Tips for logging restaurant/dinner party food

Mithridites

To you experienced loggers: what are some shortcuts you have found to log food accurately when being a guest at someone's house or at a restaurant? Thank you for your insights.

canarysal

If you dont know exactly what's in a dish you're not going to be accurate. Use restaurant calorie figures when available and guesswork using rough ingredients when not knowing need to have leeway for extras. You've got to have a life while dieting so ok to be relaxed about calories once in a while for social event. Try and make up for it on another day in the week to balance out.

Mithridites

Thank you, canarysal. I can't log it accurately so it's best to relax about it . That's one way to go about it.
Anyone out there have some tips or tricks how they do their best to log the occasional meal they can't prepare themselves?

Tabbycat00

I always look for a similar item in the database and then choose the highest calorie count. For example, there's a small pizza place near our home with no nutritional information, but I can see that a slice of Costco pizza has something like 750 calories. Since that's the highest calorie content I can find, every unaccounted for pizza now has 750 calories in my world. It may not be the most accurate but it makes me feel better.

moogie_fit

I just look for similarities, sometimes log just a "quick add" amount and guesstimate (usually I have 500 cals/meal when out... 350 or so when at home)

As long as you are consistent, it is okay! And you can never be 100% accurate anyways so don't sweat it and just move on.

Sp1tfire

I stick to the basics at parties or things that are probably not super different across the board. Like amyrebeccah said, cheeses, fruit, and i'd say even traditional crackers are probably easy to guess with good accuracy. When there is something like coconut shrimp (who could say no!?) I figure that they are probably prepared similarly and log a big chain's equivalent. If there is a jumbo option I pick that. Better to overestimate than under! I figure that swedish meatballs could be pretty easy to guess at too. Just pick a less lean ground beef to be safe.

Mithridites

Tabbycat00 wrote: »

I always look for a similar item in the database and then choose the highest calorie count..

That's a good idea.

leggup

I try to make the portions similar to foods I've had at home (I know what 100 g of pasta looks like, what 300 g of vegetables look like, etc), then log normal foods from my diary +10-20%, depending on if it was roasted, fried, etc.

OR i just log my other meals for the day and then leave that dinner blank, knowing I'll be back at it the next day.

cwolfman13

Restaurant? I just found something similar and logged it

Friend's house? I'm hanging with my friends...didn't sweat it.

Really, this is only an issue if you're eating out with frequency and going to a lot of parties and whatnot...otherwise these things are pretty negligible in the grand scheme of things.

dwilliamca

I was out of town this week and had to guesstimate quantities and find similar foods in the data base. It is challenging and I feel for people that have to do it all the time. I also found it harder to stick to my limits with all the complementary food the hotel provided. Suddenly a piece of bacon looked like a piece of gold and I couldn't pass up the free wine, even though I haven't drank any at home for weeks. Weird how the brain works. All and all I did OK and survived it.

AnnPT77

I agree with the above: Use the database high-cal similar entries snd estimate portions, use chain restaurant web site estimates for local restaurants without published calories (like Olive Garden Alfredo for local), etc.

Personally, I don't try to simplify what I eat at a friend's house to make it easier to estimate, with the possible exception of big potlucks where selectivity is built into the situation. I just try to ear sdome sensible, polite portion and estimate as best I can.

One thing I'd add: Where I can do so politely and discreetly, I do sometimes snap a photo of my plate with my phone (no flash! ) to make later estimating easier.

ritzvin

Mithridites wrote: »

Thank you, canarysal. I can't log it accurately so it's best to relax about it . That's one way to go about it.
Anyone out there have some tips or tricks how they do their best to log the occasional meal they can't prepare themselves?

If you can (as in something that is more 'assembled' than cooked/baked), break it down to the ingredients and log those.

Heather4448

For family cookouts and other events (when I’m not in charge of the food), I put my meal into the recipe builder. This works well for me and it’s easy to add/subtract food if you’re just trying a little of everything. For instance: “Birthday party” I eat a fried chicken leg- I input the KFC value. Cake- usually a supermarket chain. Potato/egg/chicken salad- supermarket chain. Lasagne- Costco or Carraba’s. It’s not 100% accurate, but I don’t tend to worry so much for one-off events like that.