A guide to going out to eat.

Azexas
Azexas Posts: 4,334 Member
edited July 2015 in Food and Nutrition
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.

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Replies

  • Azexas
    Azexas Posts: 4,334 Member
    *takes notes* I'm meeting a friend tonight for drinks & apps. Thank you!

    ENJOY!

    And thanks everyone.
  • EmmaFitzwilliam
    EmmaFitzwilliam Posts: 482 Member
    Pretty much spot on. :)
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
    This. All day long. No stress, no overthinking, just good advice.
  • MFD7576
    MFD7576 Posts: 271 Member
    This really should be a sticky lol
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,134 Member
    Did your other thread get deleted or what? I remember posting on this thread a while ago.
  • Azexas
    Azexas Posts: 4,334 Member
    zyxst wrote: »
    Did your other thread get deleted or what? I remember posting on this thread a while ago.

    I cleaned it up a bit and reposted. The other thread is slated to be deleted.
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,134 Member
    Troutsy wrote: »
    zyxst wrote: »
    Did your other thread get deleted or what? I remember posting on this thread a while ago.

    I cleaned it up a bit and reposted. The other thread is slated to be deleted.
    Well that sucks, and I spent time looking for the link to it.

    Proof I'm not crazy, I guess. :tongue:
  • Azexas
    Azexas Posts: 4,334 Member
    zyxst wrote: »
    Troutsy wrote: »
    zyxst wrote: »
    Did your other thread get deleted or what? I remember posting on this thread a while ago.

    I cleaned it up a bit and reposted. The other thread is slated to be deleted.
    Well that sucks, and I spent time looking for the link to it.

    Proof I'm not crazy, I guess. :tongue:

    You're not crazy! I promise!
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
    Most excellent advice!
  • jenncornelsen
    jenncornelsen Posts: 969 Member
    think all noobies should read this! one meal doesn't undo weeks of hard work!
  • Azexas
    Azexas Posts: 4,334 Member
    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.
  • Pearsquared
    Pearsquared Posts: 1,656 Member
    I like this! I did the side substitution the last time I ate out! Steamed broccoli instead of french fries!
  • MFD7576
    MFD7576 Posts: 271 Member
    Troutsy wrote: »
    zyxst wrote: »
    Did your other thread get deleted or what? I remember posting on this thread a while ago.

    I cleaned it up a bit and reposted. The other thread is slated to be deleted.

    Well I gotta find that thread and copypasta my reply from that one into here!

    Curious, why?
  • ArdieAgain
    ArdieAgain Posts: 27 Member
    TAKE 1/2 HOME!!!

    I do this ALL the time, now