Eating out

lebbyloses

So I am wondering how you all pick which database entry matches food from a (non-chain) restaurant.

For example: I recently ordered fish tacos in a bar. Now, I know anything in that situation will be a rough estimate...but there was about a 400-calorie range in the database options. How do I decide what's right? I finally picked one that was about what I HOPED was accurate, but wasn't the lowest.

This weekend we're going to a bar with great burgers. Grass-fed, local beef! Yum. And yes, they have salads on the menu, but I'll probably want a burger. And is my burger 200 calories? 600? How do I know? I really need to figure this out a bit better so I can make the right adjustments to my food and exercise to make room for the red meat I crave.

And speaking of red meat, black bean burgers? I make my own sometimes, and I put all kinds of stuff in depending on my mood. So how does anyone make a reasonable guess at them in a restaurant?

Cindyinpg

You're probably going to make a lot of assumptions. If you make burgers at home and have weighed out their ingredients, you should be able to somewhat eyeball what a similar one is at a local restaurant. You can always ask the server questions about the leanness of the beef used, kinds of sauce etc. If she or he has been well trained they should know what's in the food and how it's prepared. Don't be afraid to ask them to go light on the sauce and heavy on the veggies (or whatever). I worked in a restaurant for years and special requests are commonplace. Otherwise, when I'm in doubt, I'll log the higher calorie option.

snejkaxo

I search through the database for entries that sound similar to what I ate, and then I look for the smallest amount of calories that I can find, and I record that. And then I channel thin thoughts! LOL No seriously. That's what I do. Mind is a powerful thing. Think thin! If you don't eat out all the time, then it doesn't matter anyway. Just make your next day light, and everything will balance out.

JustSammi

I just look through the database and try to find something that closely matches. And I always pick the higher calorie option from the database as I'd rather overestimate than underestimate.