Restaurant - No Nutrition Information

Options
jennwild
jennwild Posts: 6 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am going to be eating at a restaurant that does not have nutrition information available. They have a corned beef and cabbage special that I was hoping to order. When I look at the MFP food list, there are several different calorie values for corned beef and cabbage. How do I record the calories for my meal as accurately as possible?

Replies

  • bethlaf
    bethlaf Posts: 954 Member
    Options
    look at what your eating think about the ingredients - then come here and make the "approx." recipe. that's what i would do
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
    Options
    just do the best you can, none of this is exact. i eat out so infrequently that I just don't even worry about it and enjoy myself; if it was a regular occurrence I might have more concern.
  • redwoodkestrel
    redwoodkestrel Posts: 339 Member
    Options
    When you get to the restaurant try to size up the portions of everything. That should help you pick a more accurate "match" in the database. Be sure to pick a match that comes from another restaurant - since it's way more likely to be a closer match on things like fat and sodium than a homemade recipe will be.

    After I've come up with a few possible matches in the database, I look at the nutrition information on all of them. If they're all about the same, just pick one. If one is really low - don't pick it. I usually err on the side of caution and pick one that's on the high end of the average... or just the highest one, if I really have no clue. :smile:
  • jstout365
    jstout365 Posts: 1,686 Member
    Options
    I just did this today for my dinner (haven't eaten it yet). I know what I want from the restaurant and did my *best* estimate of the burger I want. Now, I will adjust when I see how it looks. I usually add the components individually (my diary is open and you can see the components of a burger under my dinner today).

    Here is the calorie info on corned beef that should be accurate to base the database entries on: http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/beef-products/3488/2

    I often check that site to see how foods in the database match up to it. Also, in the event you didn't notice, entries with the * are member entries and run a high risk of being inaccurate. If you see an entry that doesn't have the * try and use that one since it is a MFP entered one and most often from the website above.
  • eddiesmith1
    eddiesmith1 Posts: 1,550 Member
    Options
    Corned Beef can vary a fair bit, you can order it lean, or fatty or a mix at any good deli
    the hardest part of eating it out though is knowing the weight . the cabbage won't amount to a lot
    the big thing will be Sodium - drink a lot of water 4 ounces of corned beef is half a days sodium intake
  • rduhlir
    rduhlir Posts: 3,550 Member
    Options
    Corned Beef isn't that bad usually, just high in sodium. It is just one meal and one day, enjoy it.
  • vvvalentines
    vvvalentines Posts: 151
    Options
    I don't go out that often, so this might or might not work for you, but if I'm eating out somewhere that doesn't list calories (i.e, nearly all non-chains) then I just don't log that day. So long as you're only not-logging one day a week, or one day every couple weeks, it's not a big deal at all.

Categories