Eating Out

nikiesmailbox

Friday, August 3rd, I ate at a El Mezcal restaurant. There is not nutrition information available for their menu; at least not for what I ate. It would be nice if more restaurants would make this information available.

buckeye213

Agreed but then sometimes when I see the menus and how many calories I am like ok not eating here where again.. not sure there are healthy options for Mexican restaurants 😉

orangegato

nikiesmailbox wrote: »

Friday, August 3rd, I ate at a El Mezcal restaurant. There is not nutrition information available for their menu; at least not for what I ate. It would be nice if more restaurants would make this information available.

Request the restaurant's menu through the MFP phone app and hope it gets added in the future. In the meantime, do your best, find similar foods on the app and log them. Better than nothing.

DoubleUbea

The law states that calorie counts are legally required at chain restaurants. For the independent restaurants it can be costly.

orangegato wrote: »

Request the restaurant's menu through the MFP phone app and hope it gets added in the future.

This depends if the restaurant is willing to provide that information.

thisPGHlife

buckeye213 wrote: »

Agreed but then sometimes when I see the menus and how many calories I am like ok not eating here where again.. not sure there are healthy options for Mexican restaurants 😉

Beans and rice and salsa, oh my! I feel like I would have an easy time eating healthy at a Mexican restaurant.

lucys1225

buckeye213 wrote: »

Agreed but then sometimes when I see the menus and how many calories I am like ok not eating here where again.. not sure there are healthy options for Mexican restaurants 😉

There are many healthy options at Mexican restaurants.

Kathryn247

I try to find a chain restaurant that has nutrition information available, and find a comparable item. When I go to a local breakfast place, I use Bob Evans information. For Mexican, you could try Moe's Southwest Grill.

TonyB0588

nikiesmailbox wrote: »

Friday, August 3rd, I ate at a El Mezcal restaurant. There is not nutrition information available for their menu; at least not for what I ate. It would be nice if more restaurants would make this information available.

Just make a note of the items on your menu and estimate the quantities to add to your MFP diary.

WinoGelato

I love eating at local, independent restaurants! The requirement to accurately estimate calorie counts for their menu items would be costly and cumbersome to the business.

What I typically do is to look for similar items from a chain restaurant - for Mexican you could look for On The Border, or type in the foods you partake in and find something that sounds similar in the database already. A restaurant prepared food is generally going to be higher calorie than home prepared foods - but you should be able to find something similar.

I've been using MFP for 5+ years, lost the weight I set out to lose and am now maintaining for a few years and I eat out regularly. In fact I had mexican food: chips, queso, shrimp quesadilla and a margarita - this weekend! Making educated guesses never derailed my progress.

snemberton

WinoGelato wrote: »

I love eating at local, independent restaurants! The requirement to accurately estimate calorie counts for their menu items would be costly and cumbersome to the business.

What I typically do is to look for similar items from a chain restaurant - for Mexican you could look for On The Border, or type in the foods you partake in and find something that sounds similar in the database already. A restaurant prepared food is generally going to be higher calorie than home prepared foods - but you should be able to find something similar.

I've been using MFP for 5+ years, lost the weight I set out to lose and am now maintaining for a few years and I eat out regularly. In fact I had mexican food: chips, queso, shrimp quesadilla and a margarita - this weekend! Making educated guesses never derailed my progress.

I second this. We eat out a LOT and I have Mexican food at least twice a month. For the fajitas at my local place, I'll log it as Chili's fajitas, as it's similar ingredients and size. Same goes for chips, salsa and queso. It isn't 100% accurate, but close enough.

hesn92

I love Mexican food. I don't find it to be "unhealthy" at all. Mostly I get fajitas or other similar foods, maybe tacos or a burrito. Which is basically a meat and veggies, with salsa/pico de gallo and guacamole, tortillas, rice and beans. Nothin wrong with any of that. I agree they should have their nutrition information available but I much prefer local restaurants over chains, and I would much rather eat good food and estimate calorie counts than waste my money at some place like applebees. I don't eat out enough for it to really be an issue. Too expensive. We go out for dinner maybe 3-4 times a month or so. I agree with others, find a comparable item in the database from a different restaurant.

hesn92

buckeye213 wrote: »

Agreed but then sometimes when I see the menus and how many calories I am like ok not eating here where again.. not sure there are healthy options for Mexican restaurants 😉

Mexican food seems healthy to me

dollarbill181

Can't go wrong with a taco salad, just don't eat the deep fried shell.

BigRed2525

Like others have said, I tend to use the closest chain restaurant proximate, although I rarely eat at chains. Not 100% accurate, but close enough to not break the (deficit) bank.

I’m so craving Mexican now....there is a Mexican place right next to my gym, and I’ve been smelling fresh baked tortilla chips every day. Gonna have to work it in this week!

shunggie

I get fajitas, salad, or fish tacos (not fried fish) at Mexican restaurants. There is one here in town with the best salad- grilled chicken, roasted corn & black bean salsa, Monterey jack cheese, fresh slices of mango, strawberries, and avocado. Served with both honey mustard and mango vinaigrette dressings. Sprinkled with just a touch of chile.
All the fruits and veggies make this salad my favorite. Who knew the sprinkled chile would make such a huge difference!

rsclause

Sometimes I find something comparable and add some calories to it. Other times I can just look at a plate and say "yeah, that looks like 600 calories" and then add another 200 to that. It may not help when ordering but your logging will be a good guess.