How do you maintain your diet when you go out?

kotcherr

Hi everybody! I'm new to MFP this week and am already seeing great progress. I am so excited to see that, but tonight is Thursday and I'm a college student. That means the weekend starts tonight. My friend is taking me out to the theatre on a.."date"? Then on Friday and probably Saturday my friends will definitely want to go out. It sounds silly but I'm worried about the calorie gains that I might have to take to be social... How do you all deal with these kinds of situations - maintaining your diet while still being social and fairly "normal"?

caraiselite

grilled protein and veggies.

darrensurrey

After a while, you'll get used to how many calories a small portion of cake has or how much a pint of beer has or a small portion of pie has. You will then be able to estimate how much you've had.

Also, if you go out once a week, then you can do cheat days. Cheat days do NOT mean eat enough food to cancel out a month's calorie deficit - obviously, if you do this, you're wasting your time and punishing yourself. It means you don't have to worry too much about your intake.

As for weekends lasting 3 days, then you need to decide what's more important in your life. Life is about choices, after all. I'd baulk at the idea of going out more than once a week as it's harder to track your precise calorie intake.

stylistchik

If you can, look up the calorie counts and log before you go. If not, make the best choice possible. Stay away from anything fried or in cream sauce, grilled and steamed items are best. Fresh fruit and veggies are a good option, too. If you know there isn't going to be anything good for you to eat, eat before and after. Alcohol has a lot of calories without nutrition so be careful not to over do it. Most of all enjoy yourself.

Debbe2

Plan ahead, plenty of activity like exercise, remain mindful and consider am I hungry before mindless or social eating. Very important to have a plan that allows for you can still go out and socialize yet you are able to stick to your health goal. Use MFP as the tool to accomplish your goals :-)

cramernh

You have three choices:
1.) Eat before you go out
2.) Choose healthy choices and ask questions about how said-food is prepared
3.) Choose whatever you want but only eat reasonable portions.

Ultimately and I mean this with no disrespect... Its an easy thing to do... its up to you to decide on what you want and how much of it you are willing to choose to have.

Personally going out is extremely easy - we never go to fast food restaurants ever. We only dine in places where the food is made from scratch and they are willing to make changes to the preparation of the dish ordered.

laus_8882

It's near impossible. I like to draw an imaginary line down the middle of my plate and only have the portion of the right hand side. That helps a lot given how big restaurant serving sizes are. For appetizers, my deal is that I can have one bite from every plate (assumes you're sharing; we share). To drink? Soda and lime. Looks like booze, tastes like nothing.

Sucks, and given how ridiculously sized portions are I *still* estimate 1000 calories for my restraint.

Fortunately most people are so self-absorbed they don't notice that you're not eating much.

Renae_Nae

You can be social without constantly eating unhealthy. If you go to the movies you don't have to have popcorn, throw a water and apples into your purse. If you stop at DQ check out their smoothies which so much better than their blizzards. It's the little things like that. All places to eat have decent meals...if you know where you are going then you can look everything up. If not then stick to lean meat and veggies. Watch out on salads as they can be really bad at time.

darrensurrey

Another thing - lift heavy weights or do serious CV work (ie a 30 minute walk won't cut it) before you go out. Your body will make use of the stuff you're going to put in your mouth.

I like to do 6 hour climbing sessions at a local wall before going to an All You Can Eat buffet.

Renae_Nae

It's near impossible. I like to draw an imaginary line down the middle of my plate and only have the portion of the right hand side. That helps a lot given how big restaurant serving sizes are. For appetizers, my deal is that I can have one bite from every plate (assumes you're sharing; we share). To drink? Soda and lime. Looks like booze, tastes like nothing.

Sucks, and given how ridiculously sized portions are I *still* estimate 1000 calories for my restraint.

Fortunately most people are so self-absorbed they don't notice that you're not eating much.

It really depends on the place and what you order. I ate at Chili's yesterday - half the fried cheese appitizer, a 6oz steak, and broccoli was about 600 calories. I polished off my plate and felt full and happy. 1 burger there is about 1,300 calories WITHOUT fries. You eat half of that and you're not going to be completely full yet you'll end up eating about 800-900 calories.

LorinaLynn

Personally, I do best when I take one or two days "off" from logging my food and thinking about calories, and just eating what I perceive to be "normally."

You don't have much to lose, so your weekly goal should be to lose a half pound a week, which would put you only 250 calories below maintenance level, so you aren't (or shouldn't be) terribly restricted on calories anyway. Check the menus online before going out and see what you like that isn't a total calorie bomb. I was happy and surprised to find that most of my top picks at my favorite restaurants also tend to be the lower calorie choices.

I typically "budget" about 800-1000 calories for dinner even when not going out to eat. (Yay, exercise calories!) Even the most "OMG, I can't eat another BITE... Oh, well, fine... twist my arm. I'll share dessert with you...." pig-out I've had at restaurants was around 1500 calories, so it wouldn't take much tweaking (a little less at lunch and dinner, a little extra exercise, maybe skip a snack or two) to make even that fit my goal.

kingofcrunk

When I go out for meals I always go on the restaurants website before. A lot of restaurants publicise their nutrition/calorie values now and I can decide what I'm going to have and work it into my calorie goal for the day in advance. Once you've had a look around online you'll know which restaurants you can go to and what you can eat where. So in the future its easier to decide where to go if I'm eating out. A lot of places now do 'lighter choices' sections to their menu's - this can be really useful.

In terms of going out drinking, I do that once a week on a Saturday. I know that every Saturday night I go out drinking with my friends and that isn't going to change however bad for my health it may be! I try to stick to vodka and diet coke/diet drinks as they're less calories. I also make sure I eat well during the day and exercise a lot. If I go over my calorie goal it isn't the end of the world, I'll just work hard all week to make up for it.

I don't believe theres any point giving up all the thing you enjoy just to live a healthy life. Every once in a while isn't going to hurt.

furby1

Its not easy, and I am more than sure that you knew that right from the word go!....Some friends can also not be encouraging as I have found, so you need to get yourself some inner strengh.....if possible prepare as much as you can before you go out....if its just for a drink find out what calories are in the various drinks and then decide what and how many you can drink within a set goal...I may have 1 gin & tonic and then drink diet drinks for the rest of the evening.
If its food and you know which restaurant you're going to, see if they have a menu online and look for meals which are lower in calories than others....I was shocked at the amount of calories there is in a Caesar Salad at ASK. mostly due to the croutons and dressing!

Although it was hard at first, especially as a couple of my friends weren't especially encouraging about it ,I decided not to have a desert after the meal, it was my choice and it allowed me to have a larger choice of the main meals..you need to be able to say "NO", not only to yourself but to friends as well

I also try and exercise more on those days so that I have got myself some extra calories to use...it won't be easy but with some preparation and i great deal of self control you will be able to keep any damage to a minimum!...good luck

Prahasaurus

Cutting back on alcohol was a huge reason I've lost so much weight so fast. I am often dining out on business, and it can involve never ending dinners with desserts, wine, mixed drinks, shots, etc. Yeah, I love my job... :-)

What helped me tremendously:

1 - Record your "liquid" calories in advance. I usually know what I'll be drinking, at least in general (e.g. red wine, or whiskey, etc.), so I see how much I can drink and still stay under, or close to, my daily allowance.

2 - Drink slower, and add in water between drinks. I love sparkling water with a slice of lime, which goes well with wine. It has the advantage of looking like a vodka tonic, as well, so no one asks why I've stopped drinking if you're worried about peer pressure.

3 - Exercise before going out. It doesn't take much to burn 250 - 300 calories, and you've just earned a couple more drinks. You also feel better, more relaxed and fresh at the start of the evening, after a nice run (or whatever you do).

Good luck.

--P

Erica27511

By using common sense

laus_8882

It's near impossible. I like to draw an imaginary line down the middle of my plate and only have the portion of the right hand side. That helps a lot given how big restaurant serving sizes are. For appetizers, my deal is that I can have one bite from every plate (assumes you're sharing; we share). To drink? Soda and lime. Looks like booze, tastes like nothing.

Sucks, and given how ridiculously sized portions are I *still* estimate 1000 calories for my restraint.

Fortunately most people are so self-absorbed they don't notice that you're not eating much.

It really depends on the place and what you order. I ate at Chili's yesterday - half the fried cheese appitizer, a 6oz steak, and broccoli was about 600 calories. I polished off my plate and felt full and happy. 1 burger there is about 1,300 calories WITHOUT fries. You eat half of that and you're not going to be completely full yet you'll end up eating about 800-900 calories.

I don't think I've ever eaten at a restaurant that served plain broccoli as a side. Buttered baby greens, broccoli with flaked almonds and anchovies, roasted maple glazed broccoli and carrots... but never just plain broccoli. I suppose it's much easier to charge $12 for a side of tarted up broc than it is for plain steamed veg. And you can forget about knowing the calorie count of your meal. Frankly, you're lucky if the waiter doesn't punch you on the way out for not deferring to his opinion of the specials. As it is, I know that what I'm eating is not going to be entirely healthy because even the gorgeous, organic, biodynamic restaurants overdo it with portion sizes and cals. So 1000 calories is a healthy compromise; on occasion I'll be well under but sometimes I'll be over.

Silver14

If your going out, you can enjoy yourself and indulge a lil. It's good for you As long as its not every day x

Silver14

At my mothers favorite Italian restaurant they have plain roast veg. It's on the entree menu, so I order chilli grilled squid and steamed/roasted veggies! The veggies are yum to! (Broccoli, carrot, zuchinis, sweet potato and cauliflower!

Jayneopopsidoodle

Dancing, lots of dancing, stick on a HRM and cover it with a nice fabric bracelet/band.... and see how many calories you burn when your dancing> I am a huge dancer when I'm out and I stick to the same drinks and count how many I have so its easy to log the next day. Then if I'm over just do a bit more exercise the following days x Just have fun and enjoy yourself

makingthebook

I usually try to plan for the weekend ahead of time by doing extra at the Gym. I found it's the only way for to have a normal social life and not lose my mind!!! If it's your first week, don't worry; you'll get the rhythm of it. Wake up saturday and hit the Gym and enjoy your youth saturday night.

kabbit42

Hard sacrifices. I used to sort of pride myself on being a beer only girl and now if I am going to be out for an extended period of time I bring a bottle of water and try to stick to vodka tonics. Much less fun.