Do you eat at places that don’t have their menus on MyFitnessPal?

abimaelmonarrez7615

If so, how do you calculate what eat?

diannethegeek

I pre-plan, leave lots of calories in my day for the meal, and log something similar in the MFP database. I know it won't be exactly right, but as long as I don't do it too often everything works out

fitoverfortymom

I try to avoid it, but it happens. I pick something close from another restaurant in the database and do my best. It's a rare occurrence and hasn't really affected my overall success.

3bambi3

diannethegeek wrote: »

I pre-plan, leave lots of calories in my day for the meal, and log something similar in the MFP database. I know it won't be exactly right, but as long as I don't do it too often everything works out

+1, this is what I do as well.

malibu927

We usually go to the sports bar in town about once a month. I've found entries in the database that correlate to the items I order (salad, pulled sirloin sandwich, or a club wrap).

estherdragonbat

I have no choice. Toronto's few kosher restaurants neither list their calories (only mandatory for chains with more than a certain number of locations), nor are any in the database. I do tend to order dishes that ARE in the database under different restaurants. I figure a large cheese slice from Slice 'N Bites is comparable to a large cheese slice from Pizza Pizza; shakshuka with two eggs from Hummus Kitchen is comparable to the same dish from Aish Tanoor. If I opt to splurge and get it in a bread bowl, I add the bread bowl entry from Panera. It's never going to be exact, but it seems to be close enough and I don't eat out more than once a month or so, so it's no big deal if I'm way off once in a while.

bbell1985

I avoid chains. I live in NYC. Not wasting my time on then when I'm surrounded by amazing food. I've been logging and weighing my food long enough that I can pick apart a meal and log ingredients separately by the oz and gram.

Or I quick add 1500 and call it a day.

ZRunner5Lulaica

I guesstimate using other entries. I generally have an idea of what the portion looks like and what the calories should be, so I can find close enough options to log.

lorrpb

All the time. Just make a best guesstimate based on similar entries..

pomegranatecloud

I prefer not to eat at chains.

apullum

I almost never eat at restaurants that DO have menus in MFP. Those places are generally chains that I don’t consider to be worth my calories.

Log your best estimate of what you ate. Pick something as similar as possible from the database, and always estimate high for restaurant food.

lemurcat12

bbell1985 wrote: »

I avoid chains. I live in NYC. Not wasting my time on then when I'm surrounded by amazing food. I've been logging and weighing my food long enough that I can pick apart a meal and log ingredients separately by the oz and gram.

Or I quick add 1500 and call it a day.

Exactly this, except Chicago, not NYC.

I very often estimate a round number (not always so large as 1500, 1000 is more common), and just leave room in my diary for error. I did this (both the trying to log and the estimate method) while losing and it never seemed to affect my loss rate -- I did it about once a week and lost as MFP predicted.

wizzybeth

diannethegeek wrote: »

I pre-plan, leave lots of calories in my day for the meal, and log something similar in the MFP database. I know it won't be exactly right, but as long as I don't do it too often everything works out

This

jessetfan

I tend to eat at places that don't have menus in MFP, but I look at what the entries look like for those that do and find a consensus on the calorie estimates, generally going for the higher ones. Tonight for dinner I ordered Chinese, so I looked for my Hot & Sour Soup (went with an estimate of 100 calories per cup, although estimates ranged from 40 to 100), beef teriyaki (again went with the estimate of 100 calories per stick, although there was a range), and sugar donuts (consistently listed at 120 calories each). I'm being very deliberate about choosing foods carefully and before I might have had the soup and teriyaki in addition to other menu items, but tonight I logged it and if I'm off by a few calories it isn't going to be a huge deal. I like food, and I want to be able to eat it sensibly, so this is a tool for me, not a race. If at some point it doesn't work as well I'll rethink my strategy.

TonyB0588

bbell1985 wrote: »

I avoid chains. I live in NYC. Not wasting my time on then when I'm surrounded by amazing food. I've been logging and weighing my food long enough that I can pick apart a meal and log ingredients separately by the oz and gram.

Or I quick add 1500 and call it a day.

Wow!! 1500 in one meal? I hardly ever eat out, so this is not a problem for me. But if I do buy something that isn't listed, I search and enter something similar that's already in the database.

eminater

I try to order the food as "clean" as possible so I can log it by what it is. So I always have to get dressings and sauces on the side and just try to log the individual components of the meal. I really prefer to home cook;

PS - are food chain calories reliable to you think? I don't know. I am not sure how much I would trust that.

yirara

if I go out I go to proper reseaurants with a chef, and not a chain restaurants with the same precooked food in every outlet. So yes, there's never any calorie information. But it's expensive and I don't do this very often.

Unknown

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Lounmoun

Sure. I eat at places that are not in the database sometimes. I just find something similar in the database.
I eat out 1 meal a week. Even if I am off it doesn't have a big impact.

Sabine_Stroehm

Most places I eat aren't in the database.

bbell1985

TonyB0588 wrote: »

bbell1985 wrote: »

I avoid chains. I live in NYC. Not wasting my time on then when I'm surrounded by amazing food. I've been logging and weighing my food long enough that I can pick apart a meal and log ingredients separately by the oz and gram.

Or I quick add 1500 and call it a day.

Wow!! 1500 in one meal? I hardly ever eat out, so this is not a problem for me. But if I do buy something that isn't listed, I search and enter something similar that's already in the database.

Sure. I definitely eat 1500 calorie meals once in awhile. Not that hard. Cheeseburger, fries, a beer. Maybe a bite of someones appetizer. The other day I ordered a roast 1/4 chicken, tostones, some other friend peruvian goodness, dressing on my salad. I logged 1200-1500.

apullum

eminater wrote: »

I try to order the food as "clean" as possible so I can log it by what it is. So I always have to get dressings and sauces on the side and just try to log the individual components of the meal. I really prefer to home cook;

PS - are food chain calories reliable to you think? I don't know. I am not sure how much I would trust that.

Whether or not the calorie counts posted online are reliable depend a lot on the restaurant’s policies. Does everything come pre-packaged and pre-measured from the factory? That might be the case for some fast food places, but what you’re actually served probably depends more on an employee “eyeballing it”...and we all know how well that works.

janejellyroll

I do this all the time. I'll either find items that look similar from places that do have nutritional information available or I will use my best judgment from how I would cook a dish like that at home.