You know what is frustrating

Sloth_TurtleGirl

I'm pretty good about putting in my calories, at least I have been for a while. But, every time we go back to where I'm from, I don't put them in. I'm from East Liverpool, Ohio. In East Liverpool, when someone moves away, there are two places they always visit when they come back - The Hot Dog Shoppe and Brunos Pizza. Neither has a calorie listing anywhere. I'd love to see a calorie breakdown. It might be motivating, or at least allow me to put calories in and know they are right.

And I ate like a pig. I came home and the next day when I stepped on the scale I'd finally lost again. I'd stalled because of TOM and then trying to get back to what I was before TOM. Ugh.

Okay, I've vented. Sorry if my venting annoyed anyone. But, I find myself avoiding diners and such because I have no idea about calories. I prefer chains because I can get t heir calorie totals online.

EnchantedEvening

Perhaps you can estimate? If you know approximately how big a slice is, and then calculate all of the ingredients, you could at least come up with a ballpark figure. I tend to estimate high when I'm unfamiliar with a restaurant.

Also, and I don't mean this in a harsh way, I'm confused about how you said you were worried about calories but then said you "ate like a pig". If you were worried, why did you over-eat? If I'm in an unfamiliar restaurant, I err on the side of caution and eat just a little bit of everything instead of eating tons of food and thinking, "Screw it. I don't know how many calories that was, so I'll just eat all the things."

At the end of the day, it was just one meal. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get going again. Just don't make a habit of it, and try to figure out the calories beforehand as I mentioned earlier. Once you've been at it for a while, you can sort of figure out how many calories are in a steak, potatoes, veggies, chicken, fish, rolls, and anything else you might get at a diner.

P.S. Since it's restaurant food, there's a good chance you gained a lot of weight from sodium. If you eat cleanly and drink lots of water this week, you should be able to drop the sodium gain along with your TOM weight (which is also water retention). I bet you'll feel a lot better in a week or so.

lustrebass

Ah yes, the "must go" restaurants of your home town can be so hard to deal with! I have a few myself. Sounds like you're having trouble making smart portion choices, perhaps because of habits you learned long ago associating these over-indulgences with good times or fond memories. If you can, try to go to these places only for a bite - split an order with a group of friends, choose healthier options as your main meal and then just have a bite or two of the tempting things. Or, if the temptation is too great, maybe it's better to avoid these places altogether until you are better able to deal with the temptations.

mandymayhem6

good rule of thumb thats worked for me (may not work for everyone, obviously) if i can't break it down and know exactly whats in it, i dont put it in my mouth. i cook breakfast and lunch every day and my boyfriend and i alternate on cooking dinner. hes health conscious for me, and gladly gives me a breakdown of all ingredients so i can enter what im going to eat before i even eat it. we go out drinking once a week, and actually eat out maybe once every 3 weeks and its just for lunch in between jobs. its not convenient for everyone to cook at home for every meal, so i would suggest maybe making some healthy meals in advance, like a big pot of soup, or beans...whatever really, so on days you dont have time to cook, you dont feel pressured to go out and eat, or make unwise choices at home.

Jester522

If it has more than two ingredients I can't immediately place values on I freak out. Then again, if I'm shopping and something has more than three ingredients I freak out and put it back on the shelf. Keep it simple.

But judging by the sound of the two restaurants name - I think calorie count is irrelevant. Pizza and hot dogs are never diet friendly. Well, pizza maybe in special occasions I save for my athletes.

Birdie

Take a buddy and share a portion instead of eating a whole portion yourself. Then look up a similar food item from another resturant and estimate a calorie count.

AllTehBeers

Just had to say, HOMG I MISS HOT DOG SHOPPE! I moved away 6 years ago and I haven't found anything close. I don't really have much advice but wanted to comment on the awesomeness of them and I would totally pig out if I went there too. If its only once in a while, eat it, love it, log it and move on.