Eating out is basically impossible

Biggirllittledreams

We all feel your pain! It can be a trial, but if you plan ahead it's doable, particularly at higher-end or non-chain restaurants. For salads I always order it with grilled chicken or fish. I carry my own low-cal dressing with me, and make them leave off cheese, croutons and all that other fattening stuff. I always take fake butter with me just in case I decide to have a baked potato for dinner (if so, that's all I will eat. A BP is very filling). If there is a grilled/blackened fish or chicken option, I will have it with veggies--if it also comes with rice, I will only eat about a 1/4 cup of the rice. I never touch the bread, appetizers or desserts. I DO save caloric room for a glass or two of wine, but I'm careful to ask the server what the pour volume is (usually runs 4-5 ounces), so I can figure it into my allotment. Many restaurants have menus on line, so I often look them up ahead of time and plug the calories I intend to consume when eating out into my calculator, so I can eat accordingly during the day. This way I never accidentally go over. We're very social, so I eat out 2-3 times a week, and this method has worked beautifully. Mind you, my husband has the freakish metabolism of someone half his age (unfair!) and sometimes it's a serious exercise in willpower to watch him scarf down the huge steak, fries and that glorious piece of pecan turtle cheesecake...

If you're going to do that, why eat out at all? Why not just bring your own food? It seems rather counterproductive to go out to eat, and bring the ingredients with you; it's okay to splurge every now and then. A few tablespoons of dressing or a few teaspoons of butter won't kill you if you consume them in moderation.

ianthy

Hi

My approach is that i am paying the bill so can ask for the food to be prepared how i want it.

Salad served with no croutons and dressing low cal dressing on the side then i can add as little or much as i want. Sometimes i will order roasted root vegetables as a starter - which can be filling and tasty. I generally go for the fish option for main course and insist on it being grilled with a drop of oil. I am always clear with the waiter if you bring my food with dressing on or loads of oil - then i will have to send it back. Always works for me.

Yes - eating out takes some planning when you are on a diet/healthy eating programme but don't be afraid to ask for you want.

lemon629

I frequently eat out. Just eat slowly, be careful with the bread/chips, don't drink alcohol or only one drink, no dessert. You may want to be careful with sauces and salad dressings, but no need for major modifications. Split the entree in half and ask for it to be boxed up. Follow these rules and you will probably continue to lose weight. I lost 60 pounds eating like that.

well that sounds boring…..i have never been one for rules...

Not boring at all. Very easy. I never thought of the above as rules, just my plan and it worked well and I was 100% satisfied. I ate delicious gourmet restaurant food almost every day-- TexMex, Chinese, sushi, barbecue, steak and potatoes.... And I never asked for modifications due to calorie concerns-- any modification I made was about taste. Most restaurant portions are easily double what they should be.
I wasn't careful with sauces, by the way, but like I said some may want to be.

ndj1979

We all feel your pain! It can be a trial, but if you plan ahead it's doable, particularly at higher-end or non-chain restaurants. For salads I always order it with grilled chicken or fish. I carry my own low-cal dressing with me, and make them leave off cheese, croutons and all that other fattening stuff. I always take fake butter with me just in case I decide to have a baked potato for dinner (if so, that's all I will eat. A BP is very filling). If there is a grilled/blackened fish or chicken option, I will have it with veggies--if it also comes with rice, I will only eat about a 1/4 cup of the rice. I never touch the bread, appetizers or desserts. I DO save caloric room for a glass or two of wine, but I'm careful to ask the server what the pour volume is (usually runs 4-5 ounces), so I can figure it into my allotment. Many restaurants have menus on line, so I often look them up ahead of time and plug the calories I intend to consume when eating out into my calculator, so I can eat accordingly during the day. This way I never accidentally go over. We're very social, so I eat out 2-3 times a week, and this method has worked beautifully. Mind you, my husband has the freakish metabolism of someone half his age (unfair!) and sometimes it's a serious exercise in willpower to watch him scarf down the huge steak, fries and that glorious piece of pecan turtle cheesecake...

If you're going to do that, why eat out at all? Why not just bring your own food? It seems rather counterproductive to go out to eat, and bring the ingredients with you; it's okay to splurge every now and then. A few tablespoons of dressing or a few teaspoons of butter won't kill you if you consume them in moderation.

LOL …now that would be hilarious..show up at a restaurant with some chicken breast and rice and say "will you cook this for me" ..or just show up with a to go box, sit down, and start eating…..bahahahaha that would be an awesome prank….

PikaKnight

One meal doesn't ruin your progress.

Make it fit. If you know ahead of time you are going out for the weekend, budget your cals over the week to cover it or/and get in some extra exercise. This goes for eating out at restaurants or fast food joints. It's not "bad".

Also, your meals don't have to be evenly portioned out calorie wise. I can eat 1000cals for one of my 5-6 meals and the rest of them be 100-300 cals.

Flexibility is something you might want to work on, just my opinion. From my experience, being overly rigid leads to rage quit because you get so frustrated thinking one wrong step is going to ruin it all.

ndj1979

I frequently eat out. Just eat slowly, be careful with the bread/chips, don't drink alcohol or only one drink, no dessert. You may want to be careful with sauces and salad dressings, but no need for major modifications. Split the entree in half and ask for it to be boxed up. Follow these rules and you will probably continue to lose weight. I lost 60 pounds eating like that.

well that sounds boring…..i have never been one for rules...

Not boring at all. Very easy. I never thought of the above as rules, just my plan and it worked well and I was 100% satisfied. I ate delicious gourmet restaurant food almost every day-- TexMex, Chinese, sushi, barbecue, steak and potatoes.... And I never asked for modifications due to calorie concerns-- any modification I made was about taste. Most restaurant portions are easily double what they should be.
I wasn't careful with sauces, by the way, but like I said some may want to be.

*yawn*

SLLRunner

Does anyone else feel like there are almost no healthy options when eating out? I go through all the online menus, looks at the calories/fat/carb and it just seems almost impossible to find something within my daily allowance, especially if you care about the macros too. Sometimes I find a salad that is 300 calories but then I find that it has all the fat that I can eat in a day -_- and there is no way of avoiding fat for the rest of my meals. And yes, I know most of it is the dressing, but that's just an example. In general, i just find it very hard to find something that I can eat and doesn't make me starve the rest of the day.
I have been making good progress but most of what I eat is at home, I rarely eat out. I don't miss eating greasy unhealthy stuff that much, but I do miss the easiness of just spending the day around town and not having to get back to the apartment to eat.

We generally go to lunch just about every Saturday or Sunday, so I save some calories up from the week to compensate, and then I usually do a good run that day or on Sunday. Sometimes I go over my total at the end of the week, but most of the time I am under or pretty close on the mark.

It's important to eat out sometimes, and since you are making lifestyle changes that is something you don't want to cut out. Also, It's the end week calorie count that matters.

ndj1979

I usually chalk up an eating out day to the FATES, particularly The Greek Moirai and of them, Lachesis whom I blame for the selections of food I make. Hey, why should I take the blame for falling off the wagon?

why does eating out have to equal "falling off the wagon"…I do not understand that mentality ...

GiveMeCoffee

Wow why bother going out if you are bringing your own dressing, fake butter??? no croutons? If you are going out to eat it should be enjoyed!

Tomorrow is Mother's Day I'll be going out, and most likely well almost definitely I will be over for the day.. it's all right I'll probably be around maintenance for the day and if not, it's all good I start with a clean slate the next day and maybe I go an extra week with no weight loss. Not a major problem.

Part of this process is learning how to continue into maintenance, are you planning on never going out to eat again?

Justkeepswimmin

Honestly it depends on where you live; there are certain places I will not live because I could never go out. However, some cities do have options for us; even if it requires modifications from time to time. Try also to yelp and not just go with any old chain restaurant.

hancockj17

There are some healthy options out there. I love a Mediterranean place with grilled chicken kabobs, hummus and lentils. One meal is enough for 3 meals. Egg drop soup is low calories and fat. Salads with balsamic vinegar and a teaspoon of olive oil. Just do some research ahead of time.

crissi725

Stop "dieting" and start thinking about how to eat healthy for the rest of your life, and that includes having the occasional over-indulgent meal. In other words learn moderation and learn to give yourself a break and that it's okay to have some fun every once in a while.

^^^^ yes! all of this ^^^^^

seltzermint555

I usually just order smaller portions, or don't eat everything...like today we went out for Chinese, I opted for a lunch special with tons of steamed vegetables, and ate the beef (non-fried of course) and maybe one tbsp of the rice. I'm sure I still blew my sodium due to the soy sauce based glazed on the beef but that's okay, it will be 1-2 times in a month that I'll do that.

Just the other day I went to Steak N' Shake and enjoyed a double steakburger (around 400 cal). But I didn't eat fries or anything like that along with it. Still a very satisfying lunch, and I compensated for it by having vegetables and grilled salmon for dinner and blackberries for 'dessert' so my macros for that day were fine. For me, the options are there I just have to do a little research. Years ago (before MFP) I would have ordered the Frisco Melt (750+) and a shake (HOLY MOLY...like 900 cal just from the shake) and of course fries came with it, so I'd eat those too back then.

As long as you're not going out to restaurants daily or several times a week, I see no real issue with it, even when it means guessing sometimes on the calories.

I personally do not usually waste time with chains for "better meals" like Thai, Mexican, Greek, sushi, Indian, etc. I would rather go out for the real deal in non chain places - less frequently of course - and fully enjoy the meal!

melimomTARDIS

I eat out at restaurants all the time. Once a week my husband I go to dinner to a casual resturaunt, we have a pizza place, a sub shop, a family dining place, and a Mexican food place in town.

Once a week I take the children to a fast food restaurant with a really nice play center.

I have my own "rules" at when I eat out to make it easy on myself, at restaurants I pick grilled chicken/shrimp or fish. Rarely steak, but sometimes. I choose baked potato instead of fries when possible. I have black decaf coffee with sweet n low as dessert, and a hard candy.

At fast food I have a ketchup only kids meal hamburger, a side salad, reduced cal dressing, and diet coke.

I factor eating out into the rest of my day, and if I really go binge crazy ( a few weeks back, I had an EPIC breakfast-a Denver three egg omlette with ham, a huge pancake, and a sausage) so I didn't eat again till dinner, which was a bowl of oats with shredded carrots, raisins, and apples. Still stayed in calories.

w2bab

We have found several things we can eat at a variety of restaurant by trying to make healthy choices and then seeing how it affects the scale the next day. (yes, we weigh daily). The main thing for us isn't so much the calorie content (grilled meat and veggies is pretty much grilled meat and veggies no matter where you eat it) but we try to watch our sodium intake. It took a little trial and error, but we have discovered that we have yummy options just about any place we choose to go, and we eat out about once a week. We do make a habit of subbing veggies for the baked potato or fries option, but other than that, it's regular menu stuff.

theserpah

I think eating out, when measured in daily allotments is virtually impossible. That's why I don't allow myself to look at it that way. I tend to always consume less and burn more than I need in order to eat out periodically. Same reason I bring my lunch to work and brew coffee in the office. It allows me to enjoy going out for the occasional lunch/coffee without feeling any guilt.

seltzermint555

I eat out at restaurants all the time. Once a week my husband I go to dinner to a casual resturaunt, we have a pizza place, a sub shop, a family dining place, and a Mexican food place in town.

Once a week I take the children to a fast food restaurant with a really nice play center.

I have my own "rules" at when I eat out to make it easy on myself, at restaurants I pick grilled chicken/shrimp or fish. Rarely steak, but sometimes. I choose baked potato instead of fries when possible. I have black decaf coffee with sweet n low as dessert, and a hard candy.

At fast food I have a ketchup only kids meal hamburger, a side salad, reduced cal dressing, and diet coke.

I factor eating out into the rest of my day, and if I really go binge crazy ( a few weeks back, I had an EPIC breakfast-a Denver three egg omlette with ham, a huge pancake, and a sausage) so I didn't eat again till dinner, which was a bowl of oats with shredded carrots, raisins, and apples. Still stayed in calories.

You sound a lot like me with the big meal and then "catch up" dinner after. Works great though!!

I also have learned to loooove black coffee especially cold brew with coffee cubes from the coffee shop. I seriously like it better than my previous lattes and mochas.

Jestinia

You have options.

1. Intermittent fasting of some form. Skip eating (or eating much) a day before, a day after, or don't eat breakfast and lunch if you''re going out to dinner. This isn't nearly as difficult as it sounds for the more sedentary among us and might actually have health benefits. I probably wouldn't do it if I worked a very physical job, though.

2. Save calories all week by shaving off a couple hundred from every day. (Maybe not if you're diabetic or have other health issues.)

3. Just tally the week up as maintenance and enjoy your dinner (this only works if you don't do it too often of course).

4. A lot more exercise all week.

ndj1979

You have options.

1. Intermittent fasting of some form. Skip eating (or eating much) a day before, a day after, or don't eat breakfast and lunch if you''re going out to dinner. This isn't nearly as difficult as it sounds for the more sedentary among us and might actually have health benefits. I probably wouldn't do it if I worked a very physical job, though.

2. Save calories all week by shaving off a couple hundred from every day. (Maybe not if you're diabetic or have other health issues.)

3. Just tally the week up as maintenance and enjoy your dinner (this only works if you don't do it too often of course).

4. A lot more exercise all week.

point one is not IF ….

IF is something that you do all the time consistently, not just when you over eat…

also, not sure that is healthiest mentality to have that says "eat a big meal, and then skip your next one because you ever eat"….