Eating out + calories

JaenaM

what to do when u go to a place thats not a big chain and u have no way of knowing the calories in what u ate? Do u take your best guess, maybe overestimating a little? How do u track that?

Teliooo

I just don't track that meal. Not worth the stress if it is just a one off.

melelana

Pretty much. A lot of things available on larger chains will be things you can guess pretty decently...

If not, you might want to ask the waiter for some extra information. Some chains will give you a "nutritional menu" that lists all the foods, their calories, and often other info such as fiber, saturated fat, etc. If not, ask your waiter what a good "diet" option is. In most restaurants, waiters will be able to point you to some of the highlights of low cal menu items. Some can even make substitutions (steamed veggies in place of potatoes for example.)

Eleanorjanethinner

Yup, just do your best to make good choices and guess at the calories. But it's really important to just keep going and keep logging, no matter what!

capriciousmoon

I might estimate or just not bother, since I don't really eat out often I prefer to just enjoy it and not stress too much. Unless you picked something obviously high in calories and are eating out very often it shouldn't really matter that much.

hazelnut861

That's what I do. When we go for sushi I look at how much rice, fish etc is on my plate and track it that way. Things like bits.of cucumber I don't count because it's such a small amount and so few calories. Remember too not all entries on mfp are accurate so I always check my little book before I find an entry I use repeatedly.

Pebble321

You'd be amazed what is in the database! I look up the name of the item or something similar and pick one that seems a reasonable estimate. No restaurants have calorie listings where I live and I eat out pretty often and it hasn't hindered my weight loss.
Just get smart about what you order - usually plainish things like grilled steak or fish are easier to enter as there aren't so many ingredients. And pass on the bread and get sauces or dressings on the side.
Or, order what you really want to eat, enjoy it, log it and stay under your calories tomorrow.

AH2013

Weird, I am just wondering the exact same thing! I am off out to lunch in an hour with a contact and the restaurant is not a chain, it's a Lebanese mezze restaurant. I have no idea what I'll have and am already wondering how to calculate the calories. Salad and some hummus with lebanese bread is possibly all I'll do...and lots of water! I just find the nearest thing to it in the database and hope for a rough estimate!

melaniecheeks

Either make a guess, or do a quick add of 1000 calories. And dont stress out too much about it.

kyle4jem

The main thing is not to stress out and enjoy the meal guilt free... otherwise what's the point. You'll spoil it for you and that's no way to life your life. :happy:

That's not to say you can't make smart choices... a side-salad (no dressing) instead of fries... extra veg instead to too many potatoes... etc.

And you don't have to eat all that's on the plate! If you leave the table feeling too-full or uncomfortable, you've probably eaten too much, but you ought to know that by now .

And then log either as a quick 1000kc or use the database to find the major components .. but don't get anal about it :bigsmile: