How the heck do I track this?!

Amber82479

I'm going to lunch at Abeulo's (a mexican restaurant) tomorrow... I did find a few of their foods on here, but not the things I want to eat and the Abuelo's website doesn't have nutrition information. So how the heck do I log the calories?!?! Do I just guess? It's stuff like this that makes me never want to eat out.

engineman312

is Abuelo's your grandfather's house or a resturant? if its a resturant, check the website for nutrition information. if none, you have to do your best to guesstimate.

kmbrooks15

You may have to just make some educated guesses. You could try putting ingredients in and getting a total, then tack on an extra 100-200 calories. I had to do that recently. I just guesstimated and, while I was probably not 100% accurate, I had a pretty good idea.

Good luck, and enjoy your meal out! It's okay to splurge once in a while.

clamour_kid

I usually just take the individual ingredients and the sauces add them on, then add 10% to be sure. Better to over judge than under, eh?

debydeb57

i also guesstamate...... i also do the individual ingredients in here and tack on maybe 100 more if i feel that was not enough.. usually tho if i do it individually i come up with more than enough calories... just saying... good luck honey

grmpy1

Sometimes I search for what I ate on MFP and use whatever I feel is closest to that . But I always leave calorie room at the end of the day to make sure I don't leave out anything.

charityateet

It's hard to guestimate calories at restaurants - as a purveyor that is in the back of a lot of kitchens, I see some stuff that makes you go o_0 !!!

Once, I saw someone "dunk" the sauteed peppers and onions for a fajita in the deep fryer to "warm them"......

Oils and butter (mostly butter flavored oil) are cook's best friends. They have bottles of them on the grill and use a crap ton of the stuff - mostly for lube on the grill - but also a lot of times on top of the food too.

Cheese --- is used a lot. If you think there is an ounce of cheese, better guess more like 3-4.

Good luck, for the most part - I try to order the healthiest stuff on the menu (salads w/dressing on the side and grilled lean meat) but if I just want to *eat* I break down all the food ingredients and add a little more oil/butter/cheese and maybe 100-200 quick added calories to my total.

SarabellPlus3

I'm assuming it's a restaraunt, not your grandparents', I go to restaraunts all the time that aren't chains and therefor don't have nutritional info available. I guesstimate, and I try to be really liberal. So if I find an option in the log for something homemade of the same dish, I do that, but sometimes up the calorie count. For instance, I love a local hole-in-the-wall's fried cheese ravioli-- I log homemade fried ravioli, but I give myself 1.5-2 servings in my calorie count, though I only ate 1 serving, knowing that it's probably more loaded with butter and such. Plus, I plan those outings on my cheat days when possible, so it's not AS important to keep an accurate count for me. And if I was real worried about it, I'd use more common sense when ordering, and not go for the fried ravioli, but I digress! LOL

I'm absolutely not going to stop eating at restaraunts that aren't huge chains, that would be a ridiculous cut to my lifestyle that is not reasonable-- so I just do my best. It works out fine.

LorinaLynn

What I'd do is pick a similar entree from one of the big chain restaurants known for being crazy high in calories, like Chilis or Don Pablos. Use that as a "worst case scenario" entry.

AggieHoss

What I'd do is pick a similar entree from one of the big chain restaurants known for being crazy high in calories, like Chilis or Don Pablos. Use that as a "worst case scenario" entry.

^^^This^^^

Try On the Border also.