How can I go out to eat, but still lose weight?

novinamorozzi

In most restaurants, there isn't any information on the calories or fat in the meal you're ordering. How can you keep track of the fat, protein, and calories you take in?

pg3ibew

Simple, I do it every Friday and Saturday.

Friday is usually Pizza. I usually eat 4 slices.

Saturdays are usually some pretty nice restaurants. I eat appetizers, dinner and desserts. I cut everything in half and box the rest to go.

Been doing this since I started my lifestyle change. I lost 88 pounds.
I refuse to deprive myself.

RougeIllusion

A lot of places have there menus online and will often include the calories. If they don't I always just try to pick the closet item that I can. I had grilled mahi mahi the other night, the place was small and local so the menu wasn't online or MFP so I just searched grilled mahi mahi and picked the other with the highest calories to help account for things I didn't know, like if it oil was used or whatever. Hope this is helpful!

JerryLisa1234

Easy, use MFP to determine the restaurant ie Boston Pizza which has all the menu choices. If the restaurant is not on the MFP, then I don't go, or then be very specific about what you want to order and ask for certain things cooked a particular way ie "grilled chicken, no butter or oil to cook it, ask for steamed vegs etc. Pick out what your going to eat from the restaurant in MFP in advance and factor in those calories in advance. Don't deviate from the order and have a large water or sparkling water with lemon-ask for two and stick to your selection. You still "get out" but don't deviate from the plan or your goals!

kaylinn9

Weight watchers oftentimes have a list of restaurants that gives you advice/points on how their menu carries their calories. I always do this before I go out to eat and it helps me a lot - I'll know what to choose beforehand so I know what I'm putting into my body.

If you can't find the restaurant name under WW's program, you can use www.fatsecret.com - This site has probably more variety than weight watchers does (in my opinion) and it's also a great second source to get your information (in terms of calories) from.

MorgueBabe

Here's a tip I learned from Weight Watchers way back when.
(If you can't find the nutrition content online anywhere).

The second your meal comes, before you even take a bite, ask the server for a to go container. Put half of everything in there.

No bread or chip plate before. Some places can sub raw veggies for bread plate.

angelams1019

Go in with a plan! Look up the restaurant's nutrition information beforehand and go in already knowing what you're going to get! If its a restaurant without nutrition information provided, go simple- Steak and veggies, chicken breast and veggies, whatever you like. If you're trying to stay low cal/low fat, stay away from anything creamy and/or cheesy. You can even ask for your meal (ESPECIALLY the veggies) to be cooked without butter and/or very minimal oil.

justal313

Here's a tip I learned from Weight Watchers way back when.
(If you can't find the nutrition content online anywhere).

The second your meal comes, before you even take a bite, ask the server for a to go container. Put half of everything in there.

No bread or chip plate before. Some places can sub raw veggies for bread plate.

This!
Also I generally plan for an extended workout. But you'd be surprised how many restaurants have nutritional information online. You'd probably be surprised (or maybe not) at the nutritional information..

nataliescalories

I usually compare several similar dishes in the database and go with the highest option. I have even brought my digital scale to restaurants and my own salad dressing.

DavPul

Unless you're going out 3 or 4 days per week, don't worry about it. Make a choice that you can live with and enjoy your meal out. None of us got fat from one large meal per week. Make your best calorie guess and move on. Losing weight doesn't have to be stressful

CristinaL1983

I practice intermittent fasting so for me I just do an 18 or 20 hour fast before I go out. Then I can eat my whole day's calories (if that's what it takes). If I go out on a non fasting day, I just look at the week as a whole and make sure that at the end of the week I'm at my calorie requirement for the week (sometimes I'll cut a hundred calories a day for a few days leading up to it).

Between those two options, I have continued losing weight and have been able to go out periodically with no problem. There are a ton of different ways to do it and I tried several different things but these two ways work most reliably for me. I think that it's all a trial and error process.

taso42

the fine art of calorie estimation

ciphermonk

I find that intermediate fasting can be a very effective way to drop the pounds. In additional to cleaning up your diet, "when" you eat is important too. For example if you change your eating schedule to where you eat all of your meals within an 8 hour window, you will lose weight.

Outside of the 8 hour window, consume nothing else but water. So breakfast, lunch and dinner all have to be eaten which 8 hours. Within 2 weeks, you'll start seeing the weight come off.

You'll preserve your muscle and still consistently drop fat using this method. It takes a while to get used to. It's really effective though. This will allow you to still eat the foods you enjoy in moderation and still meet your weight loss goals.

baroqueviolin

I have a few restaurants with "safe" meals. For example.... Applebee's has a 500 calorie menu. I know I can eat steamed edamame and a salmon roll at my favorite sushi restaurant.....AND our neighborhood bar and grill makes a great cajun salmon that I order with a salad (1/2 dressing) and the vegetable of the day... skip the bread... but maybe have a glass of red wine... Then, most importantly, when I crave these meals, I indulge.... It's great not to have to cook or clean up!

jendraka

While many restaurants may have online access to their nutritional information some more local ones may not. With those, I tend to eyeball things pretty well now. I've been weighing and measuring my food for a while now and I simply make note of about how much everything on my plate is (making sure to order as healthy as I can in the first place) and then just pull up the stats as I would at home, but grabbing usually the highest calorie options just to be on the safe side.

With most places that list their calories online though, including fast food places, I actually have made out my own "menu" of "diet approved" foods and how many calories each item is and it goes out with me every time I go out to eat. This way I can actually just pull from my own menu no matter where I go.

Articeluvsmemphis

Get close to it. You will learn to estimate based on other calculations and just plain sense. or if you just "know" it's really caloric, eat half

tsh0ck

In most restaurants, there isn't any information on the calories or fat in the meal you're ordering. How can you keep track of the fat, protein, and calories you take in?

the food database on MFP is pretty deep. most places will have their food in the system, or you can find something that is probably pretty close.

RhonndaJ

Unless you're going out 3 or 4 days per week, don't worry about it. Make a choice that you can live with and enjoy your meal out. None of us got fat from one large meal per week. Make your best calorie guess and move on. Losing weight doesn't have to be stressful

This.

sunshine_gem

Unless you're going out 3 or 4 days per week, don't worry about it. Make a choice that you can live with and enjoy your meal out. None of us got fat from one large meal per week. Make your best calorie guess and move on. Losing weight doesn't have to be stressful

This. Don't overthink it.

EjaneK11

I like to look their web page up and know what my options are by looking at their calories in the nutrition info. Applebee's has a low calorie menu! I think their meals that are in that are under 550.

KenosFeoh

In restaurants, I avoid fried stuff, cheesy stuff, sauces, and gravies and get salad dressings on the side.