How can you eat out safely?

Krystalmyth
Krystalmyth Posts: 20
in Food and Nutrition
I work in a big city, and usually bring my lunch with me. It's usually some pathetic little thing like some veggies, maybe some meats or soups. Something around 250-450 cals. It fills me up and I'm happy, but sometimes the team wants to go out for lunch. These aren't always in restaurants that provide nutritional facts.

Sometimes they'll go out for chinese or thai, and I'm hard pressed to find anything that makes the menu choices easier. Now I don't have to starve myself, I eat sensibly so I don't have to eat like just a salad to lose weight (in fact, not eating enough calories is kind of easy ><) ~ but I don't want to overdo it either. What do you guys do in this kind of situation?

It's hard to go to MFP and dial in calories when you're just tossing guesses~ and when my BMR and TDEE is only a few hundred away from each other, I have to kind of be specific to hit the sweetspot. Am I just, unable to ever eat out?

Replies

  • kmiskow
    kmiskow Posts: 24
    Don't know, but sitting here wondering the same thing. I leave my FT job at 4:15 and start my PT job at 5:30 today. I don't see a point in driving home and having to leave 20 min later. But that means I need to get something to eat.
  • k8blujay2
    k8blujay2 Posts: 4,941 Member
    I usually try to find things that are similar... it may not be the most accurate of calorie counting, but it's better than not having even a rough estimate.
  • weeblex
    weeblex Posts: 412 Member
    Always use a condiment!

    (Sorry had to put that in for the title)

    I go with the close is close enough when I find something on the list, if you are worried about 50-100 calories on the day is making a difference, take a quick jog to work it off, but hopefully it won't be that close.
  • ctooch99
    ctooch99 Posts: 459 Member
    My rule of thumb when eating out is to always order the healthiest fish entree on the menu. If no Fish, then I look for the healthiest salad. If no fish or salad, probably not a place I wanna eat at. :)
  • macx2mommy
    macx2mommy Posts: 170 Member
    I eat all the time, and still have managed to lose over 40 lbs. For me, eating out is something that I have always enjoyed, and is just a part of my life.

    What I have done is change how I eat out though.

    I pretty good at 'eyeballing' portion sizes. That seems to be a big issue with restaurants. If I am with my family, I will order one meal, and share it with my kids, and give some to my spouse. They tend to like the more flavorful (aka higher calorie stuff on the plate, like the carbs, etc). If I am eating out with non relatives that I can't share with, I will portion out my portion, and ask for a box for the rest.

    For what I order, I will go with salads (make sure you get the dressing, and ingredients on the side and assemble yourself), or I will get entrees with chicken, seafood, lean cuts of meat, generally proteins, and double up on the veggies, and cut out the starch. I stay away from pastas, and things high in starch, like breads and buns because they are calorie dense.

    In terms of how I order, I tend to be the 'high maintenance' person. I will ask for all the sauces on the side, along with anything that may be more calorie dense, such as nuts, cheese, advocados, etc if it is possible to seperate them. I will ask for the food to be cooked 'dry', or without any oil or fat. I will tell them that I actually have a fat intolerance, that usually makes them perk up as they think it's an allergy.

    For 'family style' meals, such as Italian, Chinese, large appetizers, etc. I will try to load up on the veggies, and meat, stay away from anything deep fried, and eat in moderation the startches. I will often get them to make a stir fry with lots of veggies and meat, no noodles, as little oil as possible.

    I honestly don't find an issue eating out, though some meals are much harder than others. Then it's in moderation, and if I know about it, I will try and reduce my other meals and snacks in the days accordingly.
  • saraast
    saraast Posts: 62 Member
    Yep, I guestimate in this situation. Most restaurants have a little definition of their ingredients below the name of the dish. If you are really concerned, and believe me I have gotten a few weird looks, you can ask specific questions on how it is prepared. Last week I went to a little cafe bistro, and asked them what was all in their basil pesto vinagrette! Poor kid had to go back and ask, but definately worth it when I found out there was lots of SUGAR in it!
  • debbiestine
    debbiestine Posts: 265 Member
    Stick to the fish and ask for double vegetables instead of rice. Don't eat the bread or just limit yourself to one piece. Order a big salad and add protien(shrimp,chicken,meat), avacado, hard boiled egg, nuts. Order the salad with no croutons and get oil and vinegar on the side or a balsmic vinegar dressing on the side and just use a tablespoon or two.
    Split the entree with another person or have the server box up half for home.
    Good eating to ya!
  • msamcoates
    msamcoates Posts: 261 Member
    Stick to the fish and ask for double vegetables instead of rice. Don't eat the bread or just limit yourself to one piece. Order a big salad and add protien(shrimp,chicken,meat), avacado, hard boiled egg, nuts. Order the salad with no croutons and get oil and vinegar on the side or a balsmic vinegar dressing on the side and just use a tablespoon or two.
    Split the entree with another person or have the server box up half for home.
    Good eating to ya!

    I agree with this .... also double your exercise up that day.
  • Krystalmyth
    Krystalmyth Posts: 20
    Always use a condiment!

    Ha~! This had me dying, thx.

    Okay, it's what I was doing. I just feel so guilty sometimes. I'll dial it into the MFP and I'll be like~ man I hope I'm right. Because when my weight loss stalls sometimes I wonder if it was that half order of whatever I keep getting. lol

    Anyone else have coworkers like mine that eat out all the time? Even when you bring your own food? Hard to eat nothing but a yogurt and toast when you know they're going to Applebee's or something. It's depressing.
  • ctooch99
    ctooch99 Posts: 459 Member
    Always use a condiment!

    Ha~! This had me dying, thx.

    Okay, it's what I was doing. I just feel so guilty sometimes. I'll dial it into the MFP and I'll be like~ man I hope I'm right. Because when my weight loss stalls sometimes I wonder if it was that half order of whatever I keep getting. lol

    Anyone else have coworkers like mine that eat out all the time? Even when you bring your own food? Hard to eat nothing but a yogurt and toast when you know they're going to Applebee's or something. It's depressing.

    I have typical guy co-workers who eat big subs and giant bags of chips at lunch - but at the same time they complain about needing to lose their guts! I just sit there quietly and eat my steamed vegetables and apple...
  • notyouraveragetalia
    notyouraveragetalia Posts: 223 Member
    I always try to pick the grilled entree and double up on the veggies. Many places will let you do a salad as a veg and then you have something healthy to fill you up before your meal. I also do a lot of planning when possible. For example, if you and your coworkers visit the sames type of restaurants regularly do some research as to equivilant meal calorie counts. Even if the meal is made at a different restaurant, it's a good place to start. Sushi for me is the mystery. Every place has their own "specialty" sushi and there is not a lot of info out there on calorie counts of different rolls.

    It sounds like you don't struggle with portioning, thats my biggest issue. I have to really listen to my body and slow down, rather than get caught up in the meal and go way past "full".
  • Krystalmyth
    Krystalmyth Posts: 20
    I always try to pick the grilled entree and double up on the veggies. Many places will let you do a salad as a veg and then you have something healthy to fill you up before your meal. I also do a lot of planning when possible. For example, if you and your coworkers visit the sames type of restaurants regularly do some research as to equivilant meal calorie counts. Even if the meal is made at a different restaurant, it's a good place to start. Sushi for me is the mystery. Every place has their own "specialty" sushi and there is not a lot of info out there on calorie counts of different rolls.

    It sounds like you don't struggle with portioning, thats my biggest issue. I have to really listen to my body and slow down, rather than get caught up in the meal and go way past "full".

    Yeah, honestly I throw out way too much food because I get full too quickly. I think I made some order of chinese food last like three meals over a weekend. Was pretty ridiculous. Who do they think can eat all of this?

    What's terrible is when I suggest to friends we can get one thing and split it, they look at me like I'm an alien or something. Everyone has to get their own thing. lol
  • Mimosagal75
    Mimosagal75 Posts: 2
    Going out to eat is usually a diet killer for most....even fatty salad dressings just destroy weight loss. Just remember its a lifestyle shift so dont limit yourself to never eating out as this is also a social gathering and good for your soul...but can be bad for your diet. Always select lean meats not dripping in any type of cream or oil sauce. Chinese and Thai are pretty easy just dont order any of the white sauces and avoid WHITE RICE ALWAYS!!! Go for the green stir fry ... just the vegies and chicken. Sushi is good for you and the small amount of rice is OK . Indian food... dont eat the bread... try Alogobi thats all vegies. Going out to eat can be tuff but use common sense too. If its greasy and cheesy ..breaded or deep fried DONT EAT IT. My weak spot is mexican food. I just order nachos no cheese no meat... i ask for lots of lettuce, tomatoes, and pico di gao (sp) and use the salsa to add more flavor. Its filling and i always feel proud that i had the will power to avoid the cheese.... Good Luck

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