How often do you dine out? For lunch? For dinner?
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I had a recent business trip that spanned several cities over four days, with eating out at least twice each day. There were beers and hamburgers and duck pot pie, and I still managed to weigh in right where I was when I left. It can be done.2
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Lunch out during the week, hardly ever.
Usually once during the weekend either at a restaurant or takeout i.e. Pizza. If we are being social, especially during the warmer months, we don't as much since we get together with friends instead of going out to restaurants.0 -
Pizza type fast food- once a month
Restaurant 5 times a year
At friends maybe once a month0 -
I eat out a lot and almost always order a salad with a piece of salmon on top and the dressing on the side. Then I'll do the old dip the fork in the dressing routine. It has become my favorite thing to get when I go out and has done nothing but support my efforts.1
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I work and eat at subway 5 days a week and have had no negative weight affects. I simply choose a sandwich that fits my calorie goal.1
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Once or twice a week for me. Normally on weekend with family. My problem is not keeping calories down. I budget for it and do a long cardio that day to increase my limit. My problem is that restaurant food is dripping in salt. I watch my macros but do not worry if a bit high in fat one day and carbs the next. I do on the other hand watch my salt because of health issues. 1 bowl of Udon at my favorite chain has more sodium than my daily limit.0
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My boyfriend does all of our cooking from scratch even though I'm the only one dieting, so we don't eat out often. But I do occasionally lose my mind and discovered that if you need a really bad fast food fix...Taco Bell Crispy Supreme Tacos are a low damage fix. You can have 3 tacos (plus mild or hot sauce packets) for about 500 calories. I do this maybe once every 6 weeks or so.
Although I used to hate Applebees because their food is "meh"....their new menu is much better and they now have the calories listed on their menu for EVERY item including sides, cocktails, wine, etc. Their low-cal options got better, too. It makes eating out SO much easier because I don't have to guess and be paranoid about going way over my calories.
I took my 13 year old son out the other day for dinner and was thrilled to enjoy a complete meal with alcohol off the regular menu for about 1,000 calories total (it was an exercise day so I had like 1500 extra calories). I had a giant Berry Sangria, a Small Caesar side salad, a Parmesan Sirloin Steak with Grilled Shrimp, and a side of Garlic Mashed Potatoes. It was an amazing cheat meal that wasn't actually cheating because I knew exactly what I could have and easily log.
It was mostly having red meat and alcohol that was a cheat since I avoid them in general.
When there's no calories listed I estimate and workout extra hard for a few days to make up for it. Thankfully I hate things like fries, bread, donuts, pancakes (etc) so I have no problem resisting those. And I have a "salt tooth" rather than sweet tooth. But dairy and cheese? That's my downfall. I'll never give it up and plan accordingly so that I don't have to limit my love of dairy at all.1 -
I eat out once or twice per week. A few times per week I also pick up my lunch at the hot line in the grocery store. Literally steamed vegetables and hot sauce. I log them to the best of my ability by weight.1
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Dining out occasionally is part of life. You either learn to deal with it or you don't. It's really not that complicated.
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every weekday for lunch ; dinners several times per week. (down about 80 lbs.)3
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A lot.1
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WilliamAndersonLMHC wrote: »mrsnattybulking wrote: »
And the macros aren't bad on this for about 600 calories
Looks great, but a bit heavy for lunch for me. The 600 would be fine for my dinner, but a hamburg is just not my idea of dinner! I'm old-fashioned and like the traditional dinner plate with meat, starch and veg at the end of the day!
However, that 600 Wendy's meal surprised me. Good find!
To be fair it was my dinner. I'm always walking and have a backpack so I keep a bottle of catalina calorie wise in it so I dont' have to use the 100 cal + dressing and this is a chicken grill so decent protein and super filling.0 -
I eat out pretty often but I have/still lose weight! I probably have take aways and eat out approx 2-3 times a week maybe more? Mostly due to me making informed choices. When I go to McDonalds, I'll have one of their wraps, when I go to a burger restaurant, I'll have the burger without the bun and with a side salad instead of fries, I go to Subway and I have their salads. Its all about making the right choices.1
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I have cut back and limited eating out quite a bit. My husband and I eat out for dinner/date night twice a week, the other date nights we do something active/outdoorsy or cook something new! For lunch I try to pack something every morning...last Friday I failed at that and had a happy meal, then we had a 4 hour drive after work and I had Taco Bell...not a great day, but still under calories.
If we eat out it is a treat...it is expensive to eat out often for us, and I eat really light the rest of the day to save most of my calories and carbs for dinner.1 -
Thanks for all the great sharing of ideas and experience. To be clear, I am not suggesting that my way of doing things is the only way. I think our goal needs to be to create a happy healthy life, and part of that is finding a way to eat that helps us be happy and healthy. There are many ways of doing that, and when you find a way, no matter who suggested it to you, that is winning, no matter what it is.
I posted this topic because so many people are thrown off track when they eat out, sometimes never getting back, just throwing up their hands and giving up. I've found ways to succeed with eating out that works, and when people find ways to succeed, as many have, those looking for success are helped. Myfitnesspal members reading this who want to lose weight and learn how to deal with eating out will be helped reading this. Nothing succeeds like success, and when we decide to be a community working together to help each other, miracles happen.
It's not just restaurants, but most of the food industry has made it harder for people to be healthy. Like the tobacco companies that became our major food brands, many businesses are simply out to exploit us and the more they sell, the better for them, even if it kills us, which it is, with the obesity epidemic out of control the way it is. So, when they find that Americans love and are addicted to huge portions of fatty, sugary and salty food, thats what they serve. While many of you have figured out how to deal with that, many have not, and I'm sure many myfitnesspals who just want to read and and are not ready to comment as successes will be reading this. They will be helped.0 -
Yes, it is vast food maker's conspiracy out to make us fat. It's shameful. Making food that takes good and greedily lining their pockets.7
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Usually only every few months. We just choose not to spend the money unless it's a special occasion. With kids it's an easy $100 if we're going to eat at a decent restaurant. Maybe $80 at a place like Red Robin or something. When we do go out I plan on eating at maintenance that day.
Our anniversary is in a few weeks and we'll hit the steakhouse and I'll enjoy it immensely.1 -
Elphie, I remember the days of never being able to eat out bc of family members with food allergies. On the one hand it meant we ate healthy at home. On the other, I remember when we started being able to eat out and it was so nice!!0
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WilliamAndersonLMHC wrote: »It's not just restaurants, but most of the food industry has made it harder for people to be healthy. Like the tobacco companies that became our major food brands, many businesses are simply out to exploit us and the more they sell, the better for them, even if it kills us, which it is, with the obesity epidemic out of control the way it is. So, when they find that Americans love and are addicted to huge portions of fatty, sugary and salty food, thats what they serve. While many of you have figured out how to deal with that, many have not, and I'm sure many myfitnesspals who just want to read and and are not ready to comment as successes will be reading this. They will be helped.
While I agree suggestions for how to navigate eating out are really helpful, I get irked every time someone posts something like your last paragraph.
Businesses make available the food that the most people will order and that the business can make the most profit from. That's how it works. Blaming the business for making people fat or claiming the food is addictive removes the responsibility from the individual and gives people an excuse to throw up their hands and give up.
When more customers start ordering more "healthy" options (and I put that in quotes because it's really a subjective term), then businesses will start offering more of those options because they can make a profit doing so. If people quit buying the "...huge portions of fatty, sugary and salty food..." then the businesses will start offering what people will buy.
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I rarely eat out. Prices and calories are both way outta line.2
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