How to log food when eating out

dariusalgeri780

been doing good logging food but don’t know how to log food when eating out at restaurant as i can’t weight it etc

cmriverside

Well, you'll do what we all do. Guess.

I find that I can "deconstruct" stuff by looking at it and tasting it...that comes from lots of practice logging food using my food scale.

Some larger restaurant chains post their nutrition data online, you can try that or use one from a chain when you go to a Mom and Pop restaurant. You can also use online data to pre-choose what you're going to order.

Or take a picture of it and log it later. No matter what you do, I'd say try to log something as close as you can. Getting into the habit of logging everything you eat will serve you well in the long term. It doesn't have to be exact.

dariusalgeri780

okay appreciate the great answer, yeah i’ve been logging everything and trying to put down everything as close as it can get but yeah sounds good 👍👍

tulips_and_tea

Good for you for consistently logging your food! Do you currently use a food scale? If so, try to learn portion sizes as best you can from the scale. Then when you can't weigh your food, you'll be better at estimating sizes and portions.

Good advice from @cmriverside, also.

ridiculous59

I also like to look at the menu before I eat at a place for the first time (even small restaurants generally post their menus on their website or FB page). That way I can choose my meal before I get sidetracked by all the other yummy things on the menu that the other people at the table are talking about

AnnPT77

Great advice above. Also, as a piggyback on this one:

ridiculous59 wrote: »

I also like to look at the menu before I eat at a place for the first time (even small restaurants generally post their menus on their website or FB page). That way I can choose my meal before I get sidetracked by all the other yummy things on the menu that the other people at the table are talking about

. . . many people don't realize how much restaurants may be willing to modify menu items. It never hurts to ask (politely). I've been doing this for decades (because I was vegetarian before most restaurants had great vegetarian choices). Even fast food places may allow substitutions or removal of ingredients.

I almost always order burger-ish things without the bun, because I just don't love bread that much. Salad dressing (or gravy, sauce, etc.) may be served on the side. If they make up salads (or whatever) for each order, you may be able to swap out a fried protein for a grilled/broiled one that they have, or for something like hard-boiled eggs or cottage cheese. I've often ordered a plate of all the veggie sides as my meal.

At fast food places, I've ordered just "round eggs" at McDonald's (no bun or meat), left off rice and added more black beans at Taco Bell, etc.

It never hurts to ask. The worst that can happen is they'll say "no", or that there'll be an up-charge. If you ask the server, and they accommodate you (and you're in the US), be sure to tip them accordingly.