Eating healthy on vacation

Hi everyone I need ideas for eating healthy on vacation. We will be staying in our family vacation home & cooking but we will also be eating out. How do you suggest logging restaurant foods. We will not be eating at any restaurant chains only local establishments.

Replies

  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    When I cook on vacation I usually just cook what we cook at home. I would consider any food we wanted to eat on vacation "healthy" though because that is a time to relax.

    Logging local restaurants is a combination of finding similar dishes from other chain restaurants in the db and using some common sense. You basically just do the best you can and accept it won't be 100 percent accurate.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,089 Member
    There are two basic approaches to logging meals at restaurants that don't provide nutritional information:

    1) Deconstruct and estimate -- Log X ounces or grams of chicken or beef or salmon or whatever (using appropriate entries for the cut off meat), plus a guesstimate for fat used to cook it, then do the same for any sides, appetizers, drinks, desserts, etc.; or

    2) Search for an entry for a similar meal at a chain that does prove nutritional information -- preferably one that you've eaten at yourself, so you know how it compared in portion size.

    You can make method 1 easier by choosing dishes that are prepared simply (e.g., a piece of broiled or grilled protein with steamed, grilled, raw, or roasted veggies). You can make method 2 easier by choosing dishes that are common and on the menu of most restaurants of the type you're eating at.

    Some people will simply choose to quick add some number of calories they think is appropriate, and others won't bother to log anything. I'm not fans of those approaches, but to each their own.

    Personally, I order what I want and do the best I can with logging it.
  • ashxtasticness
    ashxtasticness Posts: 160 Member
    When going out to eat you can search for most meals, read a few of them and compare the nutrition facts, go with what the average tends to be. I'm sure it won't be spot on, but can't be too far off if they seem to all be relatively close.

    Enjoy your vacation!