Can you eat out and not gain?

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Replies

  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,613 Member
    We ate out every Friday night when I was losing. I would cut my calories a little Friday during the day to leave a little wiggle room for dinner. I would usually cut the dinner in half and take the rest home. If you get a kids portion at the burger place, no cheese, diet soda, it's a lot less calories.
  • joyanna2016
    joyanna2016 Posts: 323 Member
    Jared ate at Subway every day and lost over 200 lbs! 😁 Yay Jared! But now Jared's in jail 🙁 Boo Jared.
  • swimmchick87
    swimmchick87 Posts: 458 Member
    One time I lost 20 pounds getting take out almost every night. I had a rotating list of places I'd go where I could get things that fit into my calorie day. I was in a "I hate cooking and cooking for one is stupid" phase. I still don't cook much, but since then I've discovered Trader Joe's where I can get a huge variety of foods that just need to be popped into the oven or thrown together and can easily fit into my calorie day. Much easier on my wallet!

    Pre-pandemic times, I typically went out to eat with friends about 2x per week. One of the major things I would consider is if I was there primarily for food, or primarily for alcohol- NOT both or it's pretty impossible to not go crazy with calories. Weeknight dinner? It's more about the food and I'll get a diet coke with my meal. Bar hopping on a Saturday? More about the alcohol and I'll eat very light.

    If the place provided calorie info, I would look to see if there was something lighter I really wanted. If there is something that sounds decent and is lighter, I'll get that. If there's something high calorie that I really want, I figure out how to make it work. No calorie info provided, I just looked to see what sounded good. I've seen so many places where salads are an insane amount of calories, so if info isn't provided I just get something I like without trying to eat something light and potentially ending up with a ton of calories anyway.

    I have my goal set to lose 1 pound per week, so I get more calories to begin with. I also quit eating breakfast a long time ago, which is a huge help. I'm not hungry in the morning anyway, but was eating breakfast because I believed nonsense about it "starting your metabolism" and such. Now I have more calories available for in the evening when I can enjoy them. If going out to eat for dinner, I'll eat a really small lunch. If I need to/depending on what I'm planning to have, I'll do more walking to earn more calories.

    Currently, I get a take out meal 1x per week, more for budget reasons than anything. Since it's only 1x per week, it tends to be something higher calorie that doesn't fit into my day as easily. I make sure to do tons of extra walking that day, so I'm already ahead as far as calories go. I aim to at least balance out to hit maintenance with my walking (depending on what I have, sometimes I can balance it out to hit goal). If I only hit maintenance that day, I just make sure to bank the calories the rest of the week with a bit of extra walking on other days. Since I'm only aiming for a 500 calorie deficit, it's pretty easy to bank an extra 500 calories between the other 6 days of the week.

    You're going to have to figure out something that works for you. Saying that you're never going to eat out again is not going to let you stick with this. And personally, the biggest thing that's helped me with weight loss is ditching the 1200 calories per day. Yes, I've lost slower with my 1 pound per week goal, but over months it really adds up and now I'm really happy with my results. And I've not been white knuckling it/depriving myself so it's so much easier to stick to. And having my fitbit so I can earn extra calories through more walking is a lifesaver as well.
  • canadjineh
    canadjineh Posts: 5,396 Member
    Easy way to do it is to skip your least fave mealtime and just add those calories to the meal you want to eat out at.
  • Lolinloggen
    Lolinloggen Posts: 463 Member

    Oh, this really is a lifestyle overhaul. I can't go back to regular dining out, can I?

    What do you all do?
    Throughout my journey and my now 3 year maintenance I have been eating out. My husband keeps mentioning that he is so happy with that.
    With some adjustments it is quite doable and the key is order less and better. But also learning from what I have learned in MFP
    When it is a starter: soup (no bread, but that is my gluten intolerance, but it helps)
    A main; where possible fish (no sauces) or salads (dressing on the side)
    Only on very special occasions I will have a dessert, usually ice-cream

    But the biggest thing is slow eating and when I have had enough to NOT finish the plate - I did not put it on there, therefore no requirement to finish it A doggy bag is great too!
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    I ate out 1-3 times a week while I was losing weight and still do (except for the past few months) now that I'm maintaining.

    The trick is that you can't treat it like a "special occasion" (unless it genuinely is) and order whatever strikes your fancy. I check out menus ahead of time, request reasonable changes to reduce calories, bank calories, and pre-plan my day to make things fit.

  • nanastaci2020
    nanastaci2020 Posts: 1,072 Member
    Would you mind sharing a little insight/examples into these magical Trader Joes easy meals? Maybe I need to shop at Trader Joes.
    One time I lost 20 pounds getting take out almost every night. I had a rotating list of places I'd go where I could get things that fit into my calorie day. I was in a "I hate cooking and cooking for one is stupid" phase. I still don't cook much, but since then I've discovered Trader Joe's where I can get a huge variety of foods that just need to be popped into the oven or thrown together and can easily fit into my calorie day. Much easier on my wallet!

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,879 Member
    Eating out while trying to lose weight can be done, but it can also be problematic, especially with a low calorie target and no exercise to enable you to increase that target. When I was losing weight, I ate out very rarely...for me, it was just one of those things that just made things harder than they needed to be trying to balance and juggle everything. Plus, we namely eat local so nutritional information isn't available.

    I've been in maintenance now for over 7 years and have more leeway, but we still don't eat out all that much. We have pizza night most Friday nights and I'll typically have two slices of a medium pepperoni, mushroom, and red onion which pretty easily fits into my calorie target. Beyond that, pre-pandemic we would eat out maybe 3 times per month at the most. We could probably do more as we both exercise 5-6 days per week, but after years of doing this, we just prefer to cook and eat at home...plus with a family of 4, eating out just gets expensive, especially when your kids won't eat the $12 mac 'n cheese made from scratch because Kraft is better.

    That said, our social life has changed considerably over the last 10 years or so and doesn't really revolve around going out and getting together for food and drinks anymore...most of that changed once we had kids. We used to have a fairly substantial social circle before kids and we went out all the time...having kids changes a lot of things and most of that social circle no longer really exists either because they haven't had kids...they are single...they've moved away, etc. When you have kids, you can no longer just up and do whatever, and that definitely thins the social circle.

    We have really only two really close families that make up our social circle that we really hang out with. We still gather around food and drink, but it's about once per month as we're all busy with work and life and kid life, etc. Sometimes I miss the larger social circle, but the one we have now is pretty close to being family more than friends.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 7,342 Member
    Chil-Fil-a grilled chicken nuggets. You can eat a ton for hardly any calories.

    Cook-Out burger is very reasonable and very tasty.

    Substitute onion rings for fries. Cookout’s rings are a fraction the calories of fries, so a Cookout Burger tray with double rings and a Coke Zero comes in at around 800, if memory serves.

    At Mexican restaurants (voted Most Likely to *kitten* With My Goal) I ask for a bowl of raw cut bell peppers to dip in salsa, instead of tortilla chips. As long as they can get them out to me fast enough, before I dig into the first couple chips, I’m good. And most restaurants don’t even charge extra for them.

    My favorite Mexican restaurant has things on the menu like a grilled chicken breast with mango salsa over a simple salad of lettuce and tomatoes. By my calculations, it comes in well under 500 calories. “Street” style tacos aren’t generally loaded up with extras and can be very reasonable.

    I always look at menus before we go out, and try to eke it under goal.
  • swimmchick87
    swimmchick87 Posts: 458 Member
    edited July 2020
    Would you mind sharing a little insight/examples into these magical Trader Joes easy meals? Maybe I need to shop at Trader Joes.
    One time I lost 20 pounds getting take out almost every night. I had a rotating list of places I'd go where I could get things that fit into my calorie day. I was in a "I hate cooking and cooking for one is stupid" phase. I still don't cook much, but since then I've discovered Trader Joe's where I can get a huge variety of foods that just need to be popped into the oven or thrown together and can easily fit into my calorie day. Much easier on my wallet!

    If you've never been, I highly recommend just going and checking it out/buying what interests you. I will warn you that in our current times, my TJ's always has a big line to get in, since they're limiting the number of people in the store. It moves fast and trust me, it's worth it. Personally, I'm not super into "eating clean" so the style of things I get may not interest you. I'm all about losing weight AND enjoying what I eat at the same time (not that all of my calories are spent on junk either). Discovering TJ's was such a weight loss life saver for me! They do have a big variety of more "health food" type stuff if that's what you're looking for as well. At least in my area, it's also significantly cheaper than other grocery stores.

    Some of my current favorites:
    -Chocolate hummus (I get fruit to dip it in)
    -Chunky Guac made with yogurt (much fewer calories AND I think it tastes way better) and salsa especial (I like the medium version)
    -Butter Chicken with Basmatti Rice
    -Tomato Feta Soup
    -Tarte de Alsace
    -Brie and Tomato Tarte
    -BBQ chicken pizza
    -Bambino pizzas (pepperoni is 280 cals and cheese is even less- so great if you need to fulfill a pizza craving for not many cals)
    -Mini chicken tacos
    -Chicken goyzas (7 for 200 cals- great if you need a more filling small meal to make room for a meal out or something)
    -Mandarin Orange chicken and vegetable fried rice (separate products, I put them together to make a meal)
    -Prosciutto, arugula, and burrata flatbread
    -Several of the salad kits- my favorites are Mediterranean, yellow curry, and buffalo ranch
    -Sweet potato gnocci
    -Gnocci al gorgonzola
    -Hatch Green chile mac n cheese
    - Kung Pao Tempura Cauliflower
    - Jerk Chicken Skewers with Mango Chutney
    -Everything but the Bagel Seasoning (I often include a hard boiled egg in my work lunches, and this adds great flavor)
    -Hold the cone (lower cal ice cream treats) or as a rarer treat on days I end up with extra cals, sublime ice cream sandwiches (they are AMAZING, but 370 cals)

    I can think of maybe two times in a few years that I've tried something from TJ's and haven't really liked it.
  • AshHeartsJesus
    AshHeartsJesus Posts: 460 Member
    I opt for a lettece burger with cheese, or grilled chicken no bun. I don't get fries for me. Sometimes I have a couple of my hubbies, but I really mean only 2-4. That meat is so filling to me I am good with it. Maybe a flavored ultima water or sipper would help with drinks. I watch my calories close and track the best I can. I would meal prep and not eat out more then twice a week. I squeeze out at least a half hour in the morning for workouts. Check out hasfit, and fit by amy on youtube
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 7,342 Member
    We tried the Trader Joe’s Breaded Cod Fillets last night, cooked in the air fryer. They were really quite good, and very filling. Felt like a lot more than the serving of the Gordon’s fish sticks we tried last week. (We’re having a blast trying stuff in the air fryer.)

    The TJ coconut Shrimo are good in the air fryer, too.

    TJ’s frozen chicken fried rice, supplemented with more chicken, and a scrambled egg or two dropped in at the last minute is good, too.

    I am suddenly addicted to broccoli slaw, and the TJ version was particularly good. Added shredded apples, and made a nice sweet and sour dressing of a tablespoon of each: apple cider vinegar, low cal mayo, and sugar free maple syrup.
  • Maxxitt
    Maxxitt Posts: 1,281 Member
    FWIW, (and when "eating out" was actually an option), I limited the 1200 calorie meals to once a month, if that, and chose lighter but still delicious fare (meat/seafood grilled, veggies steamed, salads with minimal dressings, e.g.). When I knew I was eating out, I ate a bit less during the day. One thing that I noticed is that after a restaurant evening meal, I wasn't super hungry the next day and skipping breakfast entirely came naturally. Everyone's different in that respect, though.
  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
    edited July 2020
    We can learn to moderate ourselves with restaurant foods just like all of the others. Eliminating restaurants from our life is just another self-induced food prison. At this particular time, we're all having to limit where and what we can do with restaurants but when everything is back UP and running, get back out there and enjoy your favorite foods.

    Food Rules and Restrictive Blowback is always lying in wait, just ready to pounce when you're no longer looking.


  • mullanphylane
    mullanphylane Posts: 172 Member
    We can eat out and still meet our calorie and other health goals.
    • First step is to know the nutritional values for the foods being served. Most chain restaurants now provide that information online, and some also provide in their menus. Knowledge is power.
    • Know what you'll order before going in and figure out how much of it you can safely eat vis a vis calories, fats, carbs, etc.
    • Be ready to strip away the bun (or other parts that are empty calories) and eat just the burger.
    • Ask for a doggie bag for what you don't eat.
    • Don't be surprised or upset if you over eat. When you figure out how to eat a 400 calorie meal at the local burger joint, just be ready to cheat a bit. But be aware when it happens.
    • If you think you'll stress about it, go some other time.