Eating Out Sucks

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Replies

  • Cbean08
    Cbean08 Posts: 1,092 Member
    Panini911 wrote: »
    the pistachio salmon is over 1000 calories?
    https://www.kegsteakhouse.com/#!/menu-detail/?id=16253&parent=5/#siteContent

    yes it came down to the small steak with veggies or the fish. i opted for the fish. some of the options on the online menu were not on the menu in teh restaurant.

    I often get an appetizer for a meal and add a side of steamed veggies. You could have gotten the shrimp cocktail and the bacon wrapped scallops with a side of veggies for a lower calorie meal.

    You can also scrap anything on the plate you don't want. Sometimes I order a sandwich/burger/tacos, pick out the meat and veggies and leave the rest.
  • Panini911
    Panini911 Posts: 2,325 Member
    edited November 2018
    I guess I shoud have said in my original post:

    My point is that it sucks to end up with 4 options that one may or not not even like and spend $30+ on a meal that quite frankly sucks. or at best ho-hum.


    Cbean08 wrote: »
    Panini911 wrote: »
    the pistachio salmon is over 1000 calories?
    https://www.kegsteakhouse.com/#!/menu-detail/?id=16253&parent=5/#siteContent

    yes it came down to the small steak with veggies or the fish. i opted for the fish. some of the options on the online menu were not on the menu in teh restaurant.

    I often get an appetizer for a meal and add a side of steamed veggies. You could have gotten the shrimp cocktail and the bacon wrapped scallops with a side of veggies for a lower calorie meal.

    You can also scrap anything on the plate you don't want. Sometimes I order a sandwich/burger/tacos, pick out the meat and veggies and leave the rest.

    I looked at the shrimp but i actually hate cold fish-seafood. so big no to shrimp cocktail. Ditto the fish taco (which i took a small bite of to taste (the fish) and it was not something i would eat).' I looked at the apps (which I have done in the past, ordered veggies and an app) but most were very high calorie (more than a meal) or things i do not eat.

    And I have ZERO ability to "leave things on the plate" unless i actually don't like to eat them. Obviously something i need to work on but i cannot stare at good food for 20minutes and maintain enough self control fro all the seconds in the 20mins. Best to ask they leave it off (which is what I did) and yes obviously request htey take away my plate.

    There was already the issue of having to ignore the four baskets of bread that came to the table (and while I didn't want any, the others at the table did so saying no bread on table not an option). and again when you end up waiting an hour for your food and stare at the bread that is a very long time to repeat self control.

    My point is that the experience sucks.

  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,871 Member
    I'd be annoyed to spend $30 on a ho-hum meal. That's perfectly understandable. Maybe viewing these outings as a quality time with friends exercise more than a food-centric event would help.

    Don't feel pressured to order a full course meal every time. If nothing appeals to you, have something small (an app or soup a'la carte) and enjoy the conversation, if you can. (Sorry if this is more unsolicited advice. Just ranting us ok too :flowerforyou: )
  • Safari_Gal
    Safari_Gal Posts: 888 Member
    edited November 2018
    Panini911 wrote: »
    I guess I shoud have said in my original post:

    My point is that it sucks to end up with 4 options that one may or not not even like and spend $30+ on a meal that quite frankly sucks. or at best ho-hum.


    Cbean08 wrote: »
    Panini911 wrote: »
    the pistachio salmon is over 1000 calories?
    https://www.kegsteakhouse.com/#!/menu-detail/?id=16253&parent=5/#siteContent

    yes it came down to the small steak with veggies or the fish. i opted for the fish. some of the options on the online menu were not on the menu in teh restaurant.

    I often get an appetizer for a meal and add a side of steamed veggies. You could have gotten the shrimp cocktail and the bacon wrapped scallops with a side of veggies for a lower calorie meal.

    You can also scrap anything on the plate you don't want. Sometimes I order a sandwich/burger/tacos, pick out the meat and veggies and leave the rest.

    I looked at the shrimp but i actually hate cold fish-seafood. so big no to shrimp cocktail. Ditto the fish taco (which i took a small bite of to taste (the fish) and it was not something i would eat).' I looked at the apps (which I have done in the past, ordered veggies and an app) but most were very high calorie (more than a meal) or things i do not eat.

    And I have ZERO ability to "leave things on the plate" unless i actually don't like to eat them. Obviously something i need to work on but i cannot stare at good food for 20minutes and maintain enough self control fro all the seconds in the 20mins. Best to ask they leave it off (which is what I did) and yes obviously request htey take away my plate.

    There was already the issue of having to ignore the four baskets of bread that came to the table (and while I didn't want any, the others at the table did so saying no bread on table not an option). and again when you end up waiting an hour for your food and stare at the bread that is a very long time to repeat self control.

    My point is that the experience sucks.

    Hiya @Panini911 i think it all depends what restaurant you go to. Next time - ask your friends to go to your choice of place!

    I first saw the thread title and I was like nooo Eating out is awesome! Lol sorry you had a 💩 experience. I do think it can be a fun and relaxing experience. Hope your next trip to a restaurant is more satisfying.

    I probably eat out 3-4 times a week minimum. I tend to frequent places that have more variety and fresh food. I’m around a lot of options- If I’m meeting a friend at a pub style place - I know I’ll be the one having a club soda and probably some charcuterie with crudité -again depends on the place.
    (I had great deviled eggs yesterday!)

    I don’t know the restaurant the Keg - but sounds like made a great choice with a great meal of fish and veggies. Good choice staying on point!
    Yeah- it can get expensive, so hopefully next time you have something you enjoy that’s within your dietary preferences.

    Cheers,
    M
  • FL_Hiker
    FL_Hiker Posts: 919 Member
    Can you just go for a long run or exercise to make up for the calories and pick something you enjoy?
  • Panini911
    Panini911 Posts: 2,325 Member
    FL_Hiker wrote: »
    Can you just go for a long run or exercise to make up for the calories and pick something you enjoy?

    as i stated i had already gone out for my splurge brunch the day before and that was after a few days of halloween candy. at some point i want to be able to have a decent meal at a restaurrant WITHOUT having to go over (and yes I was careful ALL DAY ot leave as many cals for dinner).

    I cannot run due to an injury. I do exercise but i am already at the limit of what i can do exercise-wise while i recover.
  • Cbean08
    Cbean08 Posts: 1,092 Member
    So, honestly, it's just a lack of self control. If you don't start to force yourself to learn to leave food, you won't get used to it. Practice. If you can't do it by yourself then have someone help you. Find a friend or a family member you trust and tell them you're working on building healthier habits with food and you need to learn to leave food behind. Give them the power to remind you not to eat it all and to send the plate away when you are done.

    Challenges
    1. order an entree, eat some of everything, leave half on the plate
    2. order an entree, eat 2 parts of the entree, leave the rest behind, completely untouched
    3. order 2 small plates, each 1/2 of each, leave the rest
    4. order an entree to share with someone, eat your portion. order a dessert, take 2 bites and leave the rest

    I don't stress about eating out because I have no problem eating part of a huge plate and letting the restaurant throw away the rest. No matter where I go, I can find something that has an item that I like. It makes eating out fun and I can focus on the social aspect and not the food.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Panini911 wrote: »
    FL_Hiker wrote: »
    Can you just go for a long run or exercise to make up for the calories and pick something you enjoy?

    as i stated i had already gone out for my splurge brunch the day before and that was after a few days of halloween candy. at some point i want to be able to have a decent meal at a restaurrant WITHOUT having to go over (and yes I was careful ALL DAY ot leave as many cals for dinner).

    I cannot run due to an injury. I do exercise but i am already at the limit of what i can do exercise-wise while i recover.

    TBH, depending on your definition of 'decent', that's probably never going to happen unless you're going to leave half of it or have meat and a side salad. Good food - like a steak or whatever - from a restaurant is always super calorific.

    I'm taking my husband out on Friday for a meal, I'm working on the basis of having my usual calories for my evening meal (800 - 900) plus 500 I have saved from earlier this week and maybe 200 exercise cals. And I expect to go over still. That's why I work to my weekly goal not daily.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Panini911 wrote: »
    I guess I shoud have said in my original post:

    My point is that it sucks to end up with 4 options that one may or not not even like and spend $30+ on a meal that quite frankly sucks. or at best ho-hum.
    Cbean08 wrote: »
    Panini911 wrote: »
    the pistachio salmon is over 1000 calories?
    https://www.kegsteakhouse.com/#!/menu-detail/?id=16253&parent=5/#siteContent

    yes it came down to the small steak with veggies or the fish. i opted for the fish. some of the options on the online menu were not on the menu in teh restaurant.

    I often get an appetizer for a meal and add a side of steamed veggies. You could have gotten the shrimp cocktail and the bacon wrapped scallops with a side of veggies for a lower calorie meal.

    You can also scrap anything on the plate you don't want. Sometimes I order a sandwich/burger/tacos, pick out the meat and veggies and leave the rest.

    I looked at the shrimp but i actually hate cold fish-seafood. so big no to shrimp cocktail. Ditto the fish taco (which i took a small bite of to taste (the fish) and it was not something i would eat).' I looked at the apps (which I have done in the past, ordered veggies and an app) but most were very high calorie (more than a meal) or things i do not eat.

    And I have ZERO ability to "leave things on the plate" unless i actually don't like to eat them. Obviously something i need to work on but i cannot stare at good food for 20minutes and maintain enough self control fro all the seconds in the 20mins. Best to ask they leave it off (which is what I did) and yes obviously request htey take away my plate.

    There was already the issue of having to ignore the four baskets of bread that came to the table (and while I didn't want any, the others at the table did so saying no bread on table not an option). and again when you end up waiting an hour for your food and stare at the bread that is a very long time to repeat self control.

    My point is that the experience sucks.

    We tend to want to problem solve here - if you just want to vent you need to make that very clear :)

    Next time, what about getting the high calorie meal you want and bringing half home?
  • bustercrabby
    bustercrabby Posts: 66 Member
    Panini911 wrote: »
    Went out with family and ended up at The Keg. I didn't think much of it assuming i could find SOMETHING under 700 calories. But there was 1 option that really is not something i enjoy eating (cold appetizer shrimp or appetizer cold tuna taco - i hate cold fish). Even the salads were around that or more WITHOUT protein.

    Just frustrating. Glad they have calories on the menus but I long for the day when i don't have to eat a house salad dressing on the side when I go out.

    I went over what I wanted but got a decent meal of tuna and vegatables. I skipped the cauliflower rice as I hear those usually have tons of added fat to make them more pleasing to customers to cut a few calories.

    The main issue is this wasn't the first meal out that week. The day before i'd gone out on a celebratory meal and splurged. And we just went thru halloween which had a few "oops" moments. ..

    I had the same issue, then realized that worrying about calories on a daily basis was not working. Now I just look at caloric intake on a weekly, not daily, basis. This gives me the latitude to occasionally go over my daily limits. Today, 1250 cals, tomorrow, 1400, next day 1000. Smooth averaging.

  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    Steak or prime rib is the best choice at the Keg. Ignore the table bread and take half your meal home.

    Steak is usually my advice as well for those higher calorie restaurants, especially if there is a choice in cuts. If you keep to a reasonable portion size and box the rest, steak isn't bad for calories. Steak isn't drowned in added fat to make it palatable, so unless its a particularly high fat cut, the high calorie count on the menu comes from them serving a massive-sized steak (3+ portions).

    Get a box at the start, box up 1/2 or 2/3 or 3/4, and divvy up into containers later on.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    Panini911 wrote: »
    the pistachio salmon is over 1000 calories?
    https://www.kegsteakhouse.com/#!/menu-detail/?id=16253&parent=5/#siteContent

    yes it came down to the small steak with veggies or the fish. i opted for the fish. some of the options on the online menu were not on the menu in teh restaurant.

    "garlic mashed potato, bacon sautéed Brussels sprouts, maple butter"
    wow...you can even see the pool of butter under it on the plate. and the Brussel sprouts look too greasy to even taste very good. They definitely went a little nuts with the added fat on that one.

    The sirloin steaks, on the other hand, are <200 calories per 4oz. Having salad dressing on the side on the side salad, avoiding the higher cal sides, and splitting in half along with the steak won't come to a bad total if you can keep from diving into the table bread or getting higher calorie drinks.
  • leanjogreen18
    leanjogreen18 Posts: 2,492 Member
    This has happened to me on occasion. I just reduce my calories over the next few days by 100 or so. That keeps my average daily calories at a deficit.

    I particularly like eating out because I also come home with next days lunch, as portion sizes are huge now days.
  • tbright1965
    tbright1965 Posts: 852 Member
    ritzvin wrote: »
    Steak or prime rib is the best choice at the Keg. Ignore the table bread and take half your meal home.

    Steak is usually my advice as well for those higher calorie restaurants, especially if there is a choice in cuts. If you keep to a reasonable portion size and box the rest, steak isn't bad for calories. Steak isn't drowned in added fat to make it palatable, so unless its a particularly high fat cut, the high calorie count on the menu comes from them serving a massive-sized steak (3+ portions).

    Get a box at the start, box up 1/2 or 2/3 or 3/4, and divvy up into containers later on.

    Yep, get a sirloin, smallest cut a place has. For me, 8oz is enough and will be under 500 calories. If the steak is larger than 8oz, I'll cut off a portion and have it in my omelette the next day.

    Broccoli or other steamed vegetable. Salad, no croutons, dressing on the side. Dip fork in dressing before spearing food. No breads, etc. One beer. The above is usually under 800 calories, or about 30% of what I'm allowed on a day that includes exercise.

    Of course, this is coming from the guy who blew 1080 calories on 12 boneless buffalo "wings" at Sonic last night.

    I should have just gone to Hooters or some other similar place and got hot naked wings for fewer calories and better flavor.

    But I had 1500 calories left in the budget after the Les Mills Sprint HIIT workout earlier in the day, so I was good.

    For me, the biggest gains are in trading starchy sides such as fries or a baked potato for vegetables.

    You can even get apple slices at McDonalds instead of fries.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    I don't even have a clue how many calories I had for dinner tonight. It was the annual fundraiser for IIB...Room full of food stands with sample sizes of amazing food from local restaurants. EVERYTHING was totally worth the calories (and the stuffed feeling). Also 3 glasses of wine throughout the evening. I think I only skipped the coffee and beer stands.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    It's the table bread & wine that generally puts me over the edge. And maybe dessert, but nowadays it has to be worth it (if I'm not drooling while reading the dessert list, I'm not ordering anything).

    And if it's pub food, fried starchy calorie-ness will be the accompaniment to a very, very fatty high calorie entree. I had to learn to say no to that particular ubiquitous post-group-cardio affair.
  • VUA21
    VUA21 Posts: 2,072 Member
    There is no rule stating that anyone has to actually eat the whole meal ordered. My trick with a 2000 calorie meal: order the meal and ask for a to-go box, when the meal arrives, I cut it in half and put half the meal in the box for the next day.
  • WilmaValley
    WilmaValley Posts: 1,092 Member
    What a great discussion and good ideas!
  • thisPGHlife
    thisPGHlife Posts: 440 Member
    I totally feel your pain! Relatively recently (maybe two months ago) I had a meeting with two other people and they asked if a pizza place was ok. I knew the one woman was bringing her kid so I figured that would be the easiest and I didn't want to be a hassle. I looked up the menu online and, as I expected, the only low calorie option was a side salad. It seems like pizza places always have the most boring side salad. Iceberg lettuce, raw onion (bleah), black olives (double bleah), and a slice of under ripe hot house tomato.

    I live in a city where if you order a salad that isn't a side salad, it will have fries, a pound of shredded cheese (this may be an exaggeration, but not by much haha), and probably steak on it. I could have asked for modifications but, again, I didn't want to be a hassle and I was tired of trying to mentally work it what was the best bang for my calorie buck. I ended up ordering a half veg sub with Italian dressing. It was still in the 500-600 ball park for calories, which wouldn't be bad, but it wasn't filling and I'm left staring at the pizza that everyone else is eating. I had to remind myself that it wouldn't be worth it unless it was Fiori's.

    I ended up going to the gym afterwards and then eating at maintenance because I was pissy. I understand the pain.
  • pinggolfer96
    pinggolfer96 Posts: 2,248 Member
    Someone else cooking for me, no dishes, tastes amazing usually, around loved ones....etc.....I think eating out is great!💪🏻
  • Evamutt
    Evamutt Posts: 2,825 Member
    I hate eating out, even if I find something lower cal, or order veggies, I think it's still full of salt because it takes me a whole day to recover & feel "normal"
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