Logging Restaurant Food

Thunderfan66

Tomorrow night I am going out for dinner to a restaurant which is not a chain, so there will not be nutritional info available. How do you go about logging such a meal....do people just guess roughly what they ate?

BlueObsidian

I look for chain restaurants that have a similar dish and use that number. It's not a perfect solution, but I'm not very good at trying to eyeball portion sizes on the plate (plus restaurants always use more butter/oil/salt than you think).

chadewey2000

I have found that a lot of resturants that are not chains sometimes provide nutritional values on their websites..If that does not work try breaking the meal down and search for each component seperatly.

goldie21047

I've been doing what BlueObsidian said. It seems to be working okay for me.

acpgee

It won't be super accurate, but there are a lot of restaurant dishes in the database--ie eggs benedict, Vietnamese papaya salad, etc. If I can't find something comparable, I guess the ingredients. Don't forget to log the butter and oil used in cooking. I eat out quite a lot. My diary is open to friends.

Eat2Win

I break my meals down the best I can according to MFP database and if the food is somehow oily, I add a Tbsp or 2 of olive oil to the calculations. I feel that I would rather over do it then underdo it so I know better how to proceed

kr1stadee

I look for chain restaurants that have a similar dish and use that number. It's not a perfect solution, but I'm not very good at trying to eyeball portion sizes on the plate (plus restaurants always use more butter/oil/salt than you think).

Yep!!

jack1925

I search for my dish on MFP, but if it's not there, I go to the restaurant's website and pull up the nutirional info and just quick add the calories to my dairy. And if not that, then I just find something close to it and go with that!

Ashshell

I was questioning the same thing yesterday when I went out to lunch with my Mom and brother. It was stressing me out! I looked at the menu ahead of time so I could take my time making my decision. I really didn't want to screw up this week. I chose two different entrees that seemed to be the best options -- Grilled Salmon Salad and a Turkey Sandwich. I mentally removed the "bad" stuff from each and then I used MFP to search for the other items that were in the dish. You can get a general idea of the calorie content. After I did that, I just created my own meal and labeled it "Dining with Friends" and added the estimated calories plus an extra 100 in case I was a bit off. This is gonna make me sound crazy (my Brother said I was), but I also took two packets of Kraft Light Mayo with me to the restaurant haha!

I ended up going with the Turkey Sandwich because it was a safer option. As the previous poster mentioned, restaurants use more oil and butter than we are aware of so even grilled chicken or salmon can hide extra calories. Salad dressings at restaurants always trick me too.

iLoveMyPitbull1225

I have two suggestions:
Find something to eat on the menu that is "decent". Most restuarants these day have healthier options, like salads, fish, grilled chicken, etc. Just make a sensible choice and log the ingredients seperately if you have to. Choose veggie side dishes instead of fries, etc.

OR: you could just give yourself a tiny little break for one meal.

ruwise

I try to just put something similar and usually overestimate to keep it safe.

257_Lag

I try to just put something similar and usually overestimate to keep it safe.

Me too. And then I drink a ton of water the next day because the sodium in most restaurant food is usually sky high.

TavistockToad

I look for chain restaurants that have a similar dish and use that number. It's not a perfect solution, but I'm not very good at trying to eyeball portion sizes on the plate (plus restaurants always use more butter/oil/salt than you think).

this.

dont use 'home made' equivalents as restaurants are generally more cals than homecooked!

Thunderfan66

Thanks everyone. I have already checked out the website and there are no calorie counts available. The menu is a set menu with some choices, so I'm thinking for entree to have vegetable pasta, as opposed to fried cheese! Then for mains apparently we have a choice of 5 dishes - chicken, steak, veal, salmon or vegetarian, all served with salads. I will probably go for chiocken or steak, but I'll check out on the menu and see if they say anything regarding the sauce it is cooked in too. Dessert is just coffee and cake, so maybe I will just have a small piece of cake, or try to reisist altogether! So I guess I will just try and log ingredietns seperately and put in my best guesstimate.

scottakramer

Thanks so much for this thread! I sometimes eat out and being in NYC, most restaurants are not chains. So I will look up a comparable dish and if that isn't in the database, then I'll try to separate out the ingredients. Although I didn't do that last week when I had that kangaroo burger. Although I suppose I could have substituted a turkey burger in it's place.

Seabee74

I have found out that if you ask the server, sometimes they have a nutritional values listing that they can show you. If not do your best to break it down and search for each item separately ! Good luck !

Robide

I try to just put something similar and usually overestimate to keep it safe.

This. And usually, I work on a 1.5 portion basis when I log, just because restaurants love their butter in food!