Estimating Calories while eating out..

brittlb07

I’m not sure this question has a definitive answer, but I am at a loss of what to do when I eat out at a restaurant that doesn’t list calories. My husband and I frequent one Mexican restaurant and one local pizza chain on a weekly basis as our small splurge for the week. I’ve tried searching for the calories but they vary so between listings. Do you guys usually over estimate and pick the highest calorie listing given? That’s what I’ve been doing but then worry that I ate too little or too much for the day. In good news, doesn’t seem to derail me the next day so maybe it doesn’t matter.

MichelleSilverleaf

Kind of sounds like you already have your answer. If what you're doing in terms of guesstimating calories doesn't appear to be hindering your progress then you're probably okay. Your own tracking (in terms of weight) can sometimes be all the indicator you need.

Phirrgus

I over estimate. I had pizza yesterday (smaller slices) that were take out away from home and chose a 320 cal. per entry slice when I entered it. I fiugre if I'm not consistently over eating it will leave me no worse for the wear.

spelling edit

Maxematics

When I used to track food, I'd look at up to 10 listings and see the calorie variations and which ones had macro information as well. I'd go with one on the higher end if there was one, as long as it was reasonable. If there wasn't much variation, I'd pick one and log it as 1.1 servings or so. In the end it didn't change much. I think I overestimated most of the time but I would rather overestimate than underestimate.

WynterDreaming

Overestimating is generally our friend in that case, as you assumed. Sadly it's just about the only thing we can do for small local places.

WinoGelato

I usually look at a chain restaurant that has calories in the database and find something similar. For Mexican there should be lots of equivalent restaurant entries and for pizza, it’s usually more about getting the type of pizza similar - big difference between ultra thin crust vs hand tossed vs chicago deep dish.

But as you’ve been doing just find something that looks right, aim a little high if you aren’t sure, log it and move on. I eat in restaurants of all different kinds and it never derailed my progress. Be aware of potential temporary water weight gain for a day or two afterwards though.