Restaurant Panic!

We all want to live our live spontaneously and not stick out like a sore thumb in a restaurant by frantically searching for nutrition info. When I go out I try to look stuff up and log it in before I go so that I know what I need to do to stay on track. If that isn't possible when I look it up at the restaurant I chose the highest calorie value possible and log that then I ask for half to go right when I order. I know that seems drastic to some people but I would rather be under than over!!!

We eat out 3+ times a week so I am pretty used to it by now. I would suggest eating sensibly and not sweating it. Have you ever looked over a serving size chart? I'll post one below as it might be helpful. Overall, I'd say that going into restaurant meals having a good idea of portion sizes and then having a general idea of what you're going to have is most helpful. I tend to eat the same meals over and over from restaurants. If it's a new place, I'll go in assuming that I'm going to look for some plain meat (i.e., grilled chicken or pork chops, baked chicken, etc.) rather than something covered in cheese and sauce (I'm not a big fan of either so I don't want to spend calories on them.) And then I look to see what sides line up the best with my calorie goals. Most places have salad, broccoli, and baked potatoes. Sometimes you go to a place that has a better variety of sides than that so you can branch out. But once in a while the sides are more limited (I've been to places where they were something like french fries, fried potatoes, hash browns, and mashed potatoes, which made me wonder if they had hijacked a truck full of potatoes) and in that case you just do as best you can.

Marthy101 wrote: »

Does anyone else get stressed, uncomfortable, when someone suggests dining out? Yikes. Luckily, MFP has an incredible database that includes lots of restaurant entree stats. Still, sometimes there is vastly conflicting info, or my dining place isn't listed. I can estimate using similar entries, compiling the main ingredients, but still...! I know obsessive calorie counting shouldn't rule my life, but I also don't want to gain weight by underestimating the fattening potential of a meal!!
Should I just try to eat sensibly, and not "sweat" it, or just stay in the safe zone of places with well- published info???

You are not going to gain weight by underestimating one meal, just like one meal won't make you skinny. It takes 3,500 calories over your maintenance level to gain one pound. Even for the most extravagant restaurant meal, including appetizers, wine and desserts - I doubt you would go over your maintenance (not your daily goal, your maintenance number) by 3,500 calories. And if you do, which is such an unlikely if... you have the rest of the week to make better choices and help get some of your deficit back...

With that said, I think pre-planning goes a long way. I'm a person that loves to look at restaurant menus ahead of time, even before I started using MFP. Now I check them out, do some research in the MFP database if the restaurant doesn't have published nutritional info, and then go into the restaurant with some ideas in my head of what I might choose, trying to be flexible enough to take advantage of off the menu specials that I hadn't previewed....

Dining out is part of life for most people. This is meant to be a lifestyle change. You can't stress about eating in restaurants for the rest of your life. Go out, make smart choices, enjoy it, log it, move on.

I read that restaurant's posted calories are 'allowed' to vary by 20%. I always increase restaurant calories by that much ...