Conscious Decisions Before Eating Out

jamszy

I don't know about any of you, but eating out has taken a toll on me. During my first bout of weight loss as a bachelor, I vowed to not eat out and stuck to it and lost 100+ pounds. However, married and family life is a different ball game (gained 50 of that back). I've made incorrect choices eating out and continue to go over on calories. The problem is that I never consciously realize my mistake until after I've eaten. What changes can anyone recommend? I could probably create a notification around meal times, but eating out can be spontaneous.

pinuplove

Are you overeating? Or just generally making bad choices? The database contains info for most restaurants. Or look up calorie counts on the restaurant's website when you're looking at the menu.

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

I work my calories over 7 days.

I save 200 or so calories from nights I'm not socialising to use when I am.

JeromeBarry1

I just had to learn to order a dinner salad with no dressing, avoid the bread and croutons, and drink water on those occasions when my spouse wants to dine out. Sometimes, my calories situation allows me to have a regular entree', but often, it doesn't.

lemurcat12

What types of restaurants do you go to? Some have calorie information available (or do online).

Otherwise, grilled or roasted or broiled meat/fish with vegetables is usually pretty safe. I assume large portions and more added fat than I would at home, but it still works out okay.

Restaurant burgers will be high cal, usually pasta will be (depending on restaurant, preparation, size), fries obviously will be. Salad dressing at restaurants is high cal, you can ask for oil and vinegar instead normally. Appetizers and dessert will be high cal.

These are all averages, depends on the place, of course.

I went out 1-2x per week when losing, sometimes was more indulgent than others, but it didn't ever mess up my losses.

RelCanonical

I try to choose what I'm going to eat before I go to a restaurant. If it's a local place and doesn't have nutrition facts, I try to find a similar item to log that's from a chain. My favorite choice from a calorie standpoint is a grilled/roasted/steamed meat with vegetables. I love me a good steak, and at places like Outback, that's actually one of the best options in terms of calories.

None of the estimates are going to be perfect, and so going less frequently is going to be the biggest benefit in the long run.

EHollander89

I like to look online to see the menu before going out to eat. I can look over the choices and decide what might fit into my calorie goals. Some menus have nutritional information available printed on them or the website might have a tab for nutritional info. While the numbers may not be exact, it at least gives you an idea of calories in different food items.

I'm also a fan of saving up a few extra calories for the weekend since I know I'm more likely to eat out or have a few drinks on the weekend. I enjoy eating out, so I try not to ruin the experience by overthinking on the calories. If you end up overeating, get back on track the next day. Looking at the weekly average view in the nutrition tab on the mobile app helps put things in perspective.

jamszy

Many places we go are not national chains and don't have nutritional information on MFP. The issue is after I've eaten, I only THEN realize I haven't done myself any good!

TR0berts

If you know - in the morning - that you're going out for dinner later on, eat a bit less during the day.

lemurcat12

jamszy wrote: »

Many places we go are not national chains and don't have nutritional information on MFP. The issue is after I've eaten, I only THEN realize I haven't done myself any good!

Yeah, none of the places I go to have information either. You just have to remember to think about making good choices before you order.

icimani

Eating out is my downfall as well. It's just a lot easier to grab something at a restaurant on my way home from work, than it is to prepare something at home.

My word is "planning".
- If I'm eating out, I'll try to plan on certain restaurants where I can get something 'healthier' and if I can, plan ahead what i'm going to order and stick to it.
- I try to plan my weekend schedule better so that I'm at home at meal times instead of out and about at meal times.
- I try to eat out only once or twice a week. Anything more than that just ruins me.
- I try to plan ahead so that I have things as prepared as much as possible for cooking at home, especially if something needs to be thawed out, but also what's on the menu.

Planning, for me, helps me guard against that mindless eating. Not that I'm all that good at it, but I'm getting better

rosebarnalice

Some of my strategies
* KNOW that I'm going out, and plan the rest of my meals for that day around it;
* I NEVER eat order a full meal with sides because American dining portions are ALWAYS way too much food.
When we go out, my husband and I typically split one meal--maybe with one extra side salad added, and it's always plenty for two people. On the rare occasions that I eat out with someone other than my spouse, I will often get just an appetizer, or I will eat just half of the meal and ask for a box.
* I'm the "everything on the side" queen. Sauce on the side, butter on the side, dressing on the side. And no, I don't care if it insults the kitchen. I don't want their damned butter and oil-laden dressing all over my damned food.
* * I take pictures of of my plates so I can make a better attempt at logging rather than trying to remember what I ate (everybody just thinks I'm taking facebook foodie pix)

mamadon

I save up some extra calories to bank, if I know I am going out to eat. I also will look up the restaurant's nutritional info on line if it's available. If it's not, I will still try to plan the meal and what I will order ahead of time.

jamszy

Thank you all for your replies, I planned in advance for tonight and I'm trying to be very mindful before I order!

Treece68

Decide where to go before you go out and see if they have websites or nutritional information available by calling. If you are unsure order safe things veggies and meat.

jjpptt2

jamszy wrote: »

Many places we go are not national chains and don't have nutritional information on MFP. The issue is after I've eaten, I only THEN realize I haven't done myself any good!

If that's the case, then there isn't a lot you can do other than work on being more mindful before you order. It sounds like most of your eating out is with family (as opposed to work/travel dinners)? Can you ask your wife to give a gentle reminder as you are looking at the menu?

Regarding local restaurants... ask if they have calorie info available, or just use a similar entry from a national chain. My wife and I go to a lot of local italian restaurants that don't have MFP entries. For a couple of my go-to meals, I've manually logged the ingredients/portion sizes as best I could, added a little oil for extra fat calories just to be safe, then saved that as a meal... then I can just log that meal as needed. In other cases, I'll use something like Olive Garden or Maggiano's calorie info as a reasonable approximation.

JJS1979

icimani wrote: »

Eating out is my downfall as well. It's just a lot easier to grab something at a restaurant on my way home from work, than it is to prepare something at home.

My word is "planning".
- If I'm eating out, I'll try to plan on certain restaurants where I can get something 'healthier' and if I can, plan ahead what i'm going to order and stick to it.
- I try to plan my weekend schedule better so that I'm at home at meal times instead of out and about at meal times.
- I try to eat out only once or twice a week. Anything more than that just ruins me.
- I try to plan ahead so that I have things as prepared as much as possible for cooking at home, especially if something needs to be thawed out, but also what's on the menu.

Planning, for me, helps me guard against that mindless eating. Not that I'm all that good at it, but I'm getting better

I agree 100%...I echo these suggestions. If you know you are going out Saturday night for dinner, try to eat a little less during the day and then look online at the menu beforehand and try to pick the healthiest selection you can make that still fits in your daily allotment for fats, proteins and carbs.

Can't stress enough consistency is so important, if you adhere during the week then having one meal, even at a restaurant that is high in calories, will have no impact on you. Over the last 18 months i have lost nearly 40lbs and that includes every sunday having 1 or 2 higher fat and calorie meals and I still was able to lose weight due to my overall calories deficit and staying consistent during the week. Stay strong and goodluck!

ritzvin

Steak! (and a to-go container). My go to for eating out. Known calories per size for a certain cut of meat (with size and cut typically listed on the menu), and generally will not have any added fat or sugar (because they are awesomely tasty on their own). Calorie content is pretty reasonable.

jjpptt2

ritzvin wrote: »

Steak! (and a to-go container). My go to for eating out. Known calories per size for a certain cut of meat (with size and cut typically listed on the menu), and generally will not have any added fat or sugar (because they are awesomely tasty on their own). Calorie content is pretty reasonable.

That's a good point. A steak, ordered without any butters, sauces or toppings, can be pretty easy to estimate calorie content.

joemac1988

jamszy wrote: »

I don't know about any of you, but eating out has taken a toll on me. During my first bout of weight loss as a bachelor, I vowed to not eat out and stuck to it and lost 100+ pounds. However, married and family life is a different ball game (gained 50 of that back). I've made incorrect choices eating out and continue to go over on calories. The problem is that I never consciously realize my mistake until after I've eaten. What changes can anyone recommend? I could probably create a notification around meal times, but eating out can be spontaneous.

If I'm planning to go to a restaurant I look up their menu online, decide what I'm getting and log that into my food diary.

If it's a big meal, when I order I'll ask for a box to be brought with the meal then I split it in half before I start. Otherwise, I'd eat 3/4 of the meal than say "screw it" and keep going.

estherdragonbat

I've emailed the restaurant ahead of time to ask about calories, etc. I think the advantage to this is that they have a chance to reply when the restaurant isn't busy with the lunch/supper rush. So, when I decided to go to my favorite Middle Eastern place and get a veg option other than sambusak, I inquired about two other dishes and got back the response:

"Our shakshuka comes in a bread bun, but you can ask to have it without. (Note: their bread bun is a hollowed-out round loaf of bread, probably 10" diameter. So the dish comes in a bread bowl. No clue how I'd even start logging it, not knowing the weight of the remaining bread, etc.). Our grilled eggplant comes drizzled in tahini, but you can ask to have it on the side." (Tahini is a sesame paste/butter. As in, healthy and good for you... but a potential calorie bomb. And not mentioned anywhere in the menu description of the grilled eggplant.)

I've never needed to, but it's possible that if you ask ahead, the chef will agree to prepare something lower-calorie on request.

annacole94

The easiest thing is to decide on a "normal" order for yourself that fits your usual diet. It might mean you make a rule like "no fries, broth-based soup or salad with vinagarette on the side". Or "no pasta" (because the serving size is usually enormous and I always want cheese sauce).

Take a look at the menu for the places you go the most. Decide that every meal out is NOT a celebration where you should just cut loose. One meal doesn't ruin a person, but several meals a week really do add up.

jamszy

annacole94 wrote: »

One meal doesn't ruin a person, but several meals a week really do add up.

This couldn't be more true! Thank you for your insight!

Francl27

If you really have no idea how many calories are in dishes... look it up and LOG IT BEFORE you order. Even if that restaurant doesn't have nutrition information, you can find an estimate in the database.

Also, you can pretty much expect that anything fried or with sauce is going to be a lot of calories...

Ok I admit I'm just confused about how you can 'forget' to make better choices when you're trying to lose weight.

jamszy

Francl27 wrote: »

Ok I admit I'm just confused about how you can 'forget' to make better choices when you're trying to lose weight.

I'm only speaking from personal experience, but it's easy to get caught up in the moment and go completely in the wrong direction regardless of nutrition goals. If that hasn't happened to you, I congratulate you and your self discipline!

__TMac__

It's all about habits. We don't eat out spontaneously anymore. It just leads to bad decision-making for us. We usually eat out on Sundays, since it's a busy day and it makes life easier.

Tonight is a special occasion date night for us. This morning, we decided on the restaurant while checking the menu. (Thank you, Yelp.) I've prelogged my choices. It's not a chain, so I chose entries that were from chains known for high-calorie recipes. I'm eating an appetizer, another appetizer for my entree, a light-ish dessert, and two glasses of wine. I'm also eating a little less during the day today, and did my usual cardio workout. I'll end up about 400 calories high for the day, but still about 200 under goal for the week as a whole.

For our usual Sunday take-out, I usually just get the tasty grilled chicken salad from our favorite place. Easy peasy.