Do you have to eat at home to lose weight?

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  • sheriann1271
    sheriann1271 Posts: 26 Member
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    I have a very hard time eating out. Much easier for me to eat at home.
  • AZKristi
    AZKristi Posts: 1,801 Member
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    At restaurants you can specify how you want something prepared (i.e. requesting veggies steamed w/out butter). You can also look for words in the description of menu items that are cues to how the food is prepared. For meat, a serving is about the size of a deck of cards.

    At catered events, if its a buffet, keep a protein bar in your purse and just eat the veggies.
  • jr1985
    jr1985 Posts: 1,033 Member
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    You don't HAVE to... but it certainly makes it MUCH easier... That way you not only are in control of making sure you measure and weight the foods you are using... but can also control the quality of what you eat... particularly fast food restaurants use a lot of ground meat with at least a 20% fat composition... and generally use LOTS of sodium and butter...even if you look up the nutritional information online before you go somewhere... like at Qdoba for instance, my favorite cheat meal!... One person's idea of a 'handful' of cheese is completely different from the next person's...

    I'm not saying to NEVER go out to dinner and enjoy yourself... but try to keep it to once a week or less if possible.
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
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    in the beginning, yes. it's easier because you are measuring and weighing everything. you are getting used to how your body feels after eating, and you have to tell your mind that you are full.

    if you aren't pre-logging before you eat, you should be.
  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
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    For restaurants that don't have posted nutrition info I log the closest thing from a chain restaurant. If I can't I try to break it down by ingredients. Numbers don't have to be perfect, just close!
  • kwamenyanyo
    kwamenyanyo Posts: 3
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    yes I agree sometimes the temptation to to great
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    You don't have to , but it's a hell of a lot easier IMHO. It's also difficult for me because I rarely go to a chain type of restaurant when we go out...it's almost always a local restaurant so rarely do I find nutritional information in the data base or at the establishment itself. I always have to use information from elsewhere to guestimate.

    Because it's a rarity for me, I don't really worry about it too much and just enjoy myself...I know others who eat out frequently though; a buddy of mine has one rule (he's not a calorie counter...just "naturally" skinny)...he eats a fist sized portion of everything that is on his plate and that's it...usually comes out to about 1/2 the entree and then boxes the other half up. It seems to work for him as, like I said, he's "naturally" skinny...makes since too because on average it seems a restaurant's portion is really closer to 2 serving sizes.
  • auroranflash
    auroranflash Posts: 3,569 Member
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    While the main thing is to stay at a calorie deficit, I find it is easier to eat most of my meals from home because:

    - It's easier to plan your day ahead of time so you know where you stand and aren't tempted.
    - You know what's going into it, so you have control over nutrients/calories.
    - It's usually tastier and more filling than something of equal caloric heft I would get out at a restaurant.

    It's just a matter of getting into a routine of buying what you need for the week and prepping it ahead of time.

    In the case of having meetings/social events where you're expected to eat the food served, you just do what you can to estimate and keep track of your overall progress to see if your estimations are correct or could use some adjusting.
  • Mich4871
    Mich4871 Posts: 143 Member
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    I think that you do what is comfortable for you. With that said, we eat out on average 3 times a week, and I've lost 60 lbs so far. I just make better choices then I did in the past, and if you ask, most restaurants will alter how they prepare the food. Usually, if it's breakfast, I ask they cook my eggs dry on the griddle, no butter, no oil. Whole wheat toast dry with the butter on the side. Instead of homefries, I ask for a veggie or fruit. If it's dinner and I order chicken, I ask it's grilled or baked (again, dry) and ask for veggies not sauteed in butter.... etc....
  • NeverGivesUp
    NeverGivesUp Posts: 960 Member
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    I like to know what I am eating so I rarely go out to eat and if I do it is clean and sauceless food that I order.
  • Blondie1984
    Blondie1984 Posts: 75 Member
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    I agree with you! I Find everywhere I go the food always is over processed, or really heavy
  • tameko2
    tameko2 Posts: 31,634 Member
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    If you did, I'd still be fat. I eat out 7 times a week a minimum. But I'm also a great visual estimator of food, for the most part (which I verified by weighing a bunch of stuff at home) and I don't generally need to snack or eat breakfast, so I just have 2 pretty large meals most days, which means I can eat basically anything on a restaurant menu, aside from some of the really egregious calorie offenders (like the 2400 calorie nacho plates and things are out of the question but a 1300 calorie pasta is managable.)
  • cnelson1974
    cnelson1974 Posts: 235 Member
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    I agree that its much easier to eat healther from home because you can see exactly how much of what goes into your food. I do eat out occasionally, but I custom order my food. I still use the website nutritional value (I have to start somewhere to log), but make them cook without butter, salt, or whatever. I found the salt content for most major chains is just rediculous even for items on the 'healthy choice' portion of the menu.
  • rockangel8907
    rockangel8907 Posts: 429 Member
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    I go out on Sundays, have some drinks and eat crappy but so delicious bar food and still lose weight. Would I lose more if I only ate at home? I'm sure I would but my social life is important and one meal once a week isn't going to screw up all my efforts.
  • samlosesit
    samlosesit Posts: 5
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    I haven't read through this but what I do when we go out is A. try and look up he menu before so I know what might be the best choice and B. immediately ask for a box and half my meal. Even if I get something very calorie rich I only ate half. Usually I save the other half for the next day. Also if you eat somewhere that doesn't tell you the caloric intake of their meals, email them and ask for it or just let them know.
  • fatfrost
    fatfrost Posts: 365 Member
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    At restaurants, I will often ask the server to confirm the portion size with the chef so that I am at least accurate on the basics. You will not know exactly how it is prepared, but I would argue that it is less about precision and more about just being vigilant about keeping track. Anyways, good luck. I'm living proof that it can be done. I was really fat (~245) and have gotten to a weight that I haven't seen since puberty (169) today. I've been at this for almost a year--it takes time but it's totally worth it.
  • bearwith
    bearwith Posts: 525 Member
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    AGree, the problem with eating out is that they entice you into having much more than you need.

    Not worth it - limit yourself to one meal out a month. We in the west eat out too much it is no longer a treat to go out. It is a treat to cook indoors if anything because we never have time.
  • RoadsterGirlie
    RoadsterGirlie Posts: 1,195 Member
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    "Barcode scanner in your mouth."

    That one made me LOL.

    I agree - I also saved a ton of $$$ when I started counting calories. While I still eat out occasionally, 90% of my meals are cooked at home. Whoever says eating healthy is expensive is just plain wrong...
  • stubbysticks
    stubbysticks Posts: 1,275 Member
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    The idea of being scared to eat because of not knowing the calorie count is saddening to me. Yes, it's easier to log food when you can look up the restaurant or the ingredients in the database. But if you're trying to lose more than 5 lbs, then it's just not realistic to think that you can finish losing weight before you have to go to another work lunch or birthday party or baby shower etc etc etc. Just because you're trying to lose weight, that doesn't mean you're not allowed to enjoy food at all until you hit your goal. Life still happens no matter what you're trying to do.

    So maybe you do have work lunches several days in a row. You have several options:
    - freak out because you can't accurately log every morsel then end up paralyzed with fear of eating anything, very likely being so anxious about the food that you can't focus properly on anything else
    - bring your own food that you CAN log more accurately. You might get some weird looks, but if you don't care about that, then do it.
    - make the best choices you can based on what you do know about healthier options, eyeball the portions, quickly log your food based on entries in the database that seem close, & move on. It's not a big deal unless you make it one. Do what you can, then spend the rest of your time relaxing or networking or listening to the presenters or whatever. If it bothers you that much then plan for some extra exercise over the next few days to offset. It's not that big a deal.
  • asizesix
    asizesix Posts: 134
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    Eating at home is a big plus. When I do go out, I look up the menu before I go so I can find the healthier choices.


    This!! I find it super helpful to know what's on the menu beforehand and research the calories if possible.

    At least if you see the menu you can go in knowing what you want, or knowing what you DON'T want (ie. if you see the burger you want comes with mayo, bacon, two kinds of cheeses etc.. you will know when you get there to tell the waitress to exclude those ingredients...it'll be the same burger but it might save you 200+ calories!)
    If you're sitting there looking at the menu for the first time it's SO much more tempting to order whatever looks the best and not be picky.

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