Accounting for Calories when you eat out?

Aimstew22

How do you all usually account for the calories in a meal you eat out somewhere? I know most chain places you can find nutritional information on their site somewhere. But what if you go to a mom & pop shop or some place that isn't a chain? I tried to questimate the calories etc in the breakfast I ate this morning but I feel like I could be totally off. I've started avoiding going out to eat because of this. Any advice on how you usually account for calories when you eat out and can't find them online would be great!

AmyRhubarb

SWAG method! (learned from a former boss - Scientific Wild-*kitten* Guessing ) I try to find what seems like the closest match int he database and just go with it. It's just one day, generally one meal, so not a biggie.

Or if I don't feel like hunting for close matches, occasionally I'll just quick add my remaining cals for the day and call it good. Again, it's only one day. And generally those little locally owned mom & pop places are the BEST!

12bfree

I use generic calories for the items then add 20%. I'd rather estimate over than under.

misschoppo

I don't eat out that often but when I do it is most likely at small independents that don't display any nutritional info anywhere. I used to find something comparable in the database to log it as but since that is not really any better than taking a guess I don't log when eating out anymore (unless at a place where the actual accurate info is available) and just enjoy it as it isn't a regular thing for me so I don't worry about it. If you eat out more frequently I guess it becomes more of an issue.

Charliejl82

There is absolutely no way of knowing the calorie content - even for chain places.

I don't really eat out but on the rare occasion I do I eat less during the day (carbs and fat wise) and then I choose as clean a meal as possible eg steak, grilled chicken, sweet potato and I don't worry about the calories - if you limit the times you eat out then once in a while will be a good well earned treat and you should enjoy it.

If you eat out a lot then you need to consider what is more important, losing weight or socialising. (this is my opinion).

BoxerBrawler

Yes, choose clean meals so it's easier to track and if you've been weighing your foods you should be able to kind of eyeball the appropriate portion. For example... I'll order a protein and ask for double the veggie instead of the starch. I also ask for sauces and dressings, etc. on the side. I try to over estimate the calories a little bit when I log and I usually quick add 50 or so for oil or butter, etc. I know at some places it's hard to tell. The last time I went for breakfast at a non-chain place I just asked my waitress some questions like, how many egg whites are used in the egg white dish, about how much batter mix is used for the pancakes and do you know the brand, etc.? Most places don't mind if you ask questions or ask for modifications to the menu choices

Mbierschbach

As everyone has said - find representative things and log that. A tip I can add is to try and reverse engineer the recipe for what you had, it's not that challenging if you're just looking at macros. When I go out for Mexican at a small local place I get a dish that's chicken, onions, chipotle in adobo, and - I'm not fooling myself, some vegetable oil for cooking it up on the flat top. That recipe isn't necessarily in MFP but it wasn't all to hard to come up with.

jeffininer

Yup, usually just find something that is similar. If there's a couple different options, I usually go with the highest calorie count.

beachgod

I don't worry about it nor do I even care about finding a guesstimate in the database (I do log Taco Tuesday from Tijuana Flats, though!). Not logging one meal on one day is not going to make a big enough difference for me to care about. I realized this after I was a killjoy at a restaurant last year, shortly before my unsustainable eating program got old and I left MFP and tracking for a few months. Being focused on my health is great, being obsessive is not so great sometimes.

123stefania

I use generic calories for the items then add 20%. I'd rather estimate over than under.

I do the same thing better more then not enough.

Kanuenue

Not trying to make anyone paranoid but restaurants and processed food companies are allowed to be 20% off from their listed nutritional totals without penalty. Maybe this will change with the new labeling system, but I doubt they are making policy changes as well.

Just recommending to over estimate a bit when eating out. I like the SWAG method listed above.

KariOrtiz2014

Guesstimate! Closest match on the database! And portion control it.

BarbieAS

Yep, like most have said, I make my best guesses. I just try to make sure I'm REALLY internally honest/realistic with myself on serving sizes, and to make sure to account for cooking oils, and to not just pick the entries that sort of match what I'm searching for but have the most attractive nutritional info (no, that salad dressing was probably not 40 calories per tb). Overall, I don't eat out THAT often (1, maybe 2 meals per week, tops, sometimes 0, unless I'm traveling for work or something), and when I make food at home I'm meticulous about weighing/measuring, so I figure it all balances out. It's all a guessing game anyway, even with pre-packaged and specifically measured food - "close enough" works for me.

lemurcat12

It's a huge pain, the thing I like least about logging so far. Not logging doesn't work for me, since I like to keep track so I can calculate my TDEE and so on, and also like to get a general sense of my macros for the week. So I estimate, understanding that it's probably off. If I can't find something that looks comparable from a chain (I often can't), I guess at the ingredients as best possible and then add in extra butter (depending on the cuisine), just because.

I don't much care if the calorie count in that one day is perfect--it doesn't matter that much over the long run, although I try to build in some room in my week to allow for some inaccuracy. I suppose if your results are inconsistent with what you think they should be and a lot of the inputs are these kinds of estimates, that suggests one cause, but I haven't found it to be a problem so far.

Eating out is something I really enjoy and a significant part of my social life (there are other parts too, of course) so for me it's one of those things that you have to figure out how to make work within the weight loss plan.

JoRocka

SWAG method! (learned from a former boss - Scientific Wild-*kitten* Guessing ) I try to find what seems like the closest match int he database and just go with it. It's just one day, generally one meal, so not a biggie.

Or if I don't feel like hunting for close matches, occasionally I'll just quick add my remaining cals for the day and call it good. Again, it's only one day. And generally those little locally owned mom & pop places are the BEST!

running joke in our office of engineers actually- swinging wild *kitten* guess happens a lot (which is scary)

but she nailed it here
- just ball park- find something that's close to what you ate.

I try to get dishes with no sauces- or ask for sauce/dressing on the side so I can see how much is in there- makes for guessing a little easier- I know what plain chicken is- so if I get it with the sauce I can mod/add so it's higher calories for what I added.

sfbaumgarten

I've just been logging the information in "Today's Food Notes" so I can at least refer back to what I had... even if I don't have the nutritional info.

eddiesmith1

I don't eat out a lot but I will guestimate based on what the dish is (I've worked in restaurants and purchase for a hotel so I can generally get pretty close, I'll just overestimate as others do. But really since I don't do it all the time I don't really worry I just eat what I want on the menu, as some others said it's only one meal on one day even if you killed the day odds are the week is still ok