restaurant eating…and summer eating…Ugh!

Tblackdogs

I really admire everyone on this site who is logging and exercising and losing weight. I did it too for a few months and saw the pounds fall off like they were supposed to. Then Spring Break came. Then houseguests two weekends in a row. Then a birthday, Mothers' Day, a graduation, Fathers' Day, a Block Party and a couple more birthdays. I had gotten within five pounds of my goal weight, was feeling great and wanted a break from the "work" of logging and exercising. So I gave myself one and have completely fallen apart. I'm not sure that I've actually gained more than a pound or three (no logging, no exercising, no weighing…) but I know that I'm going in the wrong direction. The problem is that with all those events, listed above, I've eaten many meals in restaurants or at parties etc. and I found is SO HARD to log those meals. I suppose if I was at an unhealthy weight I would manage but since I was almost there, I didn't bother. Now with summer in full swing, I find myself pretty active, but in ways harder to log (if I take a bike ride with my kids and stop a few times along the way, I don't know how far/how long I rode). I also find that I want to eat at a street side cafe and order whatever looks good. It is SO HARD to know how to log those meals. Last night I had a beer (easy to log), shared an order of pulled pork nachos (impossible to log) and for dinner had an appetizer of eggplant on goat cheese smeared bread (pretty darn hard to log). I know that these are all excuses but unless I make all my own food I find it very hard to log what I eat. Anyone else in the same boat?

RodaRose

This might sound weird but I try to choose foods that I can log like grilled chicken or fish and skip dishes with tons of cheese. Most times you can look up the foods at the restaurant web sites and log in the diary before going. Or tell your people you are only going if you can pick the restaurant. Carry stuff with you on the bike trips or anywhere else you are going: nuts, fruit (fresh or dried), . . . .

I agree with you that eating out is hard. Some people can do it. I know one guy who went to the same restaurant every night with his wife for a year and ordered fish and lost weight.

Take it easy on yourself.

ajff

Totally get it.

Then I play the game. If I don't have much room left in my day, I'm getting a salad with chicken or salmon on top and skipping as much of the dressing as possible! (I can eat plain lettuce if there's something else on my fork too!) -- This gets me out of the restaurant with less than 500 calories! SCORE!

Or, if I know in advance that I am going out, I exercise extra so that I can have something more exotic! But I usually try to choose food that I can easily log, or that I have looked up to see how many calories they have. And if it is something ridiculous (Olive Garden Tiramisu, I'm talking to you (in your 500 calories of sheer bliss) here), I only eat half. Or split it with someone.

Whatever you eat, you have to own it. You will always have reasons to go out, eat too much, drink too much, etc... The earlier you figure out how to deal with it successfully, the better! Best wishes, you can do this!

itsbasschick

i eat stuff when i go out that are close to what i eat at home - baked potatoes (no butter, dab of sour cream), broccoli, or a measured amount of pasta and sauce (bring a little scale), or at our recent barbecue i had 2 smart dogs (50 cals each), 2 slices of my bread (70 cals per slice) and lots of mustard.

when we went to disneyland, i kept portions small and made sure we walked A LOT, which is easy at disneyland. and i have to agree with ajfuelling - you have to learn to deal with it successfully.

holcombe322

hi... how do you create the weight loss ticker? thank you

itsbasschick

go to message boards, then to settings.

kimberlyblindsey

This might sound weird but I try to choose foods that I can log like grilled chicken or fish and skip dishes with tons of cheese. Most times you can look up the foods at the restaurant web sites and log in the diary before going. Or tell your people you are only going if you can pick the restaurant. Carry stuff with you on the bike trips or anywhere else you are going: nuts, fruit (fresh or dried), . . . .

I agree with you that eating out is hard. Some people can do it. I know one guy who went to the same restaurant every night with his wife for a year and ordered fish and lost weight.

Take it easy on yourself.

I agree. When I go out for breakfast I get the veggie omelette or just eggs or salad with chicken breast, that way it's easier to have an idea and can just guesstimate and if it's a chain look it up beforehand and have a few things you can order. If it's a splurge meal then by all means get the good stuff, but otherwise too many of those and it's hard to keep track. The same thing with exercise, just guesstimate, and try to stay under to account for over estimating in exercise.

CarolinkaCjj

Summer is rough for sure but I keep my mind on the end result - if I pile up my plate, it is just that much harder to reach my goal. I go off track from time to time but get right back at it. You have good advice so far - try it out. Plan ahead - that helps a lot especially for restaurant dining. It is about choices - yes, I would love to eat seafood fettuccini but truthfully at this time it is not worth the calories to me. Yesterday was my worst day for going over calories in months but it is not the end of the world and it was my choice. Today it was time to get back on track (even with some fully leaded coke to fend off a hangover).

You can do this - plan, log and be honest.

tarcotti

Simple! My husband and I don't go out to eat, like ever.

When it comes to holidays, I realize its harder than that. I usually can find something to eat. I only eat the meat and vegetables at those holiday dinners. I will offer to bring something and its always healthy, so I know I can eat that and I know how many calories I'm eating. Don't drink my calories and you can always request a salad (then bring your own dressing and have it on the side).

I say all this like its so easy, but of course it comes down to willpower, which is so hard for a lot of us including me. Last year the same thing happened to me. I had months in a row of several of these events and I gained all my weight back. This time, I'm not giving in to the holiday food!! Good luck to both of us!

Cerakoala

Use the internet to your advantage and pre plan your meals. Whenever I know I am going out I look at the menu see what I can "afford" Calorie wise so I already know what i am going to order when I get there. If it is a place I frequent a lot I learn their menu and things I like and calorie content. IF you have a stand you stop at all the time learn the item maybe print out a nutrition book etc You can do this it just takes a little more work if you eat out a lot vs. cooking at home

apparations

Honestly, when I go out to eat I usually order whatever I want. BUT I always go for a really long run and eat light all day before (or after for brunch) to make up for it. It's worked for me and holds back comments people have sometimes (" You're getting salad?! You're making me feel bad!" etc.. ). Also, I skip appetizers and desserts. When logging those meals I just try to find something sort of similar, or break down the components.

As for holidays and birthdays, I pretty much treat them the same as eating out, but just try to control the portion size. ONE smaller slice of cake, one plate of food at potlucks. It works!

sarafischbach9

I understand. I try not to eat out as often as I can, although there are some food items I am definitely craving right now from some of my favorite places!! One place in particular makes this good Italian wrap that I love and I've been wanting it for days that I do my long runs, but I have no idea how to log it or get a good estimate of calories. I'm not trying to lose anymore weight, but I still want to keep track of what I eat as precisely as I can so I can see what works and what doesn't

I will be going on vacation in a few weeks and there will be restaurant eating involved. We will be doing some grocery shopping once we get to our destination ( just South Carolina lol ) and we will get some frozen meals for the hotel, but not eating out is unavoidable.

A lot of restaurants post nutrition information. At least the big box restaurants Smaller local chains may not, so that will be a challenge. But big chains and fast food chains usually have nutrition info and you can do your research.

I want to add that sometimes getting the salad isn't always the best options. There are good salads at restaurants that are under 500 calories, but you need to be careful with those still. Some salads can have upwards to 1000 calories. Avoid salads with a lot of stuff in it!

bestlife42

I find summer eating difficult as well. This month I have been going to many graduation parties for nephews as well as some birthday BBQ's. I handled them all well however this weekend BBQ was a big challenge. Most of the food was difficult for me to log accurately because it was homemade by someone else. I tried to eat a turkey burger but that didn't work because they cooked it so much it tasted like a hockey puck. I threw it out. Anyway I was starving so I had some sausage and peppers, pasta salad with cheese squares and 3 pieces of cheese and crackers. I didn't eat the lasagna, baked ziti, mac and cheese or birthday cake. It's hard when your food choices are limited and you don't know the values. Sometimes you are not able to bring something that you can eat to the party so your options are only what they offer. I guess like anything else it's a challenge to overcome.

If I am going to a restaurant I try to check out the menu ahead of time which helps me a lot! If I can't view the menu before going then I just stick with grilled chicken, veggies or a grilled chicken salad.

mike_ny

Yeah, Summer is hard, but then comes Fall with fresh apple pies and Octoberfest, followed by Halloween, Thanksgiving and all the holiday parties and treats, followed by Spring with Easter/Passover and time to break out the grill getting ready for Summer again...
Then, in addition to seasons, it's always somebody's birthday or some other occasion that requires eating out or having a few drinks and munchies.

There is no good time for cutting calories. Don't make excuses or you'll always have reasons to fail. Find reasons that work for you to succeed.

bwogilvie

I log whatever I find in the database that seems closest to what I ate, making sure that the macros and total calories more or less agree. I add about 20% to account for underestimating calories by eyeballing. Then at the end of the month I look at my actual weight loss, my logged calories and exercise, and see if I've done OK. My first few months I was missing about 200 calories a day. Now that I'm experienced, I do a lot better.

Today I had a restaurant dinner that I logged at about 1500 calories. I'm about 500 over for the day, but I was 700 under for the week, so it washes out. In a couple days, though, I'll add up all logged calories and exercise for June, and compare the result with what I lost. Since I'm pretty accurate at home, if I find that there's a big discrepancy, I'll factor that in when logging restaurant calories in the future.

ETA: By the way, the dinner was totally worth it. No regrets whatsoever.

Tblackdogs

I appreciate all the feedback. I've read it all and it is motivating but I guess at the end of the day, my problem is that I'd like to be able to eat without counting, measuring and logging because it all makes it feel like a diet instead of a way of life. I realize that if I could do that, I wouldn't have gained weight in the first place. I will keep trying for balance. I'm logging again but not sure what I'll do on vacation etc. Thanks for all your comments and advice.