How the heck do I track this?!

Amber82479
Amber82479 Posts: 629 Member
edited October 3 in Food and Nutrition
I'm going to lunch at Abeulo's (a mexican restaurant) tomorrow... I did find a few of their foods on here, but not the things I want to eat and the Abuelo's website doesn't have nutrition information. So how the heck do I log the calories?!?! Do I just guess? It's stuff like this that makes me never want to eat out.

Replies

  • engineman312
    engineman312 Posts: 3,450 Member
    is Abuelo's your grandfather's house or a resturant? if its a resturant, check the website for nutrition information. if none, you have to do your best to guesstimate.
  • kmbrooks15
    kmbrooks15 Posts: 941 Member
    You may have to just make some educated guesses. You could try putting ingredients in and getting a total, then tack on an extra 100-200 calories. I had to do that recently. I just guesstimated and, while I was probably not 100% accurate, I had a pretty good idea.

    Good luck, and enjoy your meal out! It's okay to splurge once in a while.
  • clamour_kid
    clamour_kid Posts: 16
    I usually just take the individual ingredients and the sauces add them on, then add 10% to be sure. Better to over judge than under, eh?
  • debydeb57
    debydeb57 Posts: 53
    i also guesstamate...... i also do the individual ingredients in here and tack on maybe 100 more if i feel that was not enough.. usually tho if i do it individually i come up with more than enough calories... just saying... good luck honey
  • grmpy1
    grmpy1 Posts: 462 Member
    Sometimes I search for what I ate on MFP and use whatever I feel is closest to that . But I always leave calorie room at the end of the day to make sure I don't leave out anything.
  • charityateet
    charityateet Posts: 574 Member
    It's hard to guestimate calories at restaurants - as a purveyor that is in the back of a lot of kitchens, I see some stuff that makes you go o_0 !!!

    Once, I saw someone "dunk" the sauteed peppers and onions for a fajita in the deep fryer to "warm them"......

    Oils and butter (mostly butter flavored oil) are cook's best friends. They have bottles of them on the grill and use a crap ton of the stuff - mostly for lube on the grill - but also a lot of times on top of the food too.

    Cheese --- is used a lot. If you think there is an ounce of cheese, better guess more like 3-4.

    Good luck, for the most part - I try to order the healthiest stuff on the menu (salads w/dressing on the side and grilled lean meat) but if I just want to *eat* I break down all the food ingredients and add a little more oil/butter/cheese and maybe 100-200 quick added calories to my total.
  • SarabellPlus3
    SarabellPlus3 Posts: 496 Member
    I'm assuming it's a restaraunt, not your grandparents', I go to restaraunts all the time that aren't chains and therefor don't have nutritional info available. I guesstimate, and I try to be really liberal. So if I find an option in the log for something homemade of the same dish, I do that, but sometimes up the calorie count. For instance, I love a local hole-in-the-wall's fried cheese ravioli-- I log homemade fried ravioli, but I give myself 1.5-2 servings in my calorie count, though I only ate 1 serving, knowing that it's probably more loaded with butter and such. Plus, I plan those outings on my cheat days when possible, so it's not AS important to keep an accurate count for me. And if I was real worried about it, I'd use more common sense when ordering, and not go for the fried ravioli, but I digress! LOL

    I'm absolutely not going to stop eating at restaraunts that aren't huge chains, that would be a ridiculous cut to my lifestyle that is not reasonable-- so I just do my best. :) It works out fine.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    What I'd do is pick a similar entree from one of the big chain restaurants known for being crazy high in calories, like Chilis or Don Pablos. Use that as a "worst case scenario" entry.
  • AggieHoss
    AggieHoss Posts: 30 Member
    What I'd do is pick a similar entree from one of the big chain restaurants known for being crazy high in calories, like Chilis or Don Pablos. Use that as a "worst case scenario" entry.

    ^^^This^^^

    Try On the Border also.
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