How to log food in a restaurant?

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Adaro666
Adaro666 Posts: 9 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Since almost 4 months I'm logging all my food and it works very good for me. Now just a question: How do you log your meals while eating in a restaurant? I can look up the calories of the fixings and I'm pretty good at guessing their weight... but I can't know how much oil, butter, fat etc. the cook used. How do you handle that? Any ideas, recommendations, advises?

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  • rockymir
    rockymir Posts: 498 Member
    edited February 2018
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    Ask for your foond being made without added fat, ask for dressings on the side, etc...then you can just guess the quantities but at least it's something.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
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    If it doesn't happen often, your best guess will be enough. I usually just browse the database for something similar and pick one that's a little bit on the high side on calories just to be safe.
  • ZRunner5Lulaica
    ZRunner5Lulaica Posts: 168 Member
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    If my restaurant meals don't have nutrition online, I guesstimate as best as I can. So far it seems to be working pretty well.
  • HeidiMightyRawr
    HeidiMightyRawr Posts: 3,343 Member
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    I just stick the restaurant name and the food I ordered into MFP and a rough idea of portion size and hope for the best! If MFP doesn't have the restaurant then I go with any other similar restaurant that comes up.

    It's never going to be the most accurate in that situation because you don't know exactly what's going into the food, so you just have to do your best. As long as you're not eating out all the time, a little inaccuracy isn't going to be an issue.
  • Adaro666
    Adaro666 Posts: 9 Member
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    Thanks for your replies... :)
  • laur357
    laur357 Posts: 896 Member
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    Chain restaurants usually have nutrition info available online. If it's a non-chain restaurant, pick a similar meal at a chain restaurant. Local pizza place - use Dominos or Papa Johns with similar toppings/crust to log it.

    Pay attention to things like salads, build-a-pasta, or similar foods with add-ons or choices for the side - they may have the 300 calories worth of dressing or a side of french fries listed elsewhere and it's not yet included in the meal's nutrition.

    If you do try to recreate the recipe for the meal, I'd add a few hundred calories in oil/fat more than you'd make at home.
  • toxikon
    toxikon Posts: 2,384 Member
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    Yeah I just try to find a similar dish at a chain restaurant and log that. Applebees, Buffalo Wild Wings, Olive Garden, Pizza Hut, etc.
  • GOT_Obsessed
    GOT_Obsessed Posts: 817 Member
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    I am glad you asked this because it's a fact of life. Sometimes you are in a position where you will be faced with eating out. Last Sat. I ended up going out for lunch. It was a little crappy on the logging side but it was worth it to see a friend I had not seen in a while. I made sure to not eat back my exercise calories that day in case my estimate was off. That is an option.

    Just keep in mind that it is only 1 day. Not the end of the world. Enjoy yourself.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
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    I would look up similar items in the database and go by that. I always erred on the side of caution and added extra calories just in case. You can also quick add calories, for example if I was having pasta out, I'd quick add 800 calories.

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