Dining out calories

jencjeffery

How do other people calculate calories when dining out? I went out a friend of a friends for ore-concert snacks last night and they lovely lady had made yummy home made pizzas. The base was really thin and had some sort of (I think)vegetarian pizza topping along with a very small amount of cheese artichokes olive and a couple of small chunks of ham on each slice. Having never met the lady before I didn't feel I could get all MFP on her and ask exactly what was in it but now I have no idea how to calculate the calories for my food diary. How do other people cope with this sort of thing?

gamerkiwi

I just guess, eat light for the rest of the day, and hope I didn't mess up too badly. Just enjoy yourself and don't worry about a single meal.

valorieflowers

When possible, I try to eat out at a chain restaurant that has nutrition facts online. When I eat someplace that doesn't have that, I usually approximate by looking online or at MFP for the nutritional info from a similar dish at a chain restaurant. So if I go to some place that doesn't have the nutrition facts and get their teriyaki burger, I would just log the info for like Red Robin's teriyaki burger. Especially if I have had something of a similar size and style elsewhere so I can tell they are likely close in calories.

jgsparks89

I know this is not totally ideal...but I estimate as best I can. If I go to a restaurant that has nutritional info listed, I go by that. If not, I try to make my best educated guess. But, I figure, that since I try to be fairly exact in my usual logging, my margin of error with dine-out meals that are not exact won't matter too much. I try to over estimate rather than under. I eat out fairly often (>3 times per week) and I still lose weight.

Mostly, I just don't stress about it too much. We all "know" when we have had an overly indulgent meal...even if you don't add up the cals. Just let it go, adjust, and keep on the right track. When possible, plan ahead. Good luck!!

claritarejoice

Great question. First of all, counting calories is always an estimate - even if you have a label, it's not always accurate. For eating out, I just pick the closest food in the MFP database and don't worry about more it. If possible I try to pre-pick my foods from a restaurant if they have a menu online. If I can't or am at a friend's house or party, I just eat the healthy things, like the veggie tray. If it looks too hard to log, I won't eat it because it's not worth it to me. Also I stay conscious of my macros/balance. For example if I already had carbs during the day, I will skip the bread or pasta or tortilla for dinner. But if I just had a salad at lunch, it might be ok for me to eat rice at the restaurant for dinner. Also be conscious of your portion size, be aware in advance of what 1 serving of a food looks like (4 oz of meat looks like a deck of cards, 1 oz. of cheese is 1x1 inch, etc). If the portion is too big, ask for half of it to go. After you eat something, do not stress about it any more! Just enjoy the experience, and then if you're concerned about what you ate, eat clean and/or do more exercise the next day. I hope this helps.

jwh225

In the situation you descrbed, and because cooking is my hobby, I wold simply compliment the hostes on the great food and ask her how she made it. She would probably be more than happy to tell you exactly how she made it and what's in it.

If you are eating out at a large food chain resturant, most of that information in already in MFP. Just log it. If not, a visit to their web site will probably give you the nutritional infotmation you need. You can enter it, along with nutritional info , into MFP. Or, just add lump calories.

Mom and pop resturants, you can figure out the ingredients and enter seperatly. You may have to guess at measurments, volumes, etc.

claritarejoice

When possible, I try to eat out at a chain restaurant that has nutrition facts online. When I eat someplace that doesn't have that, I usually approximate by looking online or at MFP for the nutritional info from a similar dish at a chain restaurant. So if I go to some place that doesn't have the nutrition facts and get their teriyaki burger, I would just log the info for like Red Robin's teriyaki burger. Especially if I have had something of a similar size and style elsewhere so I can tell they are likely close in calories.

I do this too, however, it's important to be aware that nutrition facts at restaurants are often wrong, and they may also be for a smaller portion than what you were served.

BlackKat75

Like others I try to find something comparable in the MFP database, but if I can't, I'll guesstimate the calories (going on the high side), and put in quick cals and then add a description of what it was in the Food Notes portion of the diary. I think the important thing is to simply try and log it as accurately as you can rather than simply ignoring it.

I wish you had gotten the recipe - it sounds delicious

jencjeffery

Thanks for all the advice. I guess the message is to enjoy the food and allow for it another time and don't beat myself up!