. I tend to preplan before I go out and choose things that will fit into my goals. But then there are days where I fall under choice 1 and say screw it, I won't log.
Yeah I agree totally, but you know how we issss. I need a hard limit sometimes of "ok im gonna worry X amount about it then I'm done"0
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