estimating restaurant meals

mystify89
mystify89 Posts: 2
in Food and Nutrition
I have tried counting calories before, and I ran into the same obstacle that I am now. I tend to go out to eat for lunch, and by my best estimates this fits within my lifestyle for a reasonable number of calories. However, I have a hard time finding nutrition information for most places, which makes tracking it hard. Sometimes myfitnesspal has stats for it (and I have no idea how accurate they are), but most often they do not. Does anyone have any tips for figuring out how many calories are in a restaurant meal?

Replies

  • mschicagocubs
    mschicagocubs Posts: 774 Member
    If you ran into this problem before...maybe eliminating how much you eat out for lunch. I did and I am also saving money.

    But with that said...I also tend to eat out still more than I want to. I'm busy and have a sales job so I'm out and about.

    I try to pick places ahead of time that DO have their facts online. Most chains do. And sometimes the place itself will have them on a menu if you ask.

    But you can always guesstimate if worse comes to worse. Log the ingredients separately on the recipe maker. Write it down at lunch so you can remember...about 2 cups of lettuce, 1 chicken breast (about 5oz), etc. And just try to be a little under with the rest of your food.
  • akern15
    akern15 Posts: 13
    I just pick a similar dish from a restaurant that does post its nutritional information.
  • mystify89
    mystify89 Posts: 2
    I don't want to cut out going out for lunch. Its both a social situation with my coworkers and a chance to get out of the office. Nor do I want to limit us to chains, a lot of the places we go were chosen because they are of high quality.
  • BigVeggieDream
    BigVeggieDream Posts: 1,101 Member
    It's not uncommon for some restaurants to have a sheet with the nutritional facts on it. You could ask. And almost any major chain has nutritional info on their websites.
  • olletho
    olletho Posts: 20 Member
    If I didn't go out for lunch I'd lose 1/3 of my walking. I take a best guess aproach and try to add margin. I am happiest on days when I eat more AND do more.

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