Controlling oneself at restaurants and family dinners

I was not raised on the "clean your plate" mentality but remember, if you don't clean your plate you have leftovers for tomorrow! And if you can turn a $20 meal into two meals you're being more fiscally responsible and you get to enjoy the food twice.

Finally someone that thinks like me. I was thinking that I was the only person on MFP that ever ate leftovers. I don't mind at all getting a big portion. Sometimes I can get 3 meals out of one! I see that as a win win situation.

I do not usually like taking leftovers home with me. I am more likely to order items a la carte or get something rather small and eat it all.

I definitely do not care for the "eat before you go" approach...I'd rather tackle the whole situation from the perspective of "What CAN I eat that is worth it to me?" rather than, "How can I just not eat?"

One thing I do is eat tiny meals for breakfast and lunch if I know I am going out for dinner. This week I am going out with my girlfriends and I WILL want a couple of drinks and an appetizer (as my entrée) so that's gonna be about 800-900 calorie dinner versus my usual 500-600. I'll probably have something like a bean sprout omelet with Sriracha and coffee for breakfast (well under 200 cal) and for lunch a bunch of veggies, 1/8 cup of cocoa almonds, Laughing Cow cheese wedge and hot flavored tea. So even with no opportunity to exercise (working all day and going straight to the pub) I will stay within my calories.

At family gatherings I generally zone in on a couple of things to eat. Of course if there's a veggie or fruit tray that is a good place to start. I am likely to eat some protein (usually meat or deviled eggs) and indulge in ONE thing if there are desserts/baked goods. I'm sort of a spaz and can have a silly personality so I occasionally make a show of explaining to the host how deeply I love frosting and don't care for any cake or ice cream, I'd just love to have that purple rosette from the corner of Maud's birthday cake. It makes people feel comfortable especially if they eat very indulgently and know that I eat lighter.

The no chip rule with Mexican food is also a habit of mine. I am not a huge chips n' salsa person at all so that's really easy for me. Same thing with bread, rolls, and breadsticks. I am NOT a low carb-er or anything, but those just aren't worth it to me. A delicious slice of homemade wheat crust pizza? A yummy spicy pasta seafood dish? Worth it. Reheated bread at Outback? Not worth it.

I don't get to go out often, so when I do I tend to not worry about it. I eat what I want, drink what I want, and enjoy myself.

I was not raised on the "clean your plate" mentality but remember, if you don't clean your plate you have leftovers for tomorrow! And if you can turn a $20 meal into two meals you're being more fiscally responsible and you get to enjoy the food twice.

Finally someone that thinks like me. I was thinking that I was the only person on MFP that ever ate leftovers. I don't mind at all getting a big portion. Sometimes I can get 3 meals out of one! I see that as a win win situation.

Now, this is interesting; two things to quote from one post!

I'm from the "clean your plate" school too. Not eating everything is a psychological hurdle to overcome and this is how I did it::

"Self, you've simply got to decide that you won't do it anymore. That was then,this is now. You were a darling child with chubby cheeks. Now you're an overweight adult who is trying to reign it in. It's time to act like it!" I can get pretty hard on myself sometimes, too.

Once you've made that decision, scooping out tomorrow's lunch before tonight's dinner is pretty easy.

As for restaurants, they sell repeat business with huge portions and great flavor. To get great flavors, they liberally use fats, salts, spices and MSG. You can also get amazing flavor by having a trained chef in the kitchen but, it's much cheaper to add the Big 4 to a meal than sending a line cook to culinary school. I avoid anything deep fried or with "manly man" portions. Why do I need 2000 calories on one plate? I order vegetables instead of starch, broth soup instead of cream soup and, I never order a dessert for only myself. Sometimes I'll order a senior meal. (Most places will let you order one regardless of your age.) Gravy on the side and eaten the same way you eat salad dressing, just dip your fork. If you put all of this together you can enjoy a restaurant meal without using two days of calories to do it.

Yesterday for lunch, we were in a national chain sports bar. I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich with bacon, mushrooms and cheese. (Tasty!) I cheated this one by tearing of the bottom bun before taking bites. I ended up with the bottom bun fragments and much of the top bun on the plate. I also had steamed green beans instead of fries and a glass of water to drink. when I tallied up the ingredients, the meal was well under 500 calories. (If you check my food diary you'll see 611 for lunch. I also snagged two pieces of fried shrimp from my wife but I went shopping with her afterwards. Not sure if that's called pay-back or paying it forward!)

Final tip: Have the waiter clear your plate ASAP. If it's not there, you can't pick at it.

One more add in for any situation, I know when my family is going out for pizza later that day or even during the week I will try to create a little extra wiggle room so I can enjoy myself. I try to eat well 80% of the time and that 20% includes a family meal or night out. Everyone repeats this but losing weight is a lifestyle change. You don't want to say no to everything you enjoy for the rest of your life. Just practice moderation.

I go in with a plan. I try to pre-log everything so I don't surprise myself and lose focus. If I'm really looking forward to something guilt-worthy, I make time for exercise. I'm the same way, I can eat and its hard to say no to a plate full of yummy food. I just recognize what I can have and what I can't ahead of time, that way I'm not disappointed.

One more add in for any situation, I know when my family is going out for pizza later that day or even during the week I will try to create a little extra wiggle room so I can enjoy myself. I try to eat well 80% of the time and that 20% includes a family meal or night out. Everyone repeats this but losing weight is a lifestyle change. You don't want to say no to everything you enjoy for the rest of your life. Just practice moderation.

I like this a lot, and I agree. Another nice option, if you have a partner or friend who is watching their calories and/or nutritional intake it can be nice to split a meal. My husband and I unexpectedly went out for pizza while on a road trip with friends Saturday night and we shared a 10" pizza between the two of us that was a fairly thin crust with just veggies and slivered almonds Stayed under our calories and didn't even go over on sodium.