Pre-Emptive Damage Control

abbeyjones1994
abbeyjones1994 Posts: 188 Member
edited November 11 in Food and Nutrition
Hi all,

I'm not new to MFP (today is day 185!), but I've never really encountered a situation like this before, which may seem strange.

My parents are coming to visit this weekend, and that means I'll probably eat 3 of my 6 weekend meals (2 Saturday, 1 Sunday) out. Sunday isn't an issue because we always go to Bob Evans for breakfast, and they actually have a decent "Fit From the Farm" menu which makes things easy to calculate.

Saturday is a different story. I would imagine we'll be going out for lunch and dinner, both of which will be at places where none of the meals are calorie-friendly. I'm fine with that part, because that just means I'll probably view this week in terms of my weekly totals instead of my daily totals and have quite a bit more to eat than usual on Saturday. However, as I said, I've never done it this way before, usually because I don't have more than one meal out a day and don't ever anticipate going several hundred over my daily net total.

So...after all that ranting, my question is...how do you do "damage control" before the damage is done? For instance, if you cut a few of your normal calories from your day for a few days, how many do you cut? Or do you exercise more; how much more? Or, is it a combo of both?

I'm going to try and overestimate how much I eat on Saturday to have some room for error, so I might just quick add 2,200 for the day (my intake right now is 1200).

Replies

  • SuggaD
    SuggaD Posts: 1,369 Member
    I usually try to get a big calorie burning workout in on high calorie days. For example, long bike ride or long run. Otherwise, I plan on blowing most of my calories on the big meal and eat less for the others, if anything at all.
  • obscuremusicreference
    obscuremusicreference Posts: 1,320 Member
    At 1200, I don't really cut my calories. I wouldn't eat back too many exercise calories beforehand.

    Just log it and move on.
  • Jruzer
    Jruzer Posts: 3,501 Member
    I have done this a few times. I try to cut a little out of each day, some days more than other days depending on what I can get in for exercise and what Mrs Jruzer has made for dinner. It might be a bit harder at 1200/day though, to be honest. Good luck!
  • sssgilber
    sssgilber Posts: 90 Member
    I had a 2 restaurant celebration meals last weekend. At the 1st, I shared chicken fajitas with a friend and at the 2nd, ate half my barbecue platter and boxed up the rest. Funny, after several weeks on MFP, I don't eat like a starving dog anymore. I ordered what looked tasty and somewhat healthy, pushed the bread away, indulged in a few chips, and stopped eating when I was full.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    You do not have to have two meals out on the same day. When my parents were here for a few days and retauranting, for dinner one night I only had the tossed salad that came with a little feta cheese. It was nice to eat that way at a restaurant.
  • Kontxesi
    Kontxesi Posts: 86 Member
    Is there any way you could try to steer one of those meals towards a restaurant with more low-calorie options?

    If not (or even if you can), I personally would probably shave 100 calories off each day the week before. It would be a combination of eating less and exercising more, for me. However, my daily goal is 1650. I'm not sure how much you'd want to cut off, since you're already at 1200.

    But at the end of the day, it's just one weekend. Some times you just have to log it and move on. :)
  • samthepanda
    samthepanda Posts: 569 Member
    You can still make good choices and make the difference between being a couple of hundred cals over, and a couple of thousand! Do you need to eat the bread? Can you order jacket potato rather than fries? Drinks can make a huge difference. Hubby and I went out to Harvester for dinner last week, and as we were for once without kids (so time to talk!) I looked at the calories that are now listed on the menu and was quite shocked how easy it would be to consume 4000 calories! Dressings really added up for one thing.

    If I go out just with hubby and kids, I generally don't have starters or dessert - doesn't bother me. However, MIL feels I am being miserable and spoiling things for everyone else (sigh!) so to keep peace I might have starter but try for fruit, or soup (no bread), and / dessert (usually sorbet).
    -
  • Kontxesi
    Kontxesi Posts: 86 Member
    samthepanda wrote: »
    If I go out just with hubby and kids, I generally don't have starters or dessert - doesn't bother me. However, MIL feels I am being miserable and spoiling things for everyone else (sigh!) so to keep peace I might have starter but try for fruit, or soup (no bread), and / dessert (usually sorbet).
    -

    Ugh! Please. Your MIL is spoiling things for everyone else by caring about what you eat. Tell her to shove it and eat/don't eat what you want.

    Unless you like her. Then... maybe you can be nicer than "shove it". I just don't like people, generally, but even less so if they comment about what's on my plate.
  • echofm1
    echofm1 Posts: 471 Member
    If I know in advance that I'm going to need extra calories for the weekend, I start "saving" for it. Basically, any exercise that I do over that week gets put onto the day (Saturday in this case), and I plan my exercise around when I need to eat so that I don't just want to eat everything after working out. Since you're looking at a weekly total, you still come out just fine and you have a lot of wiggle room for the one big day.

    If you need the exercise to eat enough calories to feel like a human, then maybe just put part of the calories onto your big day.
  • TheVirgoddess
    TheVirgoddess Posts: 4,535 Member
    Honestly I wouldn't sweat it. One day won't destroy your progress. Try to make the best choices you can, but I wouldn't waste much time stressing.

    Enjoy yourself :)
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    i would say enjoy the time with your parents, log as accurately as possible, and then just get back on track on Monday …

    You have to live life and not worry about calorie counting ALL the time …plus two days of indulgence is not going to ruin your progress….

    also, 1200 seems low to me, but that is a story for another time...
  • cardbucfan
    cardbucfan Posts: 10,571 Member
    I work out extra during the week, don't eat back as many of my exercise calories and if there's time get a big workout in the day of the planned splurge. Then I enjoy it and move on.
  • abbeyjones1994
    abbeyjones1994 Posts: 188 Member
    Thanks so much for the advice everyone! I'm going to try not to "cut" for this weekend by not eating back as many of my exercise calories as normal, and try to make at least one of my meals "lighter." Unfortunately I don't really have the option of not eating those two meals out as someone suggested; eating at my place isn't really possible since I am in college and live in a dorm room, unless everyone wants Ramen for dinner. Plus, I'm not going to not spend time with my parents because they choose to go out to dinner.

    Also, I'm not generally on 1200, but I had a free-for-all when I was home for Christmas break and am trying to cut a little on my 1 lb. a week goal (which, unfortunately, is 1200), and then head back up to 0.5 lbs. a week once I've stabilized a bit.
  • ddkphotos
    ddkphotos Posts: 304 Member
    even though they aren't the healthiest restaurants - if you look there is always something healthier you can choose... grilled chicken breast or broiled salmon - switch the sides to just steamed veggies... or choose a salad (dressing on the side)... if you order the burger just eat the meat and tomatoe/lettuce and coleslaw... I always manage to find something.
  • runningforthetrain
    runningforthetrain Posts: 1,037 Member
    Hi I browsed through the responses and didn't happen to see one preemptive strategy that I use. I eat either a hard boiled egg, an apple, and /or a full glass of water before the cheat meal. This way I will probably eat less and hence my guesstimating will have less of a margin of error.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    I'm at 1200 and cutting calories is near impossible (for me anyways). You could move your settings to maintenance, instead of weight loss, that will give you more calories to work with without GAINING weight. Rather than cutting calories I would try to get more exercise in the days before, during (if possible) and after) to try and even out any other additional calories eaten beyond maintenance.
  • shifterbrainz
    shifterbrainz Posts: 245 Member
    Perhaps in addition to wise food choices, think of wise behavior choices that would limit the amount of time available to actually eat. By that I mean maximize the social aspect of dining out. The more you talk, listen, laugh, smile, and whatever, the less time available to eat. I don't get out much so knowledge of the actual "specifics" of socializing is limited. Just an "outside the box" thought. Hope you have a wonderful visit! :)
  • melitosis
    melitosis Posts: 7
    We have a "family favourite" restaurant that I recently discovered is pretty calorie heavy. Nothing on the menu seems to be under 800 calories, including the healthy meals. When I know we're going there, I just budget for the day with lighter snacks, and then cut the meal in half (literally, using a knife). There's no rule that says you have to everything on your plate right then. It also means you get the joy of eating the other half at a later time. Yum!
  • Codilee87
    Codilee87 Posts: 509 Member
    First, look up the restaurant menu before you go - on the way there if you have to lol - that way you can find out what the best healthy options are. If the restaurant has no healthy options at all you can try this trick: when you get your meal ask them to bring a takeout box right away so you can pack up half before you even start eating, that way you won't accidentally over-indulge while distracted by all the visiting.

    Keep in mind that most restaurant food is crazy high in sodium so, no matter how good you are, you will probably bloat up and gain a couple lbs the next day. Hydrate!!
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Well at 1200 (please tell me you're eating back exercise calories?), there's not much you can do about it. Try to make better choices (sauce on the side, grilled instead of fried etc) and just get back on track the next day.
  • abbeyjones1994
    abbeyjones1994 Posts: 188 Member
    I always look up the restaurant menus before I go anywhere, it's definitely a habit I picked up here! And since my parents have their "favorites" when they come down here I can usually pick between 3-4 meals that I'll probably be having. I want to be able to enjoy a burger and fries when they are here, and there is a very high chance I'll be fitting a homemade mozzarella stick from my favorite burger joint in as well. :) That just means lunch (probably at a pizza place) will be a small slice of pizza and a salad. I don't know if I should ask now where my parents want to eat on Saturday? I don't know if that borders into obsessive territory.

    @Francl27‌ I generally do eat back some of my exercise cals when I'm on 1200, so my total cals is usually 1300-1500 depending on how much I work out/how hungry I am. When I started I didn't eat them back and I quickly learned that wasn't going to work. lol
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    I'd totally ask them where they want to eat but I'm a planner, lol. But in most places, you can eat for a reasonable amount of calories (I do consider two slices of cheese pizza reasonable at 600 calories). Try not to sweat it too much!
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