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How do you log a meal out....?

tamzinb10
tamzinb10 Posts: 38 Member
edited February 15 in Health and Weight Loss
Just been out or dinner.......... had fishcakes, cod with veg and some kind of pickles and pancetta and a pudding plate....


anyways... it was a set menu... my point is how does anyone else log this?

Replies

  • fast_eddie_72
    fast_eddie_72 Posts: 719 Member
    Honestly? I guess. I had a lunch function at a Mexican place today. I did my best to log what I ate and found something that looked similar to what I was eating in the database. One meal. One day. Close enough.

    If I ate like that a lot, I might get more worried about it. My stomach, right now, is telling me it wasn't as many calories as I thought. lol
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    Yah what Eddie said...

    esp at a diner it can be hard to log it.

    Just do the best you can.
  • tamzinb10
    tamzinb10 Posts: 38 Member
    My problem is I have quite a lot of these.... I know there is going to be wine..... and I try and choose the healthiest sounding foods, but when you don't really know whats in it how do you log?!
  • JenniTheVeggie
    JenniTheVeggie Posts: 2,474 Member
    Look up those foods and then guesstimate. Leave some wiggle room too.
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
    When I am out, I request the nutrition information. If they are unable to provide it, I try to find similar enough or break it into ingredients in my head. I also try to always take part of my meal home in a doggy bag, since most restaurant portions are really more than one serving (even salads).
  • fast_eddie_72
    fast_eddie_72 Posts: 719 Member
    Yeah, depending where you go, you may be able to get nutrition information. If it's any kind of a chain, it may already be in the database too.
  • tamzinb10
    tamzinb10 Posts: 38 Member
    In the UK we don't really have places you can ask for nutrition information.... also often its work stuff I go out for where its pre chosen food, I think just over estimate when I log??


    But a fishcake is quite hard to call I think????
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    As much as possible, I try to avoid ordering items that are hard to estimate. A fish cake is an example - virtually impossible to estimate.

    So just pick a nasty one from the database and run with it...not much else you can do at that point....
  • tamzinb10
    tamzinb10 Posts: 38 Member
    I had the choice for a starter of : Fishcake, ham and apple terrine or deep fried brie! haha x
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    SWAG method. Scientific wild *kitten* guessing. :bigsmile:


    Which is pretty much what everyone else said - I find what seems like the closest match for each item in the database and log as best I can, making a note in the box at the bottom of the diary page that it was all guesswork. Or sometimes, if it's a lot to track down, I'll just quick add whatever calories I've got left and call it a day. :drinker:
  • tamzinb10
    tamzinb10 Posts: 38 Member
    SWAG method. Scientific wild *kitten* guessing. :bigsmile:

    I like SWAG! It sounds really professional too, "just using the SWAG method tonight" haha x
  • PandaCustard
    PandaCustard Posts: 204 Member
    I had the same problem today. I got a salad bar to go, so I could have a cheap, healthy meal that I could eat for all threes meals... and I have no idea how to track it. Most of it was lower-calorie items, like salad with a lot of varied vegetables, cottage cheese, and a small amount of sugar-free chocolate pudding... so I'm just going to chalk it up as one day I can't really log too accurately. As long as it doesn't happen constantly, it shouldn't be a problem if it's a relatively rare occurrence.
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