Eating out

Kittyy1994 · January 2016

hi just wondering what everyone does when they eat out?
Do you order and try and log accordingly?
Do you order a healthy option?
Or do you eat healthy for the day then order what you actually want on the menu?
I would like to do the last one (as I only eat out once every few weeks) but I am wondering if it will derail my weight loss?

Spook_Nuke_Em · January 2016

I generally have a bad meal once every 2 weeks; I just have the one meal and I do not binge or order something that is like 2000+ calories. I just get myself a cheeseburger with sweet potato fries and a beer, or something along those lines. I would just log the closest thing if you cannot find exactly what you had.

Never treating yourself can definitely lead to a binge week or completely falling off. Make sure you have something you crave once in a while.

Good luck, and have fun!

rosebarnalice · January 2016

Kittyy1994 wrote: »

Do you order and try and log accordingly?
Do you order a healthy option?
Or do you eat healthy for the day then order what you actually want on the menu?

I've done all of the above at one time or another.

If I know I'm going someplace for dinner and I'm familiar with the menu, I'll try to preplan earlier in the day what I'm likely to order, and then try to eat my other meals that day to leave a reasonable calorie balance for dinner.

Sometimes I'll read a menu very carefully and /or chat with the waitperson regarding possible substitutions and alternatives, and try to order as healthy as I can. (Big secret there: at an unfamiliar restaurant, I order any sauce or dressing on the side if at all possible.)

Sometimes I'll order something truly decadent and then eat only a portion of it rather than the whole serving ( this is where dinner out with friends with "fork privileges" can be fun!!).

And other times, I'll eat whatever I want, and then compensate by eating a bit less for the next few days afterward to get my weekly average calorie count in line.

No matter which strategy I employ, I always do my best to log as accurately as I can. I'm in the habit now of taking pictures with my phone to help me remember what I ate so I can log it later (really not weird at all anymore with so many people taking social media food porn pics these days!), and I use restaurant nutrition web sites if available.

xLyric · January 2016

I usually log it, but I still get what I want. If I want a burger and fries, I'll get it, but it might mean I don't eat for the rest of the day, and may need to lower my calories for the next couple of days to even things out. I rarely eat out though, so I consider it a treat and get something I like rather than get a salad that I could make at home.

There's one restaurant I go to that makes the best plate of nachos I've ever had. I tried estimating a log for it once and it was probably close to 1,000 calories, if not more when you add the chips and salsa that you snack on before hand. I don't try to fight it. When I go there, I know before hand, and I simply don't eat before or after. I'm happy, my calorie intake is still fine, so everything's good.

If I ate out more often I think I'd care more, but since it's so rare for me it's not hard to have one big meal rather than the normal 3+ smaller ones every once in a while. If it's rare, just make sure you can at least estimate what you're eating and you'll be fine.

atypicalsmith · January 2016

Eating out is tough. Restaurants magically add a zillion calories to the simplest of foods. If I'm eating at a national chain, I'll check out their nutrition information first to make an informed choice of what to eat. Local restaurants are tougher, but don't add as many calories as national chains do. For instance, IHOP adds pancake batter to its scrambled eggs and omelets. Ewww.

ericafranz · January 2016

I have a *ton* of food sensitivities, and maintain a keto diet besides. Most places will allow you a measure of substitutions or you can request they leave something off, combine items, etc. I try to eat consistently because one day of cheating can be enough to push me out of ketosis and also tends to make me crave bad foods for several days afterwards. Not to mention I usually feel not so hot after eating really great and then cheating and eating something not great.

As a general rule, items that are minimally processed/prepared tend to be lower in calories (like atypicalsmith pointed out scrambled eggs and omelets at IHOP have added pancake batter, but instead you could order eggs sunny-side up or over easy and not have to worry about that).

There are certainly some places where there is literally nothing on the menu I can eat (think bar-type food where everything is pulled from a freezer and fried or covered in some kind of unhealthy sauce, etc) so if it's a new place it's always good to check if they have a menu online you can scan to make sure you have options.

alittlelife14 · January 2016

Grilled chicken
Salads without cheese, croutons, dressing on side

Bella0531 · January 2016

I usually look up the menu in advance, pre-log what I'll have, and adjust the rest of my day around it. If I just go and 'wing it', I'm WAY more likely to overeat and make bad choices. Pre-logging keeps me accountable!

Eating out

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