Eating Out and Calories

Rushbrook60

Ok, so I thought that eateries had to show the calories in food...I've been out with the girls from work tonight and was surprised to find the menu had no indication of what I was eating and even having searched online, I couldn't find it.

I know I can have "cheat days" but I still like to make sensible decisions. Was a bitted gutted I couldn't do that today...felt like I lost a little control :-(

TavistockToad

You can still make good choices off the menu even if you don't know actual calories.

Jruzer

Just make your best estimate and move on. You'll have to do this often. It doesn't have to be a "cheat day".

Francl27

One of the reasons I don't go out as much as I used to. I always try to make good choices and just estimate, but it could be way off.

Holly_Wood_888

I feel like the only way to make a lower calorie choice at a restaurant is by choosing a salad (especially since the dressing is always high calorie on its own ) ... We never really know whats in sauces or how much butter they slather food with ... most of the restaurant here don't have calories listed

I had kelseys balsamic chicken dinner on Sunday and it was 800 calories !!

Francl27

Holly_Wood_888 wrote: »

I feel like the only way to make a lower calorie choice at a restaurant is by choosing a salad (especially since the dressing is always high calorie on its own ) ... We never really know whats in sauces or how much butter they slather food with ... most of the restaurant here don't have calories listed

I had kelseys balsamic chicken dinner on Sunday and it was 800 calories !!

Most salads are easily 800+ calories too though, even without dressing, between croutons, cheese, nuts...

TavistockToad

Holly_Wood_888 wrote: »

I feel like the only way to make a lower calorie choice at a restaurant is by choosing a salad (especially since the dressing is always high calorie on its own ) ... We never really know whats in sauces or how much butter they slather food with ... most of the restaurant here don't have calories listed

I had kelseys balsamic chicken dinner on Sunday and it was 800 calories !!

What's wrong with 800 cals for a main meal?

Francl27

TavistockToad wrote: »

Holly_Wood_888 wrote: »

I feel like the only way to make a lower calorie choice at a restaurant is by choosing a salad (especially since the dressing is always high calorie on its own ) ... We never really know whats in sauces or how much butter they slather food with ... most of the restaurant here don't have calories listed

I had kelseys balsamic chicken dinner on Sunday and it was 800 calories !!

What's wrong with 800 cals for a main meal?

I'd say it's probably not ideal for most of the 1200 calories people on these boards, lol...

NEOHgirl

It isn't the law to post calories in most places, and for the ones I am aware of, smaller mom & pop places don't have to either, there is a minimum number of locations needed before you HAVE to follow the law. That being said, you can make good choices. Stay away from fried foods, cream sauces, etc, and try to stick with roasted, steamed, or grilled items as much as possible. Don't eat the free bread on the table unless it's super delicious. I usually also limit myself to one adult beverage along with my water. And no need to eat the entire portion. I can usually fit restaurant meals into my targets, and I dine out a couple of times a week.

As a side note, if you don't like to waste food, but don't want to eat the entire portion, keep a small cooler in your car. You can either throw an ice pack in when you know you are going out, or ask the server to bring you a to-go cup or container filled with ice to pack WITH your leftovers. It will keep the food cold until you can get it in the fridge at home during these warm-weather months, even if you are running errands or going out for drinks after dinner.

karl317

It's pretty ironic that it's the "bad" places to eat that are way more likely to have calorie counts readily available, isn't it? You can almost always count on McD's, KFC and Wendy's to have entries in the MFP Database, but the better restaurants? Nope. Gotta make a best guess.

kirstinethornburg

log closest to what you had . Sometrimes when logging if you add the restraunt name in front of the dish you mighnt find the exact thing but not always

Rushbrook60

Thanks everyone for your replies. I didn't go overboad because I couldn't find out the calories, and I did make a sensible choice, ended up with salad. But just like francl27 said, even these can have some outrageous calorie contents. I usually end up driving and even if I'm not, I'm not a big drinker, so these was no alcohol to count. I had diet coke which turned out to be 0 calories, but it was the fact that I had no idea what I was eating that put a bit of a dampener on things. I still had about 900 calories left, so confident I was still within my limit, but still gutted all the same that I couldn't work it out.

I'm still very new to calorie counting so not offay with estimating as of yet. The best I could compare it to was a salad I'd had earlier in the week (which was about 200 calories) so took a random guess and tripled it...wondering if that's a bad guess. Sad thing is though, if I'd known what the calories were, it could have been that I'd had something other than a salad, not been far different in the calories and probably enjoyed something I wouldn't normally have indoors.

Karl317 is definitely right though, it's always the naughty food places that display the calories. We went to a little restaurant called the wharf but it's part of a big eatery chain so was pretty surprised it wasn't displayed. Most things you can find out online but that wasn't even available. Sort of feel a bit like I lost a chance to really enjoy a meal out and took the safe route by ordering salad.

I know someone will say one meal won't hurt but I'm so committed to losing this weight and in 12 days, I'm already 10lbs lighter, so I really want to keep this up. Doesn't help that I'm a bit of a control freak and want to know everything about what I'm eating now.

MissusMoon

Only chains are required to post nutritional information. When going I often find the menu online (typically via Yelp) and make decisions. Most nice cuts of meat have their weight listed by size, and that helps me plan. When in doubt, you won't go wrong with fish and grilled veggies. Avoid complex/heavy sauces and things with tons of ingredients and you'll be able to guesstimate without being too far off. I've been eating out a few times per week and losing just fine with this in mind. (When I find fish tacos with just grilled fish, cabbage and salsa I'm always stuffed and happy because the calories are easy to calculate)

Francl27

It gets better with time though... as you make your own salads and meals, you get a pretty good idea of portion sizes and it's actually pretty easy to estimate - the tricky part is added oil and butter really. Otherwise, ask for dressing or sauces on the side, avoid fried food etc.

MissusMoon wrote: »

Only chains are required to post nutritional information. When going I often find the menu online (typically via Yelp) and make decisions. Most nice cuts of meat have their weight listed by size, and that helps me plan. When in doubt, you won't go wrong with fish and grilled veggies. Avoid complex/heavy sauces and things with tons of ingredients and you'll be able to guesstimate without being too far off. I've been eating out a few times per week and losing just fine with this in mind. (When I find fish tacos with just grilled fish, cabbage and salsa I'm always stuffed and happy because the calories are easy to calculate)

Fish tacos are so tricky though, I've always wanted to order some but for some reason when I look at the nutrition info on chains they always have a ton of calories, so I pass, as I never know what I'm going to get...