Going out to lunch is a simple nightmare

I just ate out at pei wei. I scoped out the nutrition information first, went with a lower calorie option and logged it. It may not be exact, but I'll live.

tracefan wrote: »

Try the light menus etc. but seriously even though the calories are listed. We all have no idea what they put in the food. I know this is obvious. But sometimes I just don't want to cook. Kwim?

You are paying for the food you have every right to ask what is put in it. The obvious solution would be to not eat out if it's something that really bothers you though. If you don't feel like cooking TV dinners have ingredients and health info on the back of the box and it's easy to find low calories meals.

At chains I'm not too concerned, uniformity among their establishments (e.g. A Big Mac in Tennessee should taste no differently than a BIg Mac in Montana) is prized much more than are creative chefs who play by their own rules.

I usually add 10% towhatevery they said their calories are.

If it's once in a while, I wouldn't worry too much. Overestimate if you don't know the exact portion size or if you think the nutritional value isn't accurate. If you're going out all the time and you find it too difficult to log, maybe it's time to switch up your routine and start making your own meal... that way you know exactly what you're eating.

I travel a lot for my work, so I encounter this all of the time! I've found a couple of things to be helpful - sometimes I bring my lunch in the form of a shake, and sometimes I look up the nutrition info for the place I'm going ahead of time so when I get there, I already know. You can even log it before you go, so you won't be tempted by anything else!!! Good luck!

Ninkyou wrote: »

Eating out really shouldn't be that stressful. There are just some things you need to let go. If you want to eat out, then log the calories best you can and stop worrying about every grain of salt, every pat of butter, every "is this GMO", etc and just enjoy the meal for what it is. Or find a restaurant that caters to your very specific needs. Or make meals ahead of time and eat them later.

^This.

Echoing what others have said...

It ain't all that serious. What they have listed is close enough. Worst case scenario, you gain a few fractions of a pound. So what? Burn it off the next day.

tracefan wrote: »

True. I do overestimate. But going out isn't an everyday thing so I'm not truly concerned however when I do go I don't want to stress and I try my best to just eat the meal I think would be ok. Unfortunately some times even a meal I think isn't too bad can still be high in calories. Eating half the portion is the best option for sure. Thanks

Seems like looking the food up online ahead of time would make things less stressful?

As an adjunct strategy, don't be afraid to ask (politely, of course) if they can do variations that aren't explicitly listed on the menu. The worst that can happen is that they'll say "no".

At a restaurant where I go often with my rowing team, my standard order is the veggie burger, without the bun, substituting a side salad for the listed side options, hold the croutons (. . . all of which makes enough room in my calorie budget that I can have, say, the grapefruit IPA, 'cause I do like my craft beer ;-) ).

So, if you see things on the menu that look close to healthy, see if they can omit the sauce, broil instead of fry, change sides, go light on cheese, etc. I've occasionally gotten the response that things are pre-prepped in some way that makes my request impossible, but very often it's "no problem". When the server is helpful with this sort of thing, I make sure to tip well.