Tracking Question - Eating out at a local burger joint

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bbuckley2
bbuckley2 Posts: 3 Member
in Food and Nutrition
First post!

I have been tracking for most of the year so far and have lost 29 pounds (from 269 to 240). It feels great. I budget food for the day for "special meals" and evening treats.

My question is this - How do you track food given the following scenario:
-- I am going to a local burger joint tonight - Moo-licious (or something like it...) and struggle to figure out which burger to put into the tracker. I make a best guess, but places like that tend not to have nutrition information charts.

Thanks in advance for the help!

Replies

  • JohnBarth
    JohnBarth Posts: 672 Member
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    A good 8oz burger is going to be 400ish calories + 200ish for the bun plus condiments and toppings.

    For situations like this, I find the biggest burger I can and log it and hopefully over, rather than undershoot my estimate.

    Keep up the great work. 29 pounds is awesome progress!
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    Sometimes you just have to do the best you can.

    You have two basic options:
    1. Pick a burger that seems close to the one you're getting and guess as high as possible.
    2. Log the individual components of the burger (amount of meat, bun, condiments, etc). You're still guessing and you'll still want to guess high, but sometimes when there's nothing really similar in the database it works out better.

    In the end, a day out here and there shouldn't set your progress back. Just do the best you can and don't let it throw you off plan :flowerforyou:
  • Jim_1000
    Jim_1000 Posts: 52 Member
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    I always tend to end up at "Red Robins". The burgers are a trackers nightmare, around 800 calories. Last time "I had to go" I didn't eat the fries and felt somewhat better about it. The burger was delicious however.
  • weird_me2
    weird_me2 Posts: 716 Member
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    I would log the components separately. They usually say quarter pound or 1/2 pound burgers, so log that amount of meat (raw weight), then pick a bun that approximates the size of what theirs is, then the cheese, etc.
  • JPW1990
    JPW1990 Posts: 2,424 Member
    edited May 2015
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    Don't track it as a burger, track it as ingredients. The description should give you an idea of how much meat, use an entry for an oversized bun, not a standard store brand bun like you use for cooking out at home, and log each of the other ingredients. Count the slices of cheese and log those as either Kraft or sliced whatever type it is. Chances are it won't be more than 20 or 30g of any other toppings, aside from denser things like mushrooms. Standard blob of mayo is about 15g, and ketchup, unless it's overflowing, around 8-10g (the fry puddle is closer to 20). Mustard, again unless overflowing, around 7 or 8.

    Either way it's all an estimate, but you'll get a lot closer this way than trying to find a chain store restaurant that just happens to have the same proportion of every ingredient on your burger.

    (not suggesting you do all this logging at the table. Take a pic and pretend you're instagraming it, then break it down and log it when you get home.)
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    I track the ingredients.

    So I will put in 8 ounces of beef it is probably going to be the fattier kind so I would use like 80/20 brand or something. Then log in the bun, toppings, etc as individual items....

    It will be close but not accurate...

    A big part of the lifestyle change is accepting that you cannot always be 100% accurate with your logging, but that is OK as going out with family and friends and just having fun is more important than accurate logging...

    Just don't let occasional turn into habitual and you will be fine.
  • Jim_1000
    Jim_1000 Posts: 52 Member
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    1 awesome greasy burger with bacon, cheese, fried onion straws plus an order of fries= 1400 cals. You won't go under with that estimate. :)
  • cookiealbright
    cookiealbright Posts: 605 Member
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    Now I'm hungry...love burgers!
  • carolynmo1969
    carolynmo1969 Posts: 120 Member
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    I love Red Robin - note they do a nice job of wrapping their delicious burgers in lettuce instead of a bun. I love the splurge, I just forego the fries and the drink.
  • auntstephie321
    auntstephie321 Posts: 3,586 Member
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    I usually go with another restaurants item that is most similar. Most chain restaurants have their nutrition info online and I would think would be reasonably close.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    auntstephie321 wrote: »
    I usually go with another restaurants item that is most similar. Most chain restaurants have their nutrition info online and I would think would be reasonably close.

    not really, as they all prepare it differently and use different ingredients.

    I think logging each item individually is the best way to go, but even that is probably 75% accurate, if that...
  • JPW1990
    JPW1990 Posts: 2,424 Member
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    ndj1979 wrote: »
    auntstephie321 wrote: »
    I usually go with another restaurants item that is most similar. Most chain restaurants have their nutrition info online and I would think would be reasonably close.

    not really, as they all prepare it differently and use different ingredients.

    I think logging each item individually is the best way to go, but even that is probably 75% accurate, if that...

    Probably more accurate the more you cook at home, too. There have been times I've dissected and weighed things when I've ordered carryout, and there really wasn't much variation from when I make burgers at home. If anything, they skimp on the onion.
  • Cortelli
    Cortelli Posts: 1,369 Member
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    ndj1979 wrote: »
    I track the ingredients.

    So I will put in 8 ounces of beef it is probably going to be the fattier kind so I would use like 80/20 brand or something. Then log in the bun, toppings, etc as individual items....

    It will be close but not accurate...

    A big part of the lifestyle change is accepting that you cannot always be 100% accurate with your logging, but that is OK as going out with family and friends and just having fun is more important than accurate logging...

    Just don't let occasional turn into habitual and you will be fine.

    ^^ Key point that I think is often overlooked in the forums.

  • bbuckley2
    bbuckley2 Posts: 3 Member
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    Thanks for the tips. I appreciate the thinking around not worrying about 100% accurate logging as this is more about awareness. I find that logging has taught me about "budgeting" food and it has helped me tremendously!
  • auntstephie321
    auntstephie321 Posts: 3,586 Member
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    ndj1979 wrote: »
    auntstephie321 wrote: »
    I usually go with another restaurants item that is most similar. Most chain restaurants have their nutrition info online and I would think would be reasonably close.

    not really, as they all prepare it differently and use different ingredients.

    I think logging each item individually is the best way to go, but even that is probably 75% accurate, if that...

    Agreed, both methods will have a margin of error, there is no way to be 100% when eating out. I'll usually leave myself a little extra room if I'm concerned with that, but for the most part its infrequent enough not to worry about.

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