Are restaurant meals a thing with MFP?

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AspenDan
AspenDan Posts: 703 Member
in Getting Started
Is there a way to track entire meals from a restaurant? Like if I get the fajita meal at Chili's, is there a way to pull that up when tracking, or do i need to somehow guess all the foods parts and enter them in manually?

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  • lishie_rebooted
    lishie_rebooted Posts: 2,973 Member
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    Type in "chili's fajitas" in the search on the food database.

    You can add food to the database if it isn't there. But most chain restaurant food has been added
  • AspenDan
    AspenDan Posts: 703 Member
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    hmmm these all are user submitted...is there any moderation as far as accuracy?
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    The database is largely user entered. You are the moderation - look at the values and you can check them, change them and say if they're accurate.
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
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    You'll need to validate the entries or make your own, there are a lot of incomplete or inaccurate entries.
  • AspenDan
    AspenDan Posts: 703 Member
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    I feel like an app this big would have some sort of partnership with the big chains to include their nutritional info.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    danieltsmoke wrote: »
    I feel like an app this big would have some sort of partnership with the big chains to include their nutritional info.

    they do have some partnerships for sure
  • killermike68
    killermike68 Posts: 3 Member
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    I doubt it; if most people really knew what they were getting fro Big Chain food; they probably wouldn't eat it! Holy Sodium levels, Batman!
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    killermike68 wrote: »
    I doubt it; if most people really knew what they were getting fro Big Chain food; they probably wouldn't eat it! Holy Sodium levels, Batman!

    sure they would...I know I would and do frequently.

    Sodium levels pft...try eating ham steak at home.
  • ProfessorPupil
    ProfessorPupil Posts: 76 Member
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    Most of the time you can google the name of the restaurant and "nutritional info." Smaller places probably won't have it, but Chili's came right up: http://www.chilis.com/EN/LocationSpecificPDF/MenuPDF/001.005.0000/Chilis Nutrition Menu Generic.pdf?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

    Be aware though - whenever you eat out, it's an estimation. Even if you get official nutritional info from the place itself, how do you know what the person did who made your food? A handful of this or that.. it's not going to actually be measured out and equal what the website says. It's *always* an approximation if you don't make it yourself. Half the time stuff I buy from the store isn't even accurate to the back of its own package.
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
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    SezxyStef wrote: »
    killermike68 wrote: »
    I doubt it; if most people really knew what they were getting fro Big Chain food; they probably wouldn't eat it! Holy Sodium levels, Batman!

    sure they would...I know I would and do frequently.

    Sodium levels pft...try eating ham steak at home.

    This. Sodium is the debil is so over-rated.
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
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    danieltsmoke wrote: »
    I feel like an app this big would have some sort of partnership with the big chains to include their nutritional info.

    Yeah, well. There are several third party sources of validated nutritional info that do have that. It would be nice if Mfp worked with one of the databanks as a reference source.
  • tiffanybrooks530
    tiffanybrooks530 Posts: 140 Member
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    danieltsmoke wrote: »
    Is there a way to track entire meals from a restaurant? Like if I get the fajita meal at Chili's, is there a way to pull that up when tracking, or do i need to somehow guess all the foods parts and enter them in manually?

    Some restaurants have the calories posted online and/or in the menu...here is chili's
    http://www.chilis.com/EN/LocationSpecificPDF/MenuPDF/001.005.0000/Chilis Nutrition Menu Generic.pdf?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1
  • shadowfax_c11
    shadowfax_c11 Posts: 1,942 Member
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    It isn't hard to find nutritional information on line for most restaurants. The law (US) requires them to provide it. It is a little harder with smaller places that have only 1-2 stores. What I do then is look for something comparable from a chain and enter that value or else break the meal down and add ingredients based on my best guess.
  • MamaBirdBoss
    MamaBirdBoss Posts: 1,516 Member
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    EvgeniZyntx wrote: »
    SezxyStef wrote: »
    killermike68 wrote: »
    I doubt it; if most people really knew what they were getting fro Big Chain food; they probably wouldn't eat it! Holy Sodium levels, Batman!

    sure they would...I know I would and do frequently.

    Sodium levels pft...try eating ham steak at home.

    This. Sodium is the debil is so over-rated.

    ^^^^^^^
  • velveteen7845
    velveteen7845 Posts: 70 Member
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    EvgeniZyntx wrote: »
    danieltsmoke wrote: »
    I feel like an app this big would have some sort of partnership with the big chains to include their nutritional info.

    Yeah, well. There are several third party sources of validated nutritional info that do have that. It would be nice if Mfp worked with one of the databanks as a reference source.

    What third party sources are you referring to?
  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,074 Member
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    Chain restaurants like Chili's generally have nutritional information available online. You can cross check it to the database entry by clicking the "info" link above the parts where you enter servings. I've found that if an entry has been confirmed multiple times, it's generally correct.

    Smaller chains, or ones that don't have a national presence generally won't have accurate entries, since their nutritional information isn't as available. In that case, I either log it as the national chain, or make the best educated guess possible based on what I ate.
  • rachael00679
    rachael00679 Posts: 186 Member
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    I tend to make my own "recipes" based on what is in a meal if I can't find a decent entry on the database.
    So I just insert the ingrediants I ate and the recipe builder gives me a total calories for the meal I just ate.
    I had to do this yesterday for my Tom yum noodle soup.
    Don't to forget to account for oil and flavourings when you create a recipe.
  • lisasweetlisa
    lisasweetlisa Posts: 14 Member
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    I go to the website and look up their calorie values on there, then I check MFP. So far my restaurant menu items I have picked have been the same as MFP. Yes, it depends on the cook making your food, so for me when I know I will have one of these days I do a little more cardio and not use all the calories. Figure it washes itself in the long run. I try to stay about 200 to 400 calories under and so far so good.

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