Counting calories when eating out?

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DapperDassie
DapperDassie Posts: 190 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm going out for my birthday tonight and not sure how to calculate the calories. I've looked at the menu and tried entering some options in myfitnesspal but they all look way too low and not accurate
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Replies

  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,694 Member
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    Just do the best you can. Usually when I calculate meals out I am shocked at how many calories I eat, even when I try to eat healthy, but there are times it is absolutely worth it.
  • Luna3386
    Luna3386 Posts: 888 Member
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    If you want to count calories, choose a grilled chicken breast or fish with no sauces and steamed veggies.

    Or enjoy your birthday by ordering what sounds good and get right back at it tomorrow.
  • kenyonhaff
    kenyonhaff Posts: 1,377 Member
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    You may only be able to guesstimate because restaurant portions are often nonstandard.

    If it is a once in a while splurge sometimes its just good to just enjoy instead of stressing out.

    Some things may surprise you pleasantly eating out though. A steak, and green salad with light dressing can be quite healthy. And delicious.
  • DapperDassie
    DapperDassie Posts: 190 Member
    edited April 2017
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    Luna3386 wrote: »
    If you want to count calories, choose a grilled chicken breast or fish with no sauces and steamed veggies.

    Or enjoy your birthday by ordering what sounds good and get right back at it tomorrow.

    Today's actually not my birthday, my birthday was Sunday. This is just the only time my dad can take me out. I didn't count calories on my birthday but don't want to make it a non-calorie counting birthday week so I'm back to counting haha. I want to be able to order something yummy and high in calorie I just want to be able to count it accurately and fit it in my day
  • amtyrell
    amtyrell Posts: 1,447 Member
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    Happy birthday yes you should count the calories do your best and I log more than one portion if I think it looks like the calorie amount is too low
  • DapperDassie
    DapperDassie Posts: 190 Member
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    amtyrell wrote: »
    Happy birthday yes you should count the calories do your best and I log more than one portion if I think it looks like the calorie amount is too low

    thanks that's a good idea
  • hlblakeley
    hlblakeley Posts: 55 Member
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    Another option, if the restaurant website doesn't have calorie info listed, I sometimes google the restaurant name, item, and calorie information. I usually get reasonable results with that, sometimes closer to what I think it would be than what I find on here. I also second the recording a double portion if ;the MFP counts seem low
  • YalithKBK
    YalithKBK Posts: 317 Member
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    For restaurants, I usually give myself a serving size of 1.25-1.5 depending on how "off" I feel the calories are. If I go somewhere and they say a dish is 500 calories and then bring out a full, 10" plate, I log 1.5 servings. I also prefer to err on the side of guessing too high than too low.
  • GaryRuns
    GaryRuns Posts: 508 Member
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    You didn't find any of the items from local restaurants in MFP? I don't live in a particularly large city and still there are a lot of my local restaurant's menu items in MFP. They're generally just estimates from previous patrons, but it saves me the time of trying to estimate it myself and most seem fairly accurate. And it helps if the menu item has some type of unique name. I imagine it would be difficult to find something like "homemade chicken soup" from the menu, for example.
  • gamerbabe14
    gamerbabe14 Posts: 876 Member
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    Workout before you go!
  • charliefdm
    charliefdm Posts: 4 Member
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    I honestly don't think it's a huge deal. It's your birthday dinner. Eat as much as you think is acceptable and just work twice as hard the next day! Happy Late B-Day!
  • DapperDassie
    DapperDassie Posts: 190 Member
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    hlblakeley wrote: »
    Another option, if the restaurant website doesn't have calorie info listed, I sometimes google the restaurant name, item, and calorie information. I usually get reasonable results with that, sometimes closer to what I think it would be than what I find on here. I also second the recording a double portion if ;the MFP counts seem low

    I tried that didn't find anything :(
  • DapperDassie
    DapperDassie Posts: 190 Member
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    GaryRuns wrote: »
    You didn't find any of the items from local restaurants in MFP? I don't live in a particularly large city and still there are a lot of my local restaurant's menu items in MFP. They're generally just estimates from previous patrons, but it saves me the time of trying to estimate it myself and most seem fairly accurate. And it helps if the menu item has some type of unique name. I imagine it would be difficult to find something like "homemade chicken soup" from the menu, for example.

    Nope and i haven't for any of the restaurants where I live. There's lots of little local restaurants here and have never been able to find the calories for any of them
  • DapperDassie
    DapperDassie Posts: 190 Member
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    gamerbabe14 wrote: »
    Workout before you go!

    did that ;)
  • Suuzanne37
    Suuzanne37 Posts: 114 Member
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    I usually log 800 to 1000 calories for a restaurant meal plus an extra 400 for dessert if no calories are posted.

    Happy Birthday✨
  • gamerbabe14
    gamerbabe14 Posts: 876 Member
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    Eat a side salad vs fries, drink water with lemon, get a chicken sandwich and make it open faced. Get soup! I don't think eating out is that difficult. You just have to be smart.
  • ElizabethHanrahan
    ElizabethHanrahan Posts: 102 Member
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    I use the closest entry I can find with the largest calorie count. If you are having a spaghetti with meatballs, pick the one that comes closest to the size. You can usually find something that is close to what you got. I know how hard it is to find counts for small or single restaurants since I live in a town of only 3500 for summer and double that for winter.(snowbirds in Az) Good Luck and remember it's your birthday not everyday.
  • DapperDassie
    DapperDassie Posts: 190 Member
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    gamerbabe14 wrote: »
    Eat a side salad vs fries, drink water with lemon, get a chicken sandwich and make it open faced. Get soup! I don't think eating out is that difficult. You just have to be smart.

    like I said I'm not trying to eat a low calorie meal. The thing I love about calorie counting is being able to have big "unhealthy" meals once in awhile because I worked it into my calories for the day. I just want to know how to count it accurately
  • DapperDassie
    DapperDassie Posts: 190 Member
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    ElizabethHanrahan wrote: »
    I use the closest entry I can find with the largest calorie count. If you are having a spaghetti with meatballs, pick the one that comes closest to the size. You can usually find something that is close to what you got. I know how hard it is to find counts for small or single restaurants since I live in a town of only 3500 for summer and double that for winter.(snowbirds in Az) Good Luck and remember it's your birthday not everyday.

    yeah that's what I'm ending up doing thanks :)
  • cdkelly
    cdkelly Posts: 101 Member
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    In Canada restaurants have to provide the calories right on the menu. If they don't have that it's usually on their website. If not, I ask how I can track it down and they are usually very helpful.

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