A guide to going out to eat.
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Ah, but what is one to do when one eats out for breakfast, lunch, and dinner four or five days a week...?
Staying away for work for months on end (although home for two or three days a week) has the potential to suck.0 -
Ah, but what is one to do when one eats out for breakfast, lunch, and dinner four or five days a week...?
Staying away for work for months on end (although home for two or three days a week) has the potential to suck.
Can you meal prep for a week on a day that you are home to cut back on how much you are going out? I'm just thinking of the cost of eating out that much.
But my OP still applies, you are just eating out a little more than someone else. I wouldn't recommend the first bullet point and recommend following the second more closely and preplan where you are going and what you are going to it.
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This is a good thread!0
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I generally wing it. But I do try and order things I either can't or won't make at home. I don't see much point to going out and spending $15 on a chef salad when I eat salad most days a week at home. It makes it seem more worth it to me. I don't pre-plan though. I can't let myself get that obsessive about it. If I do I may not stop.1
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I've nominated this for a sticky. I love it.0
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Outstanding post. It'll help a lot of people. This thread should get a stickie.0
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Here's a new pro tip (trust me here)
Step 1) Pick a Single Restaurant - Identify one single place you love to go to and stick with it for the long term. Reason? Chefs don't change often so neither do the portion sizes. Take a mental note of what they serve in size and remember it for a later step.
Step 2) Pick a Single Dish - Identify that one dish you love at the restaurant and run with it. Reason? Some people (me) go to a single place because of a single dish. Sure variety is the spice of life but I look at it as a comfort treat too.
Step 3) Have a Trial Run - One super rough logged or maybe even no logged day, enjoy the food and don't give it a second thought - Reason? You'll use this day as the day you mentally take note of everything about the dish. Ingredients, sides, and portions.
Step 4) Use MFP Meal Creator - take your notes about the food and throw them at the website, help the site help you figure out what the macros work out to be! You even then justify if you should half it and take it home, or devour it then and there. Reason? Ingredients don't really change, it's kinda common knowledge that unless noted, they use pretty generic standard items and not the low cal bread or lite mayo by default. So you can get away with eye balling it pretty well. See a slice of cheddar on your burger? It's a normal slice, use Boars Head!
Step 5) Put all your information to the test and rinse and repeat. More importantly, just have some fun with it and keep enjoying it, it isn't a race to lose weight, it's a test to yourself.
This was meant to be a personal insight on Troutsy log what you see portion, I hope she likes it and I hope you all like it too.1 -
Great thread.
I think people have their own ways of handling this, but it's definitely possible to include restaurant meals and be successful. I lost 95 lbs and have been maintaining for a few months despite going out to dinner usually a couple times a week, and all to local restaurants without calorie counts. (And a variety of different restaurants, since we like to try new places and there are so many good restaurants in my city.)
I vary in how I handle this. Sometimes I plan for a splurge and save up calories (this is especially nice on weekends when I sometimes do a huge workout). Other times I simply order carefully and arrange the rest of my day to fit it in. I always add in excess calories since you know they are there, absent a calorie count (I usually log them as extra butter, sometimes added calories or just do an overall added calorie entry). I mostly changed my ways by stopping my old pretense that a restaurant meal meant I should assume indulgence, since it was a special occasion--I go out too much to treat it always as a special occasion. So I don't eat the bread on the table, don't necessarily have extra courses (I might get a salad as an appetizer or extra veggies if the veggies are otherwise lower than I like, but I ask questions or get dressing on the side or the like to make sure it's not crazy extra calories). And I decide at the beginning what a proper serving size is and stick with it and stop eating when I eat the amount I decided upon.
There are, of course, exceptions to all of this.
And most importantly since it's something I do regularly I can see how it's working. If it isn't, change it up.1 -
I pre-plan when I can. Many times I just cut the meal in half and bring it home for another time since most restaurant portions are huge. Also, I usually don't order entree salads as they are HUGE in calories most of the time (unless calore counts are available and you know what you are getting). You are better off with a grilled chicken breast sandwich and side salad or fruit than an entree salad. You can leave the bread off the sandwich, if you like.
I tend to obsess, so I need to dial that back a bit. Thanks for the post. I already use many of the suggestions, but the reminder is great! We eat out a lot by necessity and I have lost 94 pounds doing it. Yet, it continues to be a struggle for me. I am trying to be more diligent in counting the meals that are more "convenience" meals and lightening up more for the "celebration" meals.
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Great thread. Thank you. Will bookmark and use to help others.0
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Some great advice here. Thanks for this.0
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aliciamariaq wrote: »Some great advice here. Thanks for this.
Thank you
. I'm glad you found it useful. 0 -
Great advice! Something I would add: if you're considering not logging, or allowing yourself to go way over your caloric budget (and haven't saved up ahead of time), then decide if you are ok with one of these options:
1. Make up for the extra calories over the next few days by limiting calories/exercising more to stay on track
OR
2. Know that you will not lose your normal 1 lb (or whatever your goal is) at your typical 1 week mark and be ok with it taking more time to lose that next lb
If either option is ok for you personally, and you just want to pig out for the day, go for it. If you hate these options, then yes, you need to log and make it fit into your budget. Some days you will feel strongly one way and then other days feel strongly the other way 0 -
When i go out i usually hit places with protein like chinese or boiled shrimp. 2 cups of boiled shrimp is 400 calories around 80 grams of protein with practically zero fat,carbs. You can eat all you want with veggies, i usually drop weight after going out two or 3 times monthly.0
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When i go out i usually hit places with protein like chinese or boiled shrimp. 2 cups of boiled shrimp is 400 calories around 80 grams of protein with practically zero fat,carbs. You can eat all you want with veggies, i usually drop weight after going out two or 3 times monthly.
I haven't tried boiled shrimp before, I may have to go try that the next time I get Chinese.1 -
Great thread. You are spot on your suggestions. Thank you. I used it last week. I find sticking to single item ordering when going out to eat very helpful. I see many peeps recommend that on here. Oh and those omelets at diners. I love asking them how many eggs do you use in that omelet and they say 3 eggs. I look at them and say what....thats not a 3 egg omelet. Then they change their tune. Ok, maybe they put more. Dont feel you cant press them for better answers or just asking them how much they use for certain ingredients. Dont be afraid to ask questions.0
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When i go out i usually hit places with protein like chinese or boiled shrimp. 2 cups of boiled shrimp is 400 calories around 80 grams of protein with practically zero fat,carbs. You can eat all you want with veggies, i usually drop weight after going out two or 3 times monthly.
I haven't tried boiled shrimp before, I may have to go try that the next time I get Chinese.
So when are we getting Chinese?0 -
I do all of these. Probably the easiest/most important, though, is that I eat half of whatever is served, and take the other half home. This is easier to to if you've been at this for a while because you're already used to smaller portions.0
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Don't get so worried about the extra spoonful or slice of bread. One meal will not have much effect in the long run.0
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strong_curves wrote: »*takes notes* I'm meeting a friend tonight for drinks & apps. Thank you!
What is drinks and "apps"?0 -
strong_curves wrote: »*takes notes* I'm meeting a friend tonight for drinks & apps. Thank you!
What is drinks and "apps"?
Appetizers. Context clues.2 -
Ooooh I thought this would be like a guide of great places to eat...whoops...hey but here is the thing on what's been discussed the most here...those olive garden breadsticks are amazing!!! And dipped in alfredo....omg0
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Bravo for all the great suggestions here, I am bookmarking and following this thread. Thank you all!!0
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DuckReconMajor wrote: »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"
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I am very glad I decided to join the group I feel ,like could loose the weight now!1
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Just giving this a bump0
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