Eating out frequently

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Libby283
Libby283 Posts: 288 Member
in Food and Nutrition
We eat out often. How do you weigh while eating out?

I try to order things like salads, no dressing, etc.

Replies

  • tryett
    tryett Posts: 530 Member
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    I don't, I pretty much rely on the restaurants nutritional info, except when I ate Chinese last week. For that I did only the Mongolian grill and estimated what I was putting on my plate.
  • MelaniaTrump
    MelaniaTrump Posts: 2,694 Member
    edited June 2016
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    I would not even log a salad with no dressing.
    I think lettuce is 40 calories for a giant bowl full.

    Bought a tub full of spring mix at Costco for $4. A weeks worth.
    Can't imagine paying $9 at a restaurant for a salad.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    I eat half and log half of the posted calories. Easy peasy.
  • pie_eyes
    pie_eyes Posts: 12,965 Member
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    JanetYellen wrote: »
    I would not even log a salad with no dressing.
    I think lettuce is 40 calories for a giant bowl full.

    Bought a tub full of spring mix at Costco for $4. A weeks worth.
    Can't imagine paying $9 at a restaurant for a salad.

    Salad is negligible

    Just passes on through. I'll have as little dressing as possible to give it some flavor

    It
  • Libby283
    Libby283 Posts: 288 Member
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    JanetYellen wrote: »
    I would not even log a salad with no dressing.
    I think lettuce is 40 calories for a giant bowl full.

    Bought a tub full of spring mix at Costco for $4. A weeks worth.
    Can't imagine paying $9 at a restaurant for a salad.

    Most salads in restaurants have other added flavor. Cheese, egg, avocado... lots of calories that need to be included. I am not a huge fan of salad dressings anyway, so it is not a hardship to use them.

    However last night at chick fil a, the kids nugget meal was less calories than the Cobb Salad I thought I would get.
  • Libby283
    Libby283 Posts: 288 Member
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    jgnatca wrote: »
    I eat half and log half of the posted calories. Easy peasy.

    What do you mean posted calories? If we eat at family owned, local restaurants, calories are not posted. Which is most often the case.
  • paul_smith83
    paul_smith83 Posts: 21 Member
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    Thought I would chime in here, hope thats ok, I just posted a new topic on a similar thought, i travel a lot and basically live in hotels and restaurants. calories aren't always shown on menus, does anyone have a 'go to' list of foods for when they eat out?
  • Libby283
    Libby283 Posts: 288 Member
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    paul_smith83 wrote: »
    Thought I would chime in here, hope thats ok, I just posted a new topic on a similar thought, i travel a lot and basically live in hotels and restaurants. calories aren't always shown on menus, does anyone have a 'go to' list of foods for when they eat out?

    Please do chime in.

    i can log things easier in chains. I am also the queen of ordering kids meals. I hate large portions.
  • hollyrayburn
    hollyrayburn Posts: 905 Member
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    Libby283 wrote: »
    jgnatca wrote: »
    I eat half and log half of the posted calories. Easy peasy.

    What do you mean posted calories? If we eat at family owned, local restaurants, calories are not posted. Which is most often the case.

    There's no sure way to know how many calories you're eating at a local restaurant. Sure, you could get the chicken, but is it cooked in oil? Butter? Seasonings? How much of each? How much sour cream is on that potato?

    At least with chains you can get a general idea and overestimate. Which is why I tend to stick with chain restaurants. Unless it's mexican night, then all bets are off. ;)

    Try eating at home more. It's amazing how much money you save, how fewer calories you use, and just how tasty it actually is!
  • kendahlj
    kendahlj Posts: 243 Member
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    Eating out is fun. I miss it... There are probably healthy things I could order but I don't like going out and paying $10 for a salad when I make the best salads at home. I am just trying to be upbeat and look at the positives of not eating out, like savings. Also we've been having people over more often for meals, which is turning out to be fun. I don't know how anyone can lose weight while eating out a lot...
  • MityMax96
    MityMax96 Posts: 5,778 Member
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    Libby283 wrote: »
    We eat out often. How do you weigh while eating out?

    I try to order things like salads, no dressing, etc.

    Take guesses or if I know I will be eating out, and where I will eat, then I will plan my food accordingly for the day....
    i.e. if it is dinner out, like sushi.
    Then during the day I will eat light...maybe just fruit to hold me over....cause I know I will pound down some sushi.

    Also take a look at https://www.nutritionix.com/
    They have calculators for a lot of different places so you can plan accordingly.
  • MityMax96
    MityMax96 Posts: 5,778 Member
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    paul_smith83 wrote: »
    Thought I would chime in here, hope thats ok, I just posted a new topic on a similar thought, i travel a lot and basically live in hotels and restaurants. calories aren't always shown on menus, does anyone have a 'go to' list of foods for when they eat out?

    Chick fil a grilled nuggets are very calorie/macro friendly.
    I will order like 24 of them, I think it is around 450 calories.....most of which is protein.
    win-win
  • laur357
    laur357 Posts: 896 Member
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    I often pick a chain restaurant entry for local/family-owned places if there are no calories posted. It's not exact, but there isn't much else to go on. If you try to recreate the recipe with estimated ingredients in MFP, I'd add on a few extra tablespoons of fat to be safe.

    Pizza will get a Pizza Hut or Papa John's (or maybe Sbarro's if it's an enormous NY-style slice) entry, for example. Yelp photos are helpful too, so you can see if the salad you plan to order looks more similar in size/ingredients to a salad at Chili's or one at Panera.
  • Libby283
    Libby283 Posts: 288 Member
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    hollyrayburn wrote: »
    Libby283 wrote: »
    jgnatca wrote: »
    I eat half and log half of the posted calories. Easy peasy.

    What do you mean posted calories? If we eat at family owned, local restaurants, calories are not posted. Which is most often the case.

    There's no sure way to know how many calories you're eating at a local restaurant. Sure, you could get the chicken, but is it cooked in oil? Butter? Seasonings? How much of each? How much sour cream is on that potato?

    At least with chains you can get a general idea and overestimate. Which is why I tend to stick with chain restaurants. Unless it's mexican night, then all bets are off. ;)

    Try eating at home more. It's amazing how much money you save, how fewer calories you use, and just how tasty it actually is!

    Thankfully I like to order kids meals, and potatoes and sour cream are not a weakness. We rarely go to chain restaurants. Last Friday was Mexican night for us and I ordered a avocado salad with shrimp. Last night I had a kids nugget and fruit cup at Chick fil a. I generally only order veggies, steamed broccoli and side salads. These are my normal type meals with or without dieting. I only drink coffee, unsweetened tea and water with lemon. Unless it is alcohol, then all bets are off and I can easily consume my entire daily calorie allotment.

    I have ate at home at times, compared to eating out and I really do not see the significant savings. We eat out fairly cheap at local restaurants. Add in that I am a crappy cook and food just tastes better out.

    Food is not my issue. If I did not like to drink I would not be here...
  • whmscll
    whmscll Posts: 2,254 Member
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    I read somewhere that a study established a link between obesity and eating out. I love to eat out, it's fun and delicious. Not to mention, no dishes. However, if you have a choice, perhaps cut down on how many times a week you eat out? You'll save calories, and $$ too.

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