Eating out, family dinners, etc. What do you do?

I eat what I want...in a decent quantity.

See if you can find the website for nutritional values...barring that use the old trick that a deck of card size piece of meat is about 4oz and log it as best you can but one day won't kill you.

Your goals should never make you not want to enjoy social gatherings. In fact it is the opposite.

Enjoy your self and order what you want. You can always eat really slow (talk a lot) and take the rest home in a doggy bag (eat it later or give to your dogs..)

When I go out with family I just order something I like and eat a moderate portion. I think enjoying yourself is also really important for your mental health. There's no need to make a big deal out of it, one bad meal won't ruin your diet on the long run.

But remember this: having a few pizza slices and a salad OR a slice of cake is okay, won't do any damage, however having an entire pizza followed up by cake and washed down with a bottle of coke... You get my point. Cheat on your diet once in a while, but do it in moderation, don't go overbroad.

If I know I'm going out, I try to not use all my calories in the week and then I can splurge and the calorie count evens out. Fill up on the salad bar, have some meat, enjoy your time and start fresh again the next day. I have a splurge day 1 x week..not wildly over, but extra. I am going out Friday and will review the menu tonight to make my decision of what I will order Friday to keep as close to my count as possible.

its meat, not a massive only desert bar (but wouldnt that be fun?????? LOL!)

I don't know how many calories you get a day, but I wouldnt worry about it. Maybe go a little light on lunch, or get in a workout (or extra workout). Go easy on the sides (cause that's what kills me, anyways LOL)

Emmatyan wrote: »

Next week we are celebrating my niece's 18th birthday and she wants to take us all to a churrascko bar ( where you pay a standard fee and you are served as much different meat as you can eat. That is chicken, fish, pork, ham etc.). I want to spend time with my family and not going to refuse, but what about all that food? Is there any trick how to deal with food which is too much and too heavy for you, and not look snobby? Is it OK to let yourself one day of MEAT? Personally, I can't afford meat daily, so I wouldn't make myself refuse all that gorgeousness

Do you have any tips, advice, personal experience about eating out, family dinners, etc when you don't get to choose the food?

First of all meat isn't too 'heavy' for you-it has calories, just like every other food. And yes, you can eat meat every single day if you wanted to-calories and math.

Actually, if it doesn't have a lot of sauces and such added, most meat is pretty low calories. And just because you're going to a buffet does not mean you have to eat every single thing-chose one or two smaller portions of the meat and then one or two sides, with one dessert. Not a big deal I eat out all the time with no problems-just watch your portion sizes and any sauces, which can have more calories than the actual meat.

I go out with my husband and friends once every two weeks. I try to log everything to the best of my ability. I have done well. The only set back I had was two baking powder biscuts. I have cut back on processed white flour but not multigrain bread. It took me two days to work off those two home made baking powder biscuts. You know what After the fact the 5 hours of laughter and fun visiting with my girl friends was worth the two baking powder biscuts.

My biggest tip is to eat mindfully. I wouldn't bother logging that day- or just log 2000 cals so you have a record that you probably went over.

I would have whatever I wanted to eat, enjoy it and stop eating when I felt full. The last part is the most important part. Do not eat until you feel uncomfortable.

Also, with a restaurant like that I would fill my plate from the buffet with veg and salad, ignore the starchy carbs and then have what meat I wanted. The meat will probably be pretty lean anyway

Enjoy!

Just go eat. It's not that difficult

When you go there go with a mindset of, "I do not need to eat till stuffed"
Enjoy yourself, have some of the tastey food they serve, add some salad with it to keep you satisfied and just enjoy.

There will alawys be social occasions and reasons to celebrate- and if you take the oppurtunity to have a blow-out at them all- your weight is not going to head in the rigth direction. I think about it like this: So, I haven't seen my freind in ages and she wants to hit pizza hut- my body doesn't magically remove all the calories since it's a special occasion.

I had this situation recently. I ate a 3 slices of thin crust pizza and ate loads of undressed green salad. I also ate lighter the next day (mostly because I'm not used to eating bread and my stomach was bloated). My freind on the other hand takes every special occasion as an exception to her diet and wonders why she doesn't lose weight. (a 'drink' to her is 1 1/2 bottles of wine) It's only food and you don't need to go mad to socialise and enjoy yourself! Have a great time by the way.

OP you had another thread where you were struggling to get to 1200 cals each day, instead eating closer to 900 cals, and you made comments about your ideal body image and weight which had a lot of people concerned for you. Please don't cut your calories shorter in order to make room for this event. Social events with family are something to look forward to and enjoy, not stress and dread.

As others have said, there is nothing wrong with meat, you said in the other thread that you don't eat much protein. The meat at those places are generally roasted or grilled and probably fairly lean. Eat the meat, enjoy the night, and don't be afraid to have cake too.

Good luck and have fun!

What I would suggest is that you take something when your favorite meat comes around the first time and then don't take any of the other meats or even when they bring your meat of choice back. But I can't say I've been successful with that approach. Personally, I hate that style of dining. The first time I went to a place like that, they brought the meat and I kept looking for them to bring the vegetables. They never came.

Emmatyan wrote: »

Kruggeri wrote: »

OP you had another thread where you were struggling to get to 1200 cals each day, instead eating closer to 900 cals, and you made comments about your ideal body image and weight which had a lot of people concerned for you. Please don't cut your calories shorter in order to make room for this event. Social events with family are something to look forward to and enjoy, not stress and dread.

As others have said, there is nothing wrong with meat, you said in the other thread that you don't eat much protein. The meat at those places are generally roasted or grilled and probably fairly lean. Eat the meat, enjoy the night, and don't be afraid to have cake too.

Good luck and have fun!

Thank you! Yeah, I'll think of those meals as of useful protein. I can't wait to finally eat as much meat as I want! No boiled chicken breast

Life is too short to eat boiled chicken breast. Ever.