Eating Out and Staying on Track

MailOrderBride
MailOrderBride Posts: 27 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi all, my husband loves to go out to eat, and I like to join him. We do not go to chain restaurants, ever. So how have you dealt with going out to eat and logging your food? I’m on 1200 per day and have lost 4 pounds in two weeks, so definitely don’t want to sabotage, but also don’t want to live off of boiled eggs and tuna :)

Replies

  • amberj2001
    amberj2001 Posts: 2 Member
    1200 is extremely low so depending on you’re activity level and how long your body can cope on such minimal calories is going to be hard because you may end up crash dieting in the long term which overall equals bad health benefits rather than good, I say if you go out every now and then enjoy yourself because life’s too short not to however if it’s every weekend then just choose a slightly more healthy option in what you eat
  • MailOrderBride
    MailOrderBride Posts: 27 Member
    amberj2001 wrote: »
    1200 is extremely low so depending on you’re activity level and how long your body can cope on such minimal calories is going to be hard because you may end up crash dieting in the long term which overall equals bad health benefits rather than good, I say if you go out every now and then enjoy yourself because life’s too short not to however if it’s every weekend then just choose a slightly more healthy option in what you eat

    Thanks so much, I’m flexible when I work out I eat those calories! Are you saying when you go out you just don’t log, or do you estimate?
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    MailOrderBride wrote: »
    Hi all, my husband loves to go out to eat, and I like to join him. We do not go to chain restaurants, ever. So how have you dealt with going out to eat and logging your food? I’m on 1200 per day and have lost 4 pounds in two weeks, so definitely don’t want to sabotage, but also don’t want to live off of boiled eggs and tuna :)

    So a week where you ate more and only lost 1lb would be ok too, right?

    Eat what you like, enjoy it, log it, carry on...
  • MimiMayRR
    MimiMayRR Posts: 19 Member
    I do my best to estimate and try to give myself a cushion if I'm going out to eat. Like if I normally budget 500 calories for dinner at home I'll try to save 700 if I'm going out to eat. Although, if you're operating on a daily 1200 calorie budget that would be pretty hard to do! Anyway, then, I try to choose an option that as far as I can estimate would be pretty close to the amount of calories I would eat at home. Often this involves substitutions like getting a lettuce wrap burger instead of normal burger, a side salad instead of starchy veggies or pasta, etc. (and this is especially true if you plan to have alcohol or a bit of dessert). I figure that even if I am way off on estimating, I have a calorie cushion to absorb some of the difference. I find it's helpful to look at a menu beforehand so I can plan what I'm going to eat. A good alternative if you don't want to think that much about all of it might be to order what you like and plan to only eat half of it and take the rest home. As long as you don't also fill up on bread, alcohol, dessert, etc. that should certainly keep you in a 400-500 calorie range even if you order something pretty indulgent.

    Good luck!
  • MailOrderBride
    MailOrderBride Posts: 27 Member
    kevont wrote: »
    My wife and I eat out 5 to 6 nights a week. Neither of us likes to cook and frankly neither of us is very good at cooking :smiley: We do eat at the chains quite often and for those I just download their nutrition information and find something in my calorie range. We also eat at several local places and for those I have to estimate.

    What I do at the local places is order what I want and then compare that to a chain restaurant's version of that item and use the nutrition from the chain store. Also, I try to pick the chain store with the highest calorie count just to be on the safe side.

    An example, yesterday my wife and I went to an Italian restaurant and I got a breadstick, which was about 8 inches long. I compared that to the bread given at Outback (which is shorter but wider than the breadstick) and logged the breadstick as a loaf of Outback bread.

    This has worked for me for the 30 weeks that I've been on MFP. In that time I've lost about 75 pounds and only had one or two weeks where I gained weight instead of losing it.

    I hope this helps.

    Thank you all so much!!! The cutting down of wine has been the hardest! Who knew a bottle is almost 700 calories!!!???
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    If you eat out every once and awhile, just try to make smart choices and enjoy yourself.

    If you eat out often, I think you need to be a little more careful. Especially if you're only eating 1200 calories. My own preference would be no alcohol, no bread basket, no dessert. And then make a smart choice for dinner and a salad or app if it will fit. But you'll have to figure out what you're willing to do obviously.

    For logging you have two options. One - log something similar from a chain restaurant. Or - deconstruct the meal in your head and log the ingredients using eyeball ed portions. When I do this I always log an extra TBL of oil or butter, that's why restaurant food usually tastes better.

    Good luck!
  • Marykaylady2010
    Marykaylady2010 Posts: 69 Member
    amberj2001 wrote: »
    1200 is extremely low so depending on you’re activity level and how long your body can cope on such minimal calories is going to be hard because you may end up crash dieting in the long term which overall equals bad health benefits rather than good, I say if you go out every now and then enjoy yourself because life’s too short not to however if it’s every weekend then just choose a slightly more healthy option in what you eat

    1200 is the calories mfp gave me when I used the calculator. I tried checking the amount of calories I should me eating in various calculators and it’s generally about the same. I wear a Fitbit and on the weekend when I’m not chained to a desk all day the app gives me around 500 calories for being more active but during the week it’s a struggle to get exercise calories. I plan my foods and work in the higher calorie items I love. Why wouldn’t I be able to sustain this.

  • MailOrderBride
    MailOrderBride Posts: 27 Member
    Marykaylady2010 wrote: »
    amberj2001 wrote: »
    1200 is extremely low so depending on you’re activity level and how long your body can cope on such minimal calories is going to be hard because you may end up crash dieting in the long term which overall equals bad health benefits rather than good, I say if you go out every now and then enjoy yourself because life’s too short not to however if it’s every weekend then just choose a slightly more healthy option in what you eat

    1200 is the calories mfp gave me when I used the calculator. I tried checking the amount of calories I should me eating in various calculators and it’s generally about the same. I wear a Fitbit and on the weekend when I’m not chained to a desk all day the app gives me around 500 calories for being more active but during the week it’s a struggle to get exercise calories. I plan my foods and work in the higher calorie items I love. Why wouldn’t I be able to sustain this.

    I totally agree, I have no issues with sustaining 1250. People just have a tendency to make sweeping generalizations I suppose. We’re all different and have different body types and different goals. No need to demonize someone for having a goal that you may not agree with.

  • PowerliftingMom
    PowerliftingMom Posts: 430 Member
    I eat out once/week and always plan ahead for the day. I eat small, low carb/low fat meals before going out. I try to order something healthy (salmon, grilled chicken, etc). I can splurge too since I'm bulking and consuming 2200 calories. As long as you go back to your diet the next day, you will be fine. Remember, if you do gain some weight, it's mostly water weight since restaurant meals use tons of salt
  • MailOrderBride
    MailOrderBride Posts: 27 Member
    PowerliftingMom wrote: »
    I eat out once/week and always plan ahead for the day. I eat small, low carb/low fat meals before going out. I try to order something healthy (salmon, grilled chicken, etc). I can splurge too since I'm bulking and consuming 2200 calories. As long as you go back to your diet the next day, you will be fine. Remember, if you do gain some weight, it's mostly water weight since restaurant meals use tons of salt

    I’m dealing with that now...ugg. A weekend at my sisters meat heavy household and I feel like I’ve ballooned. Back at it this week though!

  • breathefire
    breathefire Posts: 35 Member
    to make sure i dont overdo it i always have to pick what im going to eat the day before going when im not starving :P i end up with the healthier choice

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