Eating out without nutrition info.

MeganKSchultz
MeganKSchultz Posts: 73
in Food and Nutrition
Tonight I am going to my husband's favorite barbeque restaurant, which is locally owned and does not provide the nutritional information for their menu. How do I enter this into my food diary? I don't want to go over, but I don't want to go out to eat and not eat anything either. Do some people just never eat anything they don't have the nutritional information for? Is there a good method for an educated guess?

Replies

  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    I would just look for a similar entree in the database. It's not going to be exact, but as long as you're close to accurate on most of your meals throughout the week, one meal that's off isn't going to make an earth-shattering difference.
  • atrebor18
    atrebor18 Posts: 235 Member
    I rarely eat out at chain restaurants and eat at local places instead and I just pick something as close to what I ordered in the database but I don't sweat it. One "bad" meal won't make you fat just like one "good" meal won't make you skinny. Plus eating out should be fun! My personal problem eating out is portion sizes, restaurants love to give you enough food for three people it seems so I try to only eat half of my meal and take the rest home.
  • sweetums2
    sweetums2 Posts: 14
    I just ate out the other evening with out knowing the calorie count and what a shock. I had not planned on going out but when with friends sometimes you just need to be flexable. I ordered salad with lite dressing and later when I added it up I ate 1200+ calories. I would have been better off with grilled protein and a carb. If you kind of know the menu check it out before you go. That way you will be prepared. That should take some of the stress away from the night and you could enjoy the evening out too!
  • sweetums2
    sweetums2 Posts: 14
    good point about portion size!
  • AllonsYtotheTardis
    AllonsYtotheTardis Posts: 16,947 Member
    A couple of my favorite restaurants are small, family-run businesses. They don't publish nutritional info either (and I wouldn't expect them to). I just try to pick something from the database that seems as close as possible, and go with that. I'm not eating there all the time, so I don't sweat it.
  • palmerar
    palmerar Posts: 489 Member
    I would just lok for a similar entry, maybe see if they can tell you how many ounces of meat you get with the meal so you can better estimate it. Pulled pork and chicken aren't usually too bad, ribs are probably higher in fat and calories. Try to get a veggie or coleslaw, and my downfall is buttery delicious cornbread. I try to share cornbread with my boyfriend. Enjoy your night out barbeque is one of my favorite things!
  • Nachise
    Nachise Posts: 395 Member
    Ask for a child's portion.

    The database has a lot of items that you can use to guesstimate. Watch out for coleslaw, especially the creamy stuff.

    A big thing here in Maryland is pit beef, which is sliced very thinly and stacked on a kaiser roll or plate. One place that catered an event had this great-looking coleslaw, but by the time we got to the head of the line, they had run out. We watched them make a new batch, and to my horror, they used whipping cream in addition to mayonnaise. I took a pass on that, because I am lactose intolerant.
  • MeganKSchultz
    MeganKSchultz Posts: 73
    I'm finding barbeque to be particularly hard because things like the amount of sugar in the sauce varies SO much. And the only thing resembling a vegetable at this place is coleslaw (which I HATE!)
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    I'm finding barbeque to be particularly hard because things like the amount of sugar in the sauce varies SO much. And the only thing resembling a vegetable at this place is coleslaw (which I HATE!)

    In that case, I'd pick the highest calorie entry as a worst case scenario. You have two other meals and a few snacks to get your veggies.

    Another thing I've done when going out to eat and not being able to guestimate is just to quick add however many calories I had left. Like others have said, going out should be enjoyable. If you're stressing too much about the calories, it's not going to be enjoyable.
  • Rowan813
    Rowan813 Posts: 170 Member
    This may sound boring, but our favorite BBQ place serves a salad with your choice of meat. I get the smoked turkey with no sauce and then add what I want, either a little sauce or their vinagrette on the side. Otherwise, I choose the chicken because the sauce is served on the side and I can control the amounts. More than anything, I have to control the amt of fried okra I eat. I usually share an order with my DH. I estimate as best I can for calories.

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