Dining out

fitjerseygirl

Hey all - my biggest challenge so far (and the one thing that has made me go up and down with my weight loss) is dining out. I love to eat out and I live in a city that has awesome food so I usually go out 1-2 times a week. I know all the usual tips of scaling down and I have been doing them (dressing on the side, skinny margaritas, ordering fish, no bread, etc. etc.) and I have even been "prepping" for my night out by doing 2xs as much cardio (so that basically I can eat back all my calories at dinner) but I know that I am still gaining weight back that I've lost, e.g. if I have been "good" working out once a day and eating around 1,200 cals then I will definitely lose around 2 lbs a week BUT if I do all that and then go out to eat on a Saturday night I'm gaining back even though I am keeping track of my cals and putting in extra time at the gym. I don't want to be house bound for the next year. Maybe I am doing something wrong?
Also, I never know how accurate the cardio machines at the gym are as far as cals. I put in my age and weight so hopefully they are fairly accurate, but they seem to vary wildly.
Any support or tips is much appreciated!
Thanks!

K_Pow

I hear you on the difficulty of dining out.

The only real advice I have for you is to plan plan plan. Go on the restaurant's website and plan your meal even before you get there. Don't look at the menu once there because 9 times out of 10 you'll change your mind to something not so "healthy"--I know this is the case with me.

Another thing is that most restaurant food is LOADED with salt. On days you go out drink lots of water (and the day after)....that will help flush out some at least and then in turn may help with the scale those weeks as well.

Not sure how accurate the machines are at the gym. Do you put in your weight and age?---that would help to become more accurate but I know (as a fitness instructor) they are not 100% accurate even then. What about the calories MFP gives once you've added your activity? Is it anywhere near what the machine said??

If you really want an accurant reading I would invest in a heart rate montior (some monitors not only record your heart rate but also your calories burned based on your heart rate).

Good luck!!

stephaniebruning1

I do the same thing, eat well all week and then unravel my work on Saturday night. Last night I had success at a restaurant though. Worked out well during the day, checked out the menu ahead, and didn't overeat. Skipped the bread and wine

trisH_7183

Another MFP member having the same problem said she asks for a to go box,divides 1/2 into that & eats 1/2..... taking 1/2 home.Everyone is different. That is the only way that works for her.

Couple things that helps me is saving the meal to MFP before eating out. Doing my best not to eat common every day
food & slowly,slowly enjoying the food I choose.Good luck in finding what works for you.

Francl27

I hear you. Honestly I don't even dare going out anymore, or I always end up either over my calories or disappointed from eating yet another grilled chicken breast or steak with veggies, or still hungry when I leave (eating half a portion just doesn't cut it for me). So now if I really crave something, I just make it at home... this way I know exactly how many calories are in my food. I just save my restaurant meals for things I've been craving but I can't easily make at home (like ribs)... but yeah I go out to eat maybe twice a month now, if that... and often end up at chains eating off the 'light options' menu.

That being said, watch your weight trend over time... it's completely normal to gain a couple pounds after eating out, but it's typically water weight from all the sodium in restaurant food... and you should lose it within a few days.

For the machines, I honestly don't know how accurate they are... you'll find all kinds of answers. When I started out on the treadmill, they were actually underestimating my calories by a good 20%. A good rule is to just eat half the calories back just in case, then just adjust your goal if you're losing too much too fast.

callsitlikeiseeit

i eat out several times a week (well, take out, more rare to dine in). lost 80 some pounds.

plan around it.

booksandchocolate12

Restaurant portions are often so huge, it's usually no problem for me to eat half and take the other half home. So that's what I do. Went to a diner the other night. Got a Reuben and a side of sweet potato fries. The sandwich was almost as big as the plate. I've got no problem strapping on the feed bag and chowing down, but it was too much, even for me. So I ate half the sandwich and a little less than half of the fries. And Mr. Booksandchocolate had a nice lunch the next day.

cwolfman13

Mathematically, one meal out can't really unravel or undo anything, even if you're not planning around it...which you should...but even if you don't, one meal out is pretty irrelevant and really, a "re-feed" is often recommended by professionals (though I'm not 100% on board with the science).

It would suggest to me that something else is amiss if as a general trend you aren't losing weight...like you're eating more than you think you are in general. If it were me, I would take a good hard look at what's going on overall...most people are really inaccurate when it comes to logging their consumption. Make sure you're selecting correct entries from the database...I always verified my entries with other sources until I had a bank of entries that I knew were correct. There are no freebies...make sure you're accounting for everything...so many people I know fail to account for things like cooking oils, beverages, fruit, etc. Don't eyeball portions...the most accurate thing you can do is to weigh out solids and measure liquids. Be honest with yourself always.