How can you possibly estimate calories from meals at a restaurant?

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Replies

  • supplemama
    supplemama Posts: 1,956 Member
    Mr_Knight wrote: »
    fzermer wrote: »
    I will probably just call the meal 1000 cals and be done with it.

    A 1000 calories of what is essentially chinese fast food is a depressingly small amount of food.

    I'd consider using a bigger number...

    THIS

    at the very least 1500 calories. TBH it is more like way over 2000 calories if you're a normal person.
  • Aviva92
    Aviva92 Posts: 2,333 Member
    Mr_Knight wrote: »
    fzermer wrote: »
    I will probably just call the meal 1000 cals and be done with it.

    A 1000 calories of what is essentially chinese fast food is a depressingly small amount of food.

    I'd consider using a bigger number...

    yeah, i was surprised when i had chinese food, attempted to estimate it based on what is in the database and it was at least 1000 calories. you make me think it might have been more.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    lulufee317537 wrote: »
    Even from a place like Laughing Planet, the Soylent green bowl with pesto has like 690 calories!

    I'm just excited to learn this is a dish. Who knew?
  • kmccann357
    kmccann357 Posts: 91 Member
    Always over estimate, eating out is the bane of all dieters existence. Unless it's got the calories written down I try and avoid.
  • Cookylela
    Cookylela Posts: 11
    If I don't go to a restaurant that lists the nutritional value on line..........I try to estimate or just eat small portions and don't log that day. I suck at estimating. My son got a scale to measure portions at home and he is great at estimating..............I do always estimate up as many others said here. Best of luck to you!! Somehow I still lost 50 lbs slowly over the last yr. so I guess just trust in the system and keep logging when you can. Lisa
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    kmccann357 wrote: »
    Always over estimate, eating out is the bane of all dieters existence. Unless it's got the calories written down I try and avoid.

    I like restaurants. I like my social life, and often that involves restaurants. Also, sometimes I just enjoy a nice meal out.

    Restaurants where I live mostly don't list their calories on their menus or websites. It's just not a thing here.

    So I guesstimate. And I eat half the food and take the rest home or send it back uneaten. I still enjoy my smaller portion sizes. And I'm still losing weight.

    Losing weight in a lab setting is easy. Losing weight in real life, outside of closely controlled settings, is the real test, 'cause that's how I know I'm gonna be able to keep it off.
  • dougpconnell219
    dougpconnell219 Posts: 566 Member
    I think it should be a law that all restraunts have to furnish reasonably accurate nutritional info on request.
  • thedaydreamer92
    thedaydreamer92 Posts: 198 Member
    2000-2500 for a bigger meal
    1000-1500 for a smaller meal

    My husband does weight watchers points, so he's pretty good at guestimating the calories per meal.
  • Aviva92
    Aviva92 Posts: 2,333 Member
    edited February 2015
    dougpconnell219 wrote: »
    I think it should be a law that all restraunts have to furnish reasonably accurate nutritional info on request.

    that would make it so much easier. hopefully such a law will come in the future. although, i could see that being bad for business.
  • sushisuzi2
    sushisuzi2 Posts: 111 Member
    Think of everything in half cup servings. Don't choose items that don't have complete nutritional info listed.
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    Yeah those kinds of laws sound nice in theory, but in practice there are a lot of reasons not to have them.

    For one thing, it overly burdens small independent restaurants -- many of whom don't even have a website, let alone the resources to calculate calories for their meals and post them up.

    For another, it limits chef creativity, especially at restaurants known for substituting fresh local ingredients seasonally or changing up the menu daily.

    And the speed at which things need to be prepared in a restaurant kitchen means that people can't always be weighing every ingredient they use -- it would take too long. That really only works in fast food or large chains, where they're re-heating pre-packaged and pre-portioned frozen foods.

    Quebec (where I live) has banned fast food advertising to children in an effort to curb childhood obesity. But I wouldn't expect calorie counts on any menus (other than large international fast food chains) anytime soon. There's nobody pushing for that sort of legislation here, as far as I know. And most people would probably scoff at it.
  • fzermer
    fzermer Posts: 229 Member
    segacs wrote: »
    Yeah those kinds of laws sound nice in theory, but in practice there are a lot of reasons not to have them.

    For one thing, it overly burdens small independent restaurants -- many of whom don't even have a website, let alone the resources to calculate calories for their meals and post them up.

    For another, it limits chef creativity, especially at restaurants known for substituting fresh local ingredients seasonally or changing up the menu daily.

    And the speed at which things need to be prepared in a restaurant kitchen means that people can't always be weighing every ingredient they use -- it would take too long. That really only works in fast food or large chains, where they're re-heating pre-packaged and pre-portioned frozen foods.

    Quebec (where I live) has banned fast food advertising to children in an effort to curb childhood obesity. But I wouldn't expect calorie counts on any menus (other than large international fast food chains) anytime soon. There's nobody pushing for that sort of legislation here, as far as I know. And most people would probably scoff at it.

    I agree, Segacs...we are already over regulated. However, I do agree with the "Truth in Labeling" movement, where labels already exist, or are already mandated.
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    fzermer wrote: »
    I agree, Segacs...we are already over regulated. However, I do agree with the "Truth in Labeling" movement, where labels already exist, or are already mandated.

    Yeah, okay, I think labels shouldn't be misleading, too.

    But grown ups should be able to self-regulate, to stop eating when full, and to make healthy choices without necessarily being spoon-fed everything. If you go out to a restaurant and consume 3000 calories worth of food every day and gain weight, you can't really cry about not knowing better because they didn't give you a calorie count. Common sense really ought to prevail here.
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
    I am absolutely amazed at how many calories and sodium restaurants can pump into the simplest meals. The rare times I eat out, I order food that can be fairly easily guesstimated (grilled pork chops, for instance) and always request salt-free. I would imagine that all-you-can-eat Chinese buffets are about the highest in both!
  • Aviva92
    Aviva92 Posts: 2,333 Member
    segacs wrote: »
    fzermer wrote: »
    I agree, Segacs...we are already over regulated. However, I do agree with the "Truth in Labeling" movement, where labels already exist, or are already mandated.

    Yeah, okay, I think labels shouldn't be misleading, too.

    But grown ups should be able to self-regulate, to stop eating when full, and to make healthy choices without necessarily being spoon-fed everything. If you go out to a restaurant and consume 3000 calories worth of food every day and gain weight, you can't really cry about not knowing better because they didn't give you a calorie count. Common sense really ought to prevail here.

    huh. being a grown up sucks. i'll stay a kid.

    many grown ups can't seem to do this. not sure if it has much to do with being a grown up anyway.
  • diegops1
    diegops1 Posts: 154 Member
    Good pesto is made with pine nuts. LOTS of calories, but sooo tasty! Like the others say, if you are less than 300 over once a week, you deserve a gold star. The only asian restaurant in my county uses MSG. So whenever I eat there, I have a lot of water gain for a few days. I try to use portion control when eating out and estimate based on the ingredients and the amount.
  • mburgess458
    mburgess458 Posts: 480 Member
    dougpconnell219 wrote: »
    I think it should be a law that all restraunts have to furnish reasonably accurate nutritional info on request.

    I agree, but even when a restaurant does give nutritional info (I'm thinking of chains) there is no possible way to know that will be even close to what ends up on your plate and in your stomach. If the cook has a heavy hand with the butter/oils in order to make dishes taste better they could be way worse than what the corporate office puts up on the website. Or if they give bigger portions than the official amounts in order to please customers. The food itself is fairly cheap at a lot of restaurants so they can afford to slop a little extra on everyone's plate in order to get them to keep coming back (I'm looking at you Chipotle).
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited February 2015
    segacs wrote: »
    Yeah those kinds of laws sound nice in theory, but in practice there are a lot of reasons not to have them.

    For one thing, it overly burdens small independent restaurants -- many of whom don't even have a website, let alone the resources to calculate calories for their meals and post them up.

    For another, it limits chef creativity, especially at restaurants known for substituting fresh local ingredients seasonally or changing up the menu daily.

    And the speed at which things need to be prepared in a restaurant kitchen means that people can't always be weighing every ingredient they use -- it would take too long. That really only works in fast food or large chains, where they're re-heating pre-packaged and pre-portioned frozen foods.

    Quebec (where I live) has banned fast food advertising to children in an effort to curb childhood obesity. But I wouldn't expect calorie counts on any menus (other than large international fast food chains) anytime soon. There's nobody pushing for that sort of legislation here, as far as I know. And most people would probably scoff at it.

    Agree with all this.

    Plus, in most of the US, there are plenty of restaurants with calorie counts if people prioritize that. I tend to avoid those restaurants when going out to dinner (not because of the counts, but because they go along with a more standardized, corporate kind of restaurant that's just not what I'm usually interested in) and prefer small local places. I'm willing to make the tradeoff between easy logging and food preferences. Someone who prioritizes differently can make different choices and that's great, but they shouldn't try to force everyone to have the same priorities.

    I've lost 95 pounds going out to dinner 1-2x per week at the kinds of restaurants I prefer, without calorie counts. I think if you exercise common sense about portion size and meal choice it shouldn't be an issue. I've also found restaurants will answer questions if asked.
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    Yeah, I saw a tourist review of Au Pied de Cochon (a restaurant by chef Martin Picard known for its extravagantly indulgently rich menu and heavy use of foie gras in just about everything) once on a review website, complaining that there were no calorie counts on the menu. Um... really?
  • DaivaSimone
    DaivaSimone Posts: 657 Member
    No calorie count at Au Pied de Cochon? Let me help you:

    Foie gras poutine: a shitload of calories
    Pig's trotter stuffed with foie gras: another shitload of calories
    Cassoulet and foie gras for two: a crap ton of calories
    Fried sugar pie on a stick: a truck load of calories

    I hope this is helping. ;)
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    Maybe they wanted magical calorie-free foie gras poutine? :)
  • DaivaSimone
    DaivaSimone Posts: 657 Member
    That would be nice, though.
  • fzermer
    fzermer Posts: 229 Member
    edited February 2015
    DaivaSimone wrote: »
    No calorie count at Au Pied de Cochon? Let me help you:

    Foie gras poutine: a shitload of calories
    Pig's trotter stuffed with foie gras: another shitload of calories
    Cassoulet and foie gras for two: a crap ton of calories
    Fried sugar pie on a stick: a truck load of calories

    I hope this is helping. ;)

    Huh...I can't seem find "shitload" in the nutritional portions! Go figure. :-)
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