Avoiding eating out

ONUnicorn
ONUnicorn Posts: 45 Member
in Food and Nutrition
My husband and I eat out WAY too often. It's mostly a matter of convenience. It's not healthy for us, and it's expensive. So, what strategies do other people recommend to avoid eating out, especially on days when you aren't home?

Most weekdays we leave the house by about 8:00. Most weeknights we aren't home until 9 at the earliest, more normally 10. That makes it hard to, say, prep lunch the night before, and dinner is usually whatever we can grab on our way to wherever we're going.

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday are the worst. We often end up eating both lunch and dinner at either fast food or restaurants all three of those days, because we just aren't home.

Anyone have ideas?

Replies

  • DaisyHamilton
    DaisyHamilton Posts: 575 Member
    Spend your weekend meal prepping. Pack some granola in a little baggie, some berries, and a cup of yogurt. There's a super easy grab and go breakfast.
    For lunch on my super busy days, I'll just toss a whole salad kit bag in my lunch box. The caesar lite kits are around 300 for the whole bag. Or bring a baked chicken breast on salad. Super convenient.
    For dinner try to find those one pot, 5 ingredient meals. They take only long enough for the water to boil (so maybe 10 mins to cook). Or prepare yourselves something you can microwave. Chicken w/ steamed veggies is a classic.
  • FireOpalCO
    FireOpalCO Posts: 641 Member
    edited November 2018
    There are several ways to attack this: making good choices when eating out, packing lunches, and have emergency supplies.

    The best way to make healthy choices when eating out is to prepare in advance. I know which places near my work have dishes that are within my calorie goals and if I need to make any substitutions. Everything outside that list basically doesn't exist for me.

    You actually leave pretty late in the morning. I have to be out the door at 6:45. That's plenty of time to add in packing lunches, which really only takes about 15-20 minutes for one person to pack lunches and snacks for two people. Especially if you have easy to pack items. A typical lunch bag for me would be chicken breast slices, strawberries, blueberries, string cheese, low-fat yogurt, and an apple. That's enough for lunch and snacks. I have a Crew Cooler Jr from ebags that I highly recommend. Packs a lot of stuff and just throw an ice pack block on the bottom. For things like chicken breast or steak you can cook several on one night, and then each morning thin slice some of it for lunches. One night of cooking for lunches for 3 days. I do my chicken breasts in the instant pot.

    Emergency supplies: In my desk I keep a variety of shelf stable items. Belvita breakfast cookies, Fiber One bars, packs of oatmeal, tea. I can make a nice breakfast or make up for a light lunch pretty easily.
  • k8eekins
    k8eekins Posts: 2,264 Member
    edited November 2018
    ONUnicorn wrote: »
    My husband and I eat out WAY too often. It's mostly a matter of convenience. It's not healthy for us, and it's expensive. So, what strategies do other people recommend to avoid eating out, especially on days when you aren't home?

    Most weekdays we leave the house by about 8:00. Most weeknights we aren't home until 9 at the earliest, more normally 10. That makes it hard to, say, prep lunch the night before, and dinner is usually whatever we can grab on our way to wherever we're going.

    Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday are the worst. We often end up eating both lunch and dinner at either fast food or restaurants all three of those days, because we just aren't home.

    Anyone have ideas?

    I sympathise seeing how tight your schedule is. Seriously though, at seeing that you're exiting for work by 8am and returning at 10pm at the latest, the only window I'm seeing is that you have between 9.45pm to 11.15pm or from 10.45pm to 12.15am to decompress from the day's heavy load, prepare whatever your eating plan allows you for the next day's bites (around 250 - 300 calories per serving) as a couple, before you can wind-down well enough before bed.

    Your hours are horrendous, I agree, however, focus on time management, securing a sustainable rhythm you can both accommodate.

    ETA: Agree with the posters above and especially now, with the cold climes, the crockpot or the smoker are lifesavers.
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    Planning!

    -I keep protein bars and other snacks that meet my nutritional goals in my purse.
    -A small cooler to carry salads or sandwiches whenever you go out.
    -We buy a rotisserie chicken every week and shred it up to eat all week long. Good cold or you can heat it up for a warm meal.
    -microwave meals will also keep in coolers for the day.
    -when you are home, prepare yourself pleasant meals, so that eating at home has nice connotations. This doesn't have to be elaborate. I can microwave a sweet potato and some veg while pan searing lamb chops. Dinner is ready in less than 15 minutes.
    -crockpot meals for your late nights: it is easier to be satisfied with a protein bar at 6pm if you know a nice meal is waiting for you at home. Leftovers become microwave meals to take with you or cold meats for salads.
    -set a weekly budget. Figure out how much you are spending on eating out, start packing your meals and put the savings into a special account with a purpose that you designate. Vacation? New wardrobe?

    If all else fails, check your priorities. It sounds like you have a lot of activities after work. Are they more important than your health?
  • Cbean08
    Cbean08 Posts: 1,092 Member
    Keep stuff at home that you're actually interested in eating. If you like take out type stuff -

    frozen hamburger or chicken patties that are precooked (can easily be microwaved)
    shredded cheese
    eggs
    hamburger buns/ tortilla wraps/ pita breads
    pre cut up veggies/salad mixes
    frozen baked fries/tater tots
    lots of different seasonings and sauces

    Just from that you can make
    hamburger and fries
    chicken wrap
    pita sandwich
    quesadilla
    omelette
    tacos
    breakfast burrito
    eggs and potatoes

    For example
    put a Tyson precooked chicken breast in the microwave for 2 minutes (130 calories)
    regular sized hamburger bun into the toaster for 1 minute (180 calories)
    while you are waiting for those - put a handful of lettuce, cherry tomatoes and a couple dill pickles on a plate
    put the chicken on the bun
    put a handful of frozen fries on a plate and into the microwave for 3 minutes (160 calories)
    while you are waiting, dress the bun with mustard. squirt ketchup onto the plate (50 calories)
    take out the fries, put on the plate and eat.

    That's a chicken sandwich and a side of fries for about 550 calories and a total of about 10 minutes.





  • amy19355
    amy19355 Posts: 805 Member
    DaisyHamilton wrote: »
    Spend your weekend meal prepping. Pack some granola in a little baggie, some berries, and a cup of yogurt. There's a super easy grab and go breakfast.
    For lunch on my super busy days, I'll just toss a whole salad kit bag in my lunch box. The caesar lite kits are around 300 for the whole bag. Or bring a baked chicken breast on salad. Super convenient.
    For dinner try to find those one pot, 5 ingredient meals. They take only long enough for the water to boil (so maybe 10 mins to cook). Or prepare yourselves something you can microwave. Chicken w/ steamed veggies is a classic.

    Spend PART of your weekend meal prepping. Depending on your approach, the appliances available for use, it's possible to up a weeks' worth of meals in 3 hours of effort, a little longer if you dawdle to watch tv along the way.
    (unashamed disclaimer - I'm an unpaid volunteer walking advertisement for an electric Pressure cooker , for the speed it brings to the meal-prep concept.)

    My weekend effort is to pre-cook and freeze 12 - 14 measured portions of:
    Meat + beans, meat + rice, meat w/some stock, rice w/stock, beans w/mixed veg. (about 5# meat, 2 dry cups of rice, 2 dry cups beans).
    Some of this effort is reserved for the immediate day or two for eating fresh.

    The rest of my meal prep schedule generally follows this pattern:
    2 x week-morning effort is to cook up about 3 days worth of steel cut oats. (1 cup dry)
    2 x other week-morning is making about 3 days worth of rice. (1 cup dry)
    1 x week-evening effort is a batch of yogurt (1/2 gal)
    1 x other week-evening effort is about 3 days worth of beans. (1/2 cup dry)

    All this stuff reheats quickly - microwave, steamer, skillet, as I wish.

    I keep frozen veg on hand, and I frequently do a quick run to the produce section of the grocery for a head of lettuce or a handful of fresh fruit.

    My herb and spice shelf brings the variety of flavor to a base group of foods that I can mix and match to achieve balance.

    I've doubt I have often spent more than 30 minutes putting a meal together from my prepared portions. And it typically takes more like 10-15 minutes.

    maybe some of my methods will inspire ideas for your lifestyle.
  • born_of_fire74
    born_of_fire74 Posts: 776 Member
    I second the crockpot suggestion however I use mine a little differently than quiksylver296. On the weekend, I cook up a pot full of chilli . I have two different chillis that I'm using right now, a spicy one and a sweet potato one for variety. I get about a dozen to fifteen 10oz meals out of the recipes each. Freeze those and I'm set for either lunch or dinner or even both if needed for weeks to come.

    Of course you don't have to use chilli, that just happens to be my thing right now. I've done stew, soup, roast beef and ham in the past. The point is that one day of very light labour slow cooking gives me several days' if not weeks' worth of meals that just need to be reheated for a few minutes in the microwave.
  • leanjogreen18
    leanjogreen18 Posts: 2,492 Member
    Everyone has given you great advice.

    I also eat out a lot and I started asking for a to go box right away and put half my meal away and save for lunch the next day. Saves a little money.

    I’ve also started making better choices and sometimes I’ll order a side salad and share meals with my husband.
  • amy19355
    amy19355 Posts: 805 Member
    Phoebe5164 wrote: »
    I love all the advise given , but the bottom line in my opinion is you have to choose to eat at home . You have to decide to plan meals on the weekends, and you have to ask yourself if being that busy is really giving you what you want out of life .....

    And a crockpot is a lifesaver 🌸

    And an instant pot is a time saver!
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
    I have a crockpot and a three tier steamer. Others have talked about the crockpot. The steamer is awesome, because I can throw in meat and veg and walk away. Take a shower, do something else, and It's ready in 15-30 minutes depending on what food I've put in there. Batch cooking and freezing into single serving containers for grab and go meals. I've also heard good things about instant pots.

    You could also make a game of it. Put the money you save from eating out, into a savings account and use that to reward yourselves (trip somewhere, maybe).
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    All great ideas.

    If you are stuck eating out then here are some strategies:

    Eat half. Restaurant portions are about double what you need.

    Skip the fries or sub for salad.

    For each fast food place plan the best option.

    Wendy’s half size chilli salad is pretty good.
  • Cbean08
    Cbean08 Posts: 1,092 Member
    The other problem I've personally run into is "I'm hungry and need to eat now and I don't want to wait until I get home."

    About 30 minutes before you leave work, eat something at your desk, about 100 calories. Banana, a granola bar, string cheese, beef jerky, carrots and hummus etc. That'll give you enough energy and satiety to get home and make a better decision for dinner. If you've become accustomed to eating in the car (like sneaking fries out of the bag, haha) then keep a bottle of sparkling flavored water or something else to enjoy like a diet soda.
  • hroderick
    hroderick Posts: 756 Member
    We are really loving platejoy.com for doing our planning. They even factor how much time we have to cook into our profile along with a tapestry of other life factors. Extra servings go into ziploc bowls for lunch and busy day dinners. The recipes are fantastic. It seems you may need to prepare extra meals when you have time. Our eating out dropped from 5x per week to 1x. And our nutrition quality is over the top. Both of our cholesterol has returned to normal. I'm off blood pressure med.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    If you want to eat home prepared food with that schedule you might need to put in a lot of work on it at least one day a week/month. You might try to reduce your eating out to dinners only and pack lunches or only 3 days a week.

    You don't say if you would be able to heat food or keep food in a refrigerator. Your goal is to spend less and eat healthier. Healthier might mean eating more vegetables or it might mean you need to reduce sodium. You don't say any food preferences or food prep skill level. Recommendations are going to be pretty generic.

    Meal planning for quick to prepare meals like stir fry, eggs, pasta, tacos, zucchini noodles, grilled sandwiches, small/thin cut meat or vegetables. Or plan some low prep meals like simple baked chicken breast or fish with baked potato and salad.

    Look up once a month cooking or freezer meals. Cook double when you do cook so you have enough for additional meals. Soup often reheats and freezes well. Prepping some ingredients in advance like keeping cut up vegetables or cooked chicken on hand to add to meals quickly. Buy frozen vegetables or canned vegetables. Use things like canned beans.

    Prepping and packing foods for the week all at once. Look up meal prepping via your favorite search engine and you can see what people do. Pack lunch as you are putting away dinner leftovers. Make simple things like sandwiches.

    Slow cooker is useful. Many recipes are pretty low prep.

    Use convenience foods or restaurants for at least part of your meal. Some people have frozen meals and just cook vegetables to add to it. Buy a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store and add things to it.

    Buy ready to eat foods at the grocery store while you are out- cooked meat, lunchmeat, salad, precut vegetables, cottage cheese, fruit, yogurt, deli might have prepared hot meals, hard boiled eggs, cheese, bread, nuts, tuna, peanut butter, crackers, hummus


    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10657387/healthy-fast-food/p1

  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    Honestly if this was my schedule I'd be seeing what I could do about alleviating it, never mind what it was doing to my food choices. If it's truly that way all the time and not just sometimes, like it has been for months and will be for months, I don't know how you're not all burned out.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,420 Member
    I'm with MelanieCN77. I'd be proactively seeking ways to shorten my time away from home, whether it would be new jobs, jobs closer to home, or whatever needs to give.

    That's no way to live.

    With that said, there's always a way to make better food choices at fast food places or go to grocery stores for premade food with lower calories. There's always weekly food prep and a small cooler to take along.

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