What to do when eating out

eladyak

I'm interested in hearing how you all use the app when eating out. Specifically at a place that does not post nutritional values and stats on their website.

rachelr1116

I usually just search for something that I think is reasonably close to what I'm having. One of my favorite meals when I'm recovering from a migraine is from a local place that doesn't list their nutrition information anywhere. It's fast food so I just find similar fast food. My favorite local Mexican restaurant doesn't list their nutrition information but I find a chain that is probably similar and use their food to log.

4legsRbetterthan2

You just have to use your best judgement in these situations. I will usually log something that I think somewhat resembles the meal. So if I go to a mom and pop italian place and get a pasta dish I will log one from Olive garden since the values are available for that.

This obviously is not a very accurate way of logging, so if you find yourself not losing weight like you think you should be, and are doing this often, it could be the culprit.

jemhh

I nearly always order things like grilled meats, tossed salad, and maybe a baked potato with butter. Those are all fairly easy to estimate based on cut of meat and approximate serving size. If you need help determining serving size, googling "serving size chart" and looking at the image results should provide you with several (many!) different charts that help you use a fist, finger, palm, etc. to approximate serving size.

LivingtheLeanDream

Choose something similar to what you have eaten from the database, or quick add keeping your estimation on the higher side.

HGarcia1527

I try to add by ingredient for the closest match. If I have a particular type of salad I log all individual ingredients that were in the salad with estimated serving amounts.

tinkerbellang83

Where possible I will try and deconstruct the meal by ingredient to the closest possible match and I will leave try and leave about 150-200 cals wiggle room for oils/etc. If I am not logging there and then I take a picture and refer back to it for logging later.

estherdragonbat

I try to check out the menu beforehand, whether online or, if convenient, popping into the restaurant and asking for one (I tend to eat in restaurants that are dine-in/take-out, so paper take-out menus are normal). Then, I'll check the database for something similar. I should mention that I eat kosher and, since the mandatory calorie posting only applies to chains with 20 locations or more, this isn't something I can take advantage of. I think there might be one kosher restaurant with three locations; the rest have one.

I have emailed one restaurant with questions and gotten back helpful replies. (The shakshuka comes in a bun, but you can ask for it to be omitted; the grilled eggplant comes with tehina sauce, but you can ask to have it on the side instead of drizzled on top.)

There are options I don't order anymore, because they aren't in the database and I have no clue how to approach them. Like the hard eggs and vegetables served in a deep-fried dough turnover with a tomato-type sauce drizzled over it that gleams like there's oil in it. Delicious, but if I'm going to eat it, I need some kind of ballpark number to log, lol.

LessCookiess

I look for items that are lower in sodium often I ask the waiter. I look for items that have vegetables on the side, and I often ask for "lunch" portions of it's available, or I'll just eat half of the portions and leave the rest for the next day.

andrea4736

I pick something not over-the-top in calories (i.e., something deep-fried and covered in cheese). I pick a similar entry in the database and just pick the highest calorie option. I'd rather overestimate and then shave off some calories daily for the rest of the week.

jgnatca

I eat half, log half. Some restaurants serve fat bombs (two days calories in a single meal) so I generally avoid them. This includes Carl's Jr., Red Robins and some menu items at Boston Pizza.

inertiastrength

I get as close as possible but I don't stress. It happens so infrequently that it doesn't really matter for me. When I do eat out I typically go to the same places and i know the calories from their website. As of Jan 1st 2017, in Ontario restaurants that have more than 20 chains are required to list the calories right on the menu though, it helps.

AnnPT77

Like others, I pick something similar from the database, or deconstruct, depending on the food item. That's worked fine through the process of losing 1/3 of my bodyweight, while eating out a couple of times a week or so.

One caution: I'd suggest browsing the database carefully enough that you don't pick a lowball estimate for a particular dish. There are some really silly-low items there, since it's crowd-sourced data. I try to pick one at the upper end of the similar entries, and may double-check realism by looking up whatever I think is the most calorie-laden ingredient.

(Sometimes I quick-add calories to compensate for something I think is lowball, too - but I don't obsess about it, just estimate kind of carefully, then move on. For restaurants I re-visit locally, where I have the same dish often, it makes sense to invest a little more effort to get the estimate close, then save it as a meal in MFP for future use.)

caroldavison332

Immediately order a water so you have something to do other than eat chips or bread until you food arrives. Order the veggiest, meatiest entrees and avoid calories, carbs, fat or what have you. Do calorie/fat/carb/sodium research on the food. When you learn that pop tarts have 300 calories you will never waste your calorie budget on them again when you can eat a moist chocolate cake for the same expenditure. Same for a full sugar soda. Try to order from home so that you are committed to the petite steak or broiled lobster instead of bucket of butter entrees. When ordering in the restaurant, ask for a to go box and immediately put half of your entree in it for the next meal. If taking out, immediately cut your entree in half and put in on a plate in the freezer so its gets too cold to eat now. After finishing your dinner, take it out of the freezer and store it in the fridge for your next meal.
If you friend is having something over the top wonderful, ask for a bite. The first bite always tastes best and that my satiate. My normal sized brother in law is happy to give me a bite of tiramusu if I take him out to eat.

StaciMarie1974

I mostly eat at places I am familiar with and/or post nutritional information. Of course that is not always possible. So I mentally break down a meal, and do my best to estimate when logging. I tend to get a protein that is not battered/fried/sauced. Something grilled is going to have less calories added in the cooking phase than something deep fried. And if necessary, I ask questions about how things are prepared. (Some menus don't gie much detail.) In general I also avoid glazes and creamy sauces.

My favorite no-nutritional info available local place: I get shrimp and veggie tempura and salad w/ ginger dressing. If I have room for it, I get the steamed rice. If not I leave it off as its so hard to know how much I've eaten. But for the tempura, I log items from other restaurants and assume its at least close. And as this is not a daily habit, it does not have a great impact in the long run.

eladyak wrote: »

I'm interested in hearing how you all use the app when eating out. Specifically at a place that does not post nutritional values and stats on their website.

kgirlhart

If the nutritional info isn't available then I use entries from a similar restaurant.

toxikon

I find it very frustrating trying to log restaurant meals on MFP unless the restaurant is a chain that has clear calorie counts on their menu items.

If I'm going somewhere with no calorie counts, I don't bother logging. And it's usually a special treat meal for me and it'll be my only meal of the day, so I don't mind splurging.

estherdragonbat

I should mention that if I know that there's going to be stuff for mindless nibbling, I pre-log. It may sound a little weird, but I write fanfic as a hobby and I'm used to having conversations in my head with my characters. Talking to myself (not out loud!) is similar. So, I ask myself, "How many mini-rolls from the bread basket/tortilla chips/etc do you think is reasonable? What will it take for you not to feel deprived if everyone around you is tucking in before the main food arrives? Let's log it now." This may not be the same for everyone, but for me, if I've logged that I'm going to have one bread roll, it's that much easier to stick to. It's like "I want it, I planned for it, I said this was all I need and it is."

bwogilvie

I guesstimate by searching the database for something that looks similar to what I ordered and has realistic values (i.e. someone has bothered to enter macronutrient info, and it's not something crazy like a 200-calorie cheeseburger), estimate about how much I'm eating, and then add 10-20% to account for hidden calories. I also try to eat slowly and pay attention to when I'm feeling sated. However, restaurant meals are a treat for me, so I don't mind going over my calorie goal and then making it up over the next few days (or I'll deliberately eat a bit less for a few days before going out, if it's a dinner I planned).

midlomel1971

I try to stick with whatever looks the healthiest, although I know looks can be deceiving. I stick w/ a salad usually. If we are eating Mexican, I always get fajitas and limit myself to one corn tortilla. The chips are always an issue, though.

BradOWGolf

Depends on how often you eat out imo. If you eat out regularly, say 2 or 3 times per week and maybe lunch and or dinner weekly, probably should do some pretty good estimating as others have noted. Our family might eat out once per week, which is a function of the cold weather and a teenage boy who can scarf a lot down and create a big tab. While you didn't ask, over the past 6 weeks I've tried following a Friday night out for dinner ((say at BW Wings or AppleBees (don't hate, they both offer coupons) which I know creates excess calories) with a day of intermittent fasting / very low calorie intake. It seems to have worked quite well and not hurt my energy level. Granted, probably not the ideal solution, but if I'm 900 calories over my goal one night, and 800 under the next day, not a bad trade off.

rainbowblu

It depends on my Weight loss goals for the week.
If I'm being SUPER strict,I'll take half of the entree home and weigh each part,(My FAVORITE taco place uses 4oz of meat in EACH taco).
So,comparibles would not work because most places use way less).Then I Google comparibles-and use the higher average.
But,90% of the time,I'll just find a similar restaurant and use their info.