How do you handle going out to eat at restaurants?

Hello -

Just wondering what other people do when they know ahead of time they will be going out to eat.
Like do you look up the menu online?
Always order lean meat or salad?

That sort of thing.

Thanks!

I do look menus up online. I eat whatever I want, but I also make it a habit to eat in moderation no matter where or what I eat.

I always try and see ahead of time if there's nutritional information available. I also try and make suggestions on where to go based on places I know have things I love that are still within my calorie range - for example the bangkok curry and noodles and company or the salad at chipotle.

If you really don't have access to the information then try to minimize your caloric intake but still enjoy yourself. Get water to drink and skip the appetizers unless you can work it into your meal. Look for things that are steamed and have ingredients you recognize. Then do your best to log it, enjoy the company, and move on with life!

Like everyone else I try to see if they have a menu online with nutritional information before I go. By the time I sit down I don't even need a menu because I've already planned my meal and entered the calories.

If they don't have info online, I base it on generic information.

I eat out quite rarely, so I'm happy to eat what I want and go over my target. It doesn't make much difference in the long run.

Of course, if you're eating out more often you may need to take a different approach.

Whatever you do, make sure to log it. For difficult to log meals, like a Chinese buffet, I have logged it once and use that as the basis for a guess next time round, making sure to guess at the higher end. I also sometimes take a day off logging to rest the brain - if I do that I log the day as 4000 calories so I know I've made a dent in my progress - that keeps me careful for a while afterwards.

i try to look things up on the online menu... a lot of chains have nutritional information included if you search for it... some of the local places don't have that though so it is a little bit more of a guessing game. i always try to plan out what i am going to eat before i get there to make sure it fits into my calories and macros for the day

I look up the menu on line.

Unless I'm somewhere like a Hibachi place (where I know it's a calorie bomb and it's so infrequent that I don't care) I always check out the menu online. If the nutrition information isn't available I will not eat any sauces that say "creamy" or "buttery". I do not EVER order hamburgers then because they are way too hard to accurately predict. If it's a sandwich place I'll typically get a grilled chicken, no sauces, no butter on the bun. I often only eat half the bun as well as they are gigantor. I also skip fries (OK so I take one or two from my husband )

Avoid anything crispy, fried, creamy, loaded.

Once you look at enough menus and nutritional information you can pretty much guesstimate what's in there.... or at least figure what the lowest calorie options likely are. If I know my self control is poor that day I will immediately offer large portions to my husband or ask for a box.

The places that kill me are the ones that have bread at the table like Carrabbas or the Olive Garden. For goodness sake I could live off just bread....

I order and eat what I want and don't worry about it. I measure, weigh and log almost everything else I eat, so when I get to a restaurant I don't feel bad about it. Now, too frequent of restaurant trips can be a problem, however, so I mostly eat at home. Try following the 80/20 rule and that should help.

Like everyone else I try to see if they have a menu online with nutritional information before I go. By the time I sit down I don't even need a menu because I've already planned my meal and entered the calories.

If they don't have info online, I base it on generic information.

^This

Even a lot of independent restaurants at least have a menu online, though often lack nutritional info. If I know what restaurant I will be at, I try to look at the menu in advance and give myself several options so when I get there, I have an idea in place but it is flexible. I like having a plan as it helps keep me from going way overboard. If I don't know the restaurant, then I look at the potential ones and do the same thing, give myself some idea of plans for then. {this happens when I'm staying in a restaurant-heavy area and have no idea what my dinner companion will choose or have no idea what mood I'll be in when I finally get a break to eat}. If there's nutrition info, awesome. Definitely helps a lot in making choices, but again, I totally give myself options in case I get there and really don't want something I thought I had originally wanted.

At the end of the day though, I don't beat myself up or stress about it. I choose what I want, make sure I've exercised (or if I couldn't, that I will do extra the next day!) and/or moderated calories on other days, and just enjoy eating out.

When I first started a year ago, I read and reread menus a lot, made sure I kept it sensible, often got half-servings, and planned an pre-planned days in advance so I could hit my week running and not be thrown by a restaurant scenario [I had to do this a lot, since I traveled 70+ percent of the time and had to eat out a lot]. As I got used to it and ate better and got used to making choices, it got way easier.

Sometimes I look up items online beforehand and plan accordingly, but most of the time I just eat half. Portion sizes at most restaurants are huge so I'm usually full on half.

Generally speaking though, if you're not sure, go for a lean grilled meat and vegetables for sides.

Look up the menu and see if something is at a reasonable calorie level and sounds yummy. If nothing sounds good, I will choose something higher calorie and eat less if I am not too hungry, or eat it all and go for a long walk afterwards.

I'm like him^^^ Yes we are bad *kitten*!

I don't worry overmuch about it to tell the truth. I don't look up menues online, and I don't even try to log the meals as most have so many ingredients it would be too hard and not accurate anyway. If I know beforehand that I'm going out for dinner I will eat a lot less during the day to compensate. I do try and get the healthier meals though, and get salad dressing and sauces on the side. I mainly stick to grilled/poached fish and veggies or salad or a small steak and veggies/salad and avoid meals I know are high in calories like twice cooked pork belly or creamy pastas.

My problem is the dessert menu and wine list, they're what get me in the end

It's usually a good move to order double veggie, no potato/bread/pasta. Broth soups are a good way to start your meal, just avoid the cream of everything. Some folks think salads are automatically a calorie bargain, but this isn't the case. The dressings, cheese, etc often add up to more than 500 - 1000 calories. Then you feel like you did a good job so you end up eating bread, dessert, etc. Stick with lean meats (fish, chicken, etc) broiled, steamed etc.

Planning ahead and keeping portions in mind is key.

I dine out frequently and have no problem losing weight. I do look at the menu ahead of time if possible to plan my meal and reduce the risk of impulsive bad choices.

Very few of the restaurants where I go make calorie counts available online (I usually go to independently owned restaurants, or small local chains), so I estimate by the ingredients listed and what I suspect (e.g., oil, butter, etc.).

I also usually cut the portion in half and take the rest home to eat the next day. This also affects what I choose to order because some things don't re-heat well. Some portions are so large I can make three or even four meals out of it (Maggiano's!).

Just while you're eating, remember that your stomach comfortably holds approximately one cup of chewed food. Anything more than that is excess. And eat slowly so that you can feel full/satisfied before you feel stuffed.

Losing weight isn't just about what you eat; how you eat is important as well. (Personally, I think how you eat is even more important than what you eat.)