Eating out

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c7eat2live
c7eat2live Posts: 308 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
hey all! so what do you do when you eat out and your not sure how many calories you ate? I am kind of good at judging some dishes but I feel a little scared to be in the dark. It is just taking ALL the fun out of eating out :(

Replies

  • DoreenN
    DoreenN Posts: 60
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    its hard to know the exact calories and info when you eat out. But alot of your popular chain restaurants have their nutritional information online, so you can always look on their websites to see
  • nikki91950
    nikki91950 Posts: 647
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    overestimate everything! :)
  • caejde
    caejde Posts: 29 Member
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    If it's a restaurant that has their menu and nutrition online, I use that. If not, I try to find something online by searching for what I ate and at least try to estimate.
  • cardbucfan
    cardbucfan Posts: 10,427 Member
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    I try to find something in the database that is pretty close to what I ate and log the one with the highest number of calories to be safe. It's really hard to guess and not all places have the nutritional values available. Just try to be sensible with what you eat, ask the server a bunch of questions about how things are cooked, make special requests, log everything as close as you can and ENJOY yourself. Sometimes it's alarming when you log everything, but in my opinion, as long as it's occasional, it's not gonna kill your progress.
  • kristibag81
    kristibag81 Posts: 61
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    I wish I knew what to do. I get very anxious when we eat out because I am not good at judging calories yet just by looking...I'm all about portions though. So, I guess if you are unsure you could just cut your meal in half and take it home for later?

    I can't wait to see the responses to this as I'm curious too.
  • silhouettes
    silhouettes Posts: 517 Member
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    Occasionally if I'm forced to eat out at a place that has no way of knowing the exact calories I try to look up that type of food and take the middle number or the high number if I'm real worried. Like say I have a Mexican place here that hase Quesadilla's to die for with lots and lots of cheese and nothing else. I looked it up, found Cheese Queadilla and added more Quaso Cheese and for the chips I took the middle number of chips out of all those listed and same with salsa.

    I went to a buffet for my parents birthday, I wrot down each item on a napkin and when I came home looked up each seperately as home cooked... and I went to Hard Rock Cafe once sicne I started dieting.. I had no way of finding that I guessed based on other restraunt's like that's type of food like I ate.. I just did a quick add calorie on that day.

    Good luck!
  • troyindallas
    troyindallas Posts: 18 Member
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    Do your research on the place before walking in the door. A lot of places have nutritional info online. Know what to order before you go. I do it privately at home, know one knows I do it and I order with confidence knowing I am on tract. Also, keep your phone on you so you can check the calorie counts if you need to

    Other fact: A lot of places get their food from the same place, so if you can't find it for like say...Olive Garden....You can check Red Lobster and compare items, they come from the same supplier and have the same counts. Most places get from Sysco or the like, so compare like items with data on the program. Good luck.
  • c7eat2live
    c7eat2live Posts: 308 Member
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    yeah I almost NEVER eat at a chain restaurant and absolutely never at a fast food joint so many of my favorite places are local or a little more in the middle price range if that makes sense. I guess Ill just try to start watching out for calorie traps like cheese and butter and carbs....and then I really like the idea about just searching the database and then overestimating thats a good plan to try I think! thanks for the replies :)
  • lfondots
    lfondots Posts: 216 Member
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    I would say try to eat things without sauces (I know...boring!) but the sauce is what adds the calories. Also dressings on the side for salads and things. Lots of veggies and some protein. Also like the others said, when you get home try to get something similar and maybe take the higher calorie. But... sometimes you just have to treat yourself so don't stress.
  • CudyBug
    CudyBug Posts: 742 Member
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    when all else fails I eat half the meal, or at fast food I get a kids meal and give the toy to my children lol they actually now take turns on whogets the toy. At mcdonalds I alternate a boy and girl toy since I have one son adn one daughter lol
  • arsenal45
    arsenal45 Posts: 211 Member
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    I make sure to know where I'm going beforehand (if at all possible) and look at my choices online. Most of the time that deternines where I go!
  • VeryKerri
    VeryKerri Posts: 359 Member
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    I look up a recipe online for what I ate and then I use the recipe calulator online here to re-create it. I just did that today as a matter of fact. I ate at a bakery that isn't a chain so I put all the ingredients into the calculator and made my own. The cake shocked me!! lol oh well. Working out later!

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