Lessons I'm Learning About Eating Out

MeganKSchultz
MeganKSchultz Posts: 73
in Food and Nutrition
I've been cruising some restaurant menus as I think I'll need to eat out for dinner tonight. I've learned some important information.

While viewing a menu I use to order from regularly, I find that the items I normally ordered varied from 130 calories for a cup of soup to 1510 calories for a baked potato.

Mayonnaise is evil. I wish I ate mayonnaise, because if I quit it, I bet I'd lose weight. Like people who drink soda all day just cut out soda and lose 10 lbs in a week. Looking at a sandwich menu, removing the mayonnaise made an over 200 calorie difference!

I have a knack for picking THE worst items on the menu! I never super size, or anything that screams "I eat like a fatty!" But somehow I tend to pick the worst items! 1510 calories for a baked potato! On the sandwich menu... I looked at every item and my old choice? Literally THE WORST in calories.

While eating at home is by far the easiest, cheapest way to eat healthy, I don't have to make it a cheat meal and go crazy to eat out a couple of times a week. And that doesn't mean going to a burger place and getting one of their grosso "we're selling it so the nutritionists get off our backs" salads/wraps. Chick Fil A has some yummy stuff. And you don't even have to get an unwich at Jimmy John's to do ok on calories! However... Arby's is NOT the place to go if you want to stay with in your calories for the day.

What tricks and lessons have YOU learned about eating out? Especially when it comes to fast food.

Replies

  • DavidMartinez2
    DavidMartinez2 Posts: 840 Member
    My biggest "trick" when eating out is to check the menu and nutrional information before I get to the retaurant and to decide what I am going to order before we leave. For fast food, the best trick is to just stay away :P
  • willdob3
    willdob3 Posts: 640 Member
    I check online menus when possible. I can usually eliminate most of the items listed very quickly based on the descriptions and nutritional info (if provided).

    I stick to simple entrees & veggies with no sauces. Dinner salads with simple dressings. I often substitute fancy sides with fresh, steamed veggies and am comfortable asking waitstaff about ingredients when I am not sure. I bring half the meal home most of the time. I divide it up before I start eating.

    Eating out this way does not usually cause a water weight gain the next day and in no way slows my progress.

    I don't eat fast food. I do sometimes stop at Panara Bread but I only order off their Secret Menu.
  • rebelate
    rebelate Posts: 218 Member
    What is on that 1,510 calorie baked potato?!

    I eat out pretty regularly. I always look at menu's before we go out, and figure out what I should/shouldn't get or how I can make things fit. Most of the time I try to order something on the "lighter" menu, or just box up half of my dinner and eat it for lunch later. I'll order sides at some places to get a full meal, or will substitute sides to knock off some calories, or ask for things like sauces, or dressings on the side. I go to Panda Express, Chipotle, Chilis, and Carl's Junior pretty regularly, and usually find a way to make it fit into my daily calories, and be able to eat my other meals just fine.

    After someone said "think about how big the portion you're getting there is, and what is really going into it before you decide to order" which kind of opened my eyes. Even at home, I can't make chicken Alfredo for under 500 calories and expect it to be restaurant worthy, same with enchiladas, or pot pie, or baked potatoes. Creams, butter, cheeses, sauces, bread, pasta are all pretty heavy hitters.

    Most places aren't trying to offer you realistic portion, or the healthiest version of something.



    and, mayonnaise is a delicious, delicious devil.
  • whierd
    whierd Posts: 14,025 Member
    I am in for lessons on eating out. I normally do a great job, but tips are always great for doing better.
  • MayaSPapaya
    MayaSPapaya Posts: 735 Member
    I usually get whatever I want when I eat out...though I have learned that I actually make OK choices, like it could be a lot worse. However I never finish my food, since the portion size is usually so huge, and try to make sure I ate well the rest of the day. The way I figure it, after eating super healthy meals all throughout the week, treating myself on a weekend for one meal won't hurt me :)
  • KCoolBeanz
    KCoolBeanz Posts: 813 Member
    I am in for lessons on eating out. I normally do a great job, but tips are always great for doing better.

    Check out some websites - there is a wealth of information! Many different strategies.
  • xinit0
    xinit0 Posts: 310 Member
    I went to Wendy's last night, and the grilled chicken sandwich there isn't horrible for calories. Had I remembered, I'd have ordered it without the honey mustard, but otherwise, it was okay paired with a side salad (and half dressing... would have been swimming in sauce with the whole thing) and a diet sprite. I did share my wife's small fries, but still, the numbers weren't that bad (except for the sodium).

    Fast food doesn't have to be horrible, though. Get the chicken skewers instead of the souvlaki at the Greek place, with a side of Taboulleh, or get grilled chicken at the Chinese place on steamed rice, or get a veggie burrito bowl with black beans. The answer to "Do you want cheese on that?" can be 'No.'
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    I also look at the menus online before going. Otherwise I go with sauceless/non fried stuff stuff, pretty much. At the Chinese buffet I had egg drop soup and steamed dumplings, otherwise it's often grilled chicken and veggies or some sort. Or a salad with pretty harmless ingredients and sauce on the side.
  • bhdon
    bhdon Posts: 117 Member
    I'm working with this too, as when I checked my weekly summaries, the days I tend to go over my calorie limit are often days we eat out. We travel for business, and do eat out of our cooler for breakfasts and lunches, but usually eat dinner out. It helps if we can split a meal, but even then, it's still possible to go over. I sometimes order from the 'appetizers' or 'sides' selections instead of a full meal or if we're not going to share a meal. I try to watch out for fried & sauteed foods, sauces and toppings which add a lot of calories, and I avoid buffets like the plague. I usually order water or plain soda water instead of pop or alcohol. I'll sometimes order a baked potato ( no butter) and ask for cocktail sauce to go on it, or order a salad ( no dressing) with a (non-cream based) cup of soup, and stir the soup into the salad. This is usually really good. I also sometimes carry little baggies of beans, or those little bitty pop top cans of beans, in my purse, and dump them on a salad. I do wish restaurants would offer more beans on things like salads, or that someone would come up with small portable, non-perishable packages of a variety of beans to carry in my purse. Most restaurants are willing to work with you, if it's not a super busy time of day.
  • matt2442
    matt2442 Posts: 1,259 Member
    I am in for lessons on eating out. I normally do a great job, but tips are always great for doing better.

    Never go for the cheap places
  • HollisGrant
    HollisGrant Posts: 2,022 Member
    No salad dressing, just salt and pepper.
  • notworthstalking
    notworthstalking Posts: 531 Member
    Usually when I get takeaway it isn't hard for metro stay with in my calories. I am on 2040 at the moment so have a bit to play with. If it's an odd day out, for example we had a date night and went to a place could the hogs breath cafe. Big steak house type place. I looked online and no info, but most predictions were for 700 cal plus. Anyway I just got the smaller steak, still a decent serve , baked potato, and steamed veggies. The only 'naughty' thing was the mushroom sauce. I wouldn't eat like that every day, but I enjoyed it and I simply picked food that while being high, would give me good nutrition. It's so easy to waste a lot of calories on crap and if I am going to go over, you bet it's going to be something yummy. A once in a while thing is okay, but when it's regular, I do think you have to stick to your calories. Try and pick good food though. You want to get as much of your macros as possible so you don't run out of energy in the long run.
  • popsicklestar
    popsicklestar Posts: 166 Member
    I've learned that little things add up. I've learned that I don't need both sour cream AND cheese on my burrito. One or the other is plenty, and I don't even really notice the difference. I've learned that I shouldn't eat out more than once a week, and if I eat a higher calorie meal out, I should eat very clean, healthy, low-cal meals for my other meals that day. This strategy has been working for me, and my excursions eating out haven't seemed to affect my weight-loss efforts.
  • YoungDoc2B
    YoungDoc2B Posts: 1,593 Member
    I've learned that you should always overestimate the calories listed on the restaurant menu, because chances are, they're wildly inaccurate
  • dysonsl
    dysonsl Posts: 11 Member
    I've learned that you should always overestimate the calories listed on the restaurant menu, because chances are, they're wildly inaccurate

    it's so true. check this out. this is why you really have to educate yourself and not rely on the menus and fda provided crap.

    http://www.nytimes.com/video/2013/02/12/opinion/100000002061153/calorie-detective.html
  • pbandz
    pbandz Posts: 128 Member
    I learned that whipped cream is the WORST . I also learned that getting a salad at McDonald's is a bad idea, especially with crispy chicken. And grilled chicken is okay, but not smothered in some creamy sauce
  • Swanlake999
    Swanlake999 Posts: 8
    I have learned that since the best choice when eating out is grilled lean meat, veggies and a salad....which I can easily do at home....restaurants are losing their attraction. A salad, grilled chicken breast or small steak, veggies, a glass of red wine are quick at home and they come in at a fraction of the cost. My eating out has dropped by about 80% and I actually enjoy my food more --most days! There is still the odd time when it's just nice to have someone cook for me.
  • divemunkey
    divemunkey Posts: 288 Member
    I've learned that you should always overestimate the calories listed on the restaurant menu, because chances are, they're wildly inaccurate

    Right, because there was no way in hell the 1/2 rack of dry rub ribs I had at Chilis yesterday was 570c. maybe 350, if I want to be generous. the amount of meat you get varies wildly.
  • Motria
    Motria Posts: 54 Member
    I'll get what I want at a restaurant, but usually just eat half of it and save the other half for another meal. Even the yummy healthy vegan food at Native Foods has a lot of calories due to portion size. I found that the Gandhi Bowl has about 1000 calories - I'll pack up half even before I even start eating.
  • 2FatToRun
    2FatToRun Posts: 810 Member
    I have learned to always order water with lemon as my drink because the sodium is outrageous.
  • whierd
    whierd Posts: 14,025 Member
    I am in for lessons on eating out. I normally do a great job, but tips are always great for doing better.

    Never go for the cheap places

    So very true. Never want to end up eating something that makes you sick. The cleaner the better, I always say!
  • RyanneRose
    RyanneRose Posts: 128 Member
    My go-to meal at one of my favorite restaurants (this includes half an appetizer, a cup of soup, a filet, mashed potatoes, and a fruity drink) would wipe out a full day's worth of calories...for someone *not* eating at a deficit. I *always* order the same thing there. But if I cut the cup of soup, switch out the mashed potatoes for seasonal veggies, and nix the fruity drink for water (holy heck the drink alone was 400!) and skip dessert, it comes in around 700ish. Which is totally do-able if the rest of my day is sensible and I get my workout in.
    I'm just learning to make better choices here. Weight was never a (real) issue before I got pregnant and had my daughter so I never paid much attention. I now always order water as my drink, wherever I go, and choose grilled over fried if there's an option - though in the past few years my stomach's rejected a lot of fried food anyway. I don't munch on the bread if there's bread at the table. If I simply must have dessert, I'll split it or order a mini one if those are offered.

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