Going out to eat and figuring out calories

Portion control and smart choices. IF the portion is huge bring 1/2 home. Skip the bread and appetizers. Get you dressing on the side and don't use it all.

Whenever I go out to eat I always ask for a take-home box right away and then as soon as my food comes I box up half of it. This is a great way to control portions and still get to go out to eat. I also like to share a meal if someone else at the table is willing. I used to be really afraid of going out to eat and staying on track but now I just make sensible choices (instead of fries, get a salad or fruit) and watch my portions and I'm fine. Hope this helps!

be careful about asking for dressing on the side. I've heard that you usualy get more dressing on the side then they would have put on the salad t begin with

most restaurants have the nutrition info on their websites

The last time we went out I looked up the calories on mfp for several meals I was interested in and picked the best choice and I was still under calories for the day and I was satisfied. You can check sodium too but it will usually be high at restaurants.

The sodium is going to get you everytime. So drink lots of water with dinner! It'll flush out the sodium and keep you from retaining water the next day. If you can't find nutritional info for the restaurant you are going to, use a similar dish from another chain restaurant. You can't always have the perfect exact number or calories that is in something, but you can be pretty close. i also second the taking half home.

When hubby and I go out, we usually have an appetizer to share and each take half our dinners home for lunch the next day. If we ar splurging we'll share a dessert too. This is a lifestyle change for us. Just because we wamt to lose weight and be fit and healthy that doesn't mean we will never eat out again. We typically eat out about once a week. It's our date night and time for us to reconnect with each other. Our metal health and marraige health is just as important as our waistline.

There is a website I used when on WW it is DWLZ.com It has a lot of restaurants and their nutrional info on it.

There are actually a couple of apps where you can take pictures of your plate and it will give you a rough estimate of calories etc.

Meal Snap: http://news.discovery.com/tech/new-app-counts-calories-through-photos-food-110413.html

PlateMate: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/03/a-new-app-for-counting-calories/

I haven't used any of these but it is out there. For me, we go to about three different local restaurants all the time. My husband and I set up "recipes" in our food diary of our favorite dishes. We figured out which ones were probably the best for us or which ones we needed to cut in half. Since they are locally owned, the info isn't out there, we do kind of guess. For my favorite salad, I try to go with the worst case scenario by over estimating the items in it. But figuring out what items are high in calories is the best way.... croutons, cheeses, salad dressing are usually your heaviest hitters. So you can cut one of those out or in half. I like a few croutons for the crunch but I don't have to eat them all. Dipping your fork in the dressing first instead of pouring it over the salad is a good way to eat a salad too.

Most restaurants have some form of lean meat and a veggie side. Ask for substitutions. My husband gets double broccoli all the time instead of two sides. Do your homework ahead of time. Most national chains have their information out there so you can have a rough idea what you can and can't eat.

Also if you can plan ahead..... do an extra workout so you have exercise calories to eat. I will take the dog for a long walk or get on the treadmill for an extra 15 mins.

The hardest part is sticking to the plan when I get there and everyone else starts ordering yummy stuff.

Maybe you should try ordering something yummy? What's the point of going out if you're going to get crap you don't like?

Either pre plan or guess.... OR let yourself have a lightly indulgent meal.

Typically if you stick to healthier items, steamed or grilled seafood or chicken, steamed or grilled veggies, you will be fine. you can typically ask that they don't put sauce, butter, oil etc on the items. watch your portions, you don't have to eat the whole meal.

When in doubt go for the salad with the least amount of extras and get dressing on the side.

Do you know what a serving size looks like? That's probably a biggie, since you won't have anything to measure with even if you do order healthy.
Here's a site with serving sizes compared to real life items (there are tons of sites like this, I just googled it and picked one):
http://www.fitsugar.com/What-Serving-Sizes-Look-Like-762806

I also have this same problem. A couple weeks ago I went to an Italian restaurant and ordered fish, but all of the sides were carb heavy. Even the veggie option was corn! The girl was totally flabbergasted when I told her that I didn't want a side other than my salad (in the end I asked for a "double" order of the salad instead).

Here's my trick for managing pleasure days (restaurant outings, family gatherings centered around food, etc): I eat what I want at the event (without going overboard ) and for the following three days I eat a maximum of 50g of carbohydrates per day (this means no grains, no processed foods, no legumes, no sugar, no fruit, no milk, no nuts, no seeds... basically just animal products and low carb veggies). By doing this, my insulin (the fat hormone) level is very low for the three days after. This provides my pancreas with a much needed rest following the pleasure day and my body will begin to use up stored fat again. Don't exercise too much during your low carb days (you need glycogen energy for exercise which you won't have if you are not eating carbs). If you are like me, you will find that despite your pleasure day, you have lost a pound by the end of the three days. Once you reach your weight goal you should be able to have one pleasure day a week (followed by three low carb days) and maintain your weight. So, enjoy the full menu!