Eating out...

TavistockToad wrote: »

1 burger won't make you fat, just like 1 salad won't make you thin.

Pretty much.

I used to have a whole thing typed up, but I can't seem to find it anymore. In any case, if your weekly Calorie intake is less than what it would take for you to maintain for a week, you'll lose weight. You may not lose (for example) 1.0 lb this week. It might be 0.7 lb. You still lost, so it's fine - especially if you know that you ate more than you planned this week.

There is one particular thing to consider: if you weigh in today or tomorrow, you may retain more water than usual due to the (assumed) higher sodium and/or carb content of the burger and chips. As such, you may not see the scale go down. You may have to wait until next week to see the scale drop.

OP I love to go out to restaurants, and though I don't do it as often as I would like (combination of having young kids plus trying to save money plus focusing on cooking/eating at home more since starting MFP) I still go out and I don't feel guilty about it.

I eat fast casual places like Panera, Qdoba, or a wrap place about once a week for work lunch.
I eat a sit down chain restaurant like Applebees or local Mexican/Italian with my family about once every two weeks.
I eat at nicer restaurants about once a month for a date night or a girls night out.

Here is a link with some helpful suggestions for next time:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10213155/a-guide-to-going-out-to-eat/p1

What I do is to try to plan ahead, especially for those rarer and more indulgent outings. I look at the menu ahead of time to get ideas, compare it to what's in the MFP database for some estimates of how much it will tally up to. I try to prioritize things I really want - if it is a restaurant with a good dessert menu I may just order an appetizer and a salad so I can have dessert. If it is a steak place, I know I'm going to want a really nice glass or two of wine, so I may skip the appetizer and dessert. I also bank calories during the week leading up to it, by saving up 100-200 cals/day I can then have an extra 500-1000 cals by the time the weekend rolls around. I make sure I exercise the day of the meal, and I also try to be realistic in that it will likely lead to some short term water retention which will reflect on the scale.

Yeah I'm usually guilt free when I do it at lunch, because more often than not I end up skipping dinner (or having something small, like cottage cheese and fruit) and still finish under maintenance. It's when we go out for dinner that it's harder for me (I get hungry during the day and saving more than 600 calories for dinner is usually impossible), so I avoid that.

But honestly... I very rarely order the fried/greasy stuff at restaurants anymore... It just doesn't appeal to me... I have no interest in wasting 1200 calories on a burger and fries that I can make at home for 600 calories. So it has got to be something I can't make at home for it to be worth it (like ribs, as we don't have a smoke and I suck at making them in the oven, or a gyro, or sushi etc).

My advice is to check the menu before you go, if possible... Then think about what you want, if you can make it at home for less calories, then plan that, and pick a lower calorie option (Caesar salad is probably not much better, btw). Or if you want a burger, get the burger, but get a side salad with dressing on the side instead of the fries, for example (honestly I'm disappointed when I order fries now, they're usually way too salty or just average, and I can make some at home easily in the oven with a bit of olive oil for half the calories).

Assume you're eating your daily calories in one meal and work hard the next day. Don't do it all the time. No guilt.

marty_smith wrote: »

So my mum and dad wanted to take us all out for good friday so we went to a gastro pub type place. After scanning the menu and rejecting things like chicken caeser salad and a quinoa meal i had the bacon cheese burger and chips. I feel rubbish now for having it as i have pretty much eaten my whole calorie amount for the day. Thats fine as i probably won't have anything for dinner but not even being able to accurately measure the calories i have eaten is getting me down! Reluctantly thinking i might have to go for a run tonight to get back some calories maybe.

Anybody actually feel guilt free when eating over 1000-1200 calorie meals whilst still losing weight? I have done really well in the 6 weeks since i have started and i have had bad days in previous weeks but knowing i could of chosen something healthier is annoying because i know I probably never will choose that lighter option when i go out. Its probably once a week where i have a meal like this.

No I don't feel guilty about eating over 1000 calories in a meal. I do that frequently, I just plan for it. Since I have 2100 calories to work with, even 1000 calories in a meal leaves me will 1100 for the rest of the day. Feeling guilty achieves nothing. When I do family things like that which are once in a long while sort of things, I eat freely, probably going well over my calories and enjoying the company. I came to realize that the one meal with family and/or friends every few months and that time together is far more important the meeting my calorie goal for a meal or a day. One day is not what made me fat. It was days on end eating more than my body burned off. Enjoy that time, go for a run, eat light the rest of the day, and get back to your calorie goal tomorrow.

Yessss!!

TavistockToad wrote: »

1 burger won't make you fat, just like 1 salad won't make you thin.