Eating Out

[sophiespo 6]

Does anyone else find they they can eat without issue at home, but when it comes to going out to eat, everything goes down a bit hard?

Or am I just weird?

[DELETE THIS ACCOUNT! 12,703]

No you're not weird at all, it is much harder to eat out. The portions are giant and looks can be very deceiving.

I find knowing what I'm going to order ahead of time helps a lot. For me, that's where my Lose It app comes in. I can look up foods for popular restaurants and see their calorie content. A great example where this helped: I was eating out, had no idea what to order, and though the tuna on English muffin sounded safe. I looked it up on my Lose It app, and I SHOCKED!! Because of what they put in the tuna, it was like 900 calories!!! Who knew a child's size cheeseburger would end up a smarter choice than tuna? It was quite the eye opening experience!!!

Most restaurants have their menus online, too. You could always check there ahead of time to get an idea what you should be ordering.

It's a major learning experience but it does get easier as you get more used to it.

[A New New Dawn 1,695]

I think planning ahead is the best idea. Also, I noticed some of my problem with eating out is sometimes I am caught up in conversation and eat faster than I should (not even realizing it) or because I am trailing behind others that are eating or being distracted I haven't chewed as well as I would normally. You have to be very conscious of what you are chosing as well as how you are eating. The distractions can cause me to derail. I went out the other night though and told my daughter ahead of time that I need to eat slow so bare with me. Thankfully this time it was uneventful and all went well. I loved being able to order from Applebees under 550 calorie menu and finishing about half my meal.

[Sojourner 2,446]

I've not encountered any problems with eating out, and we do continue to eat out more than once a week. Some major restaurants now also print nutrition information on their menu's, which can help with your menu decisions.

I always continue to look for the basic items. You generally can't go wrong with a salad choice(which does not contain many extras such as croutons or praliene pecans) and a basic Protein. Last evening, we went out for dinner and I ordered a side salad with dressing on the side, and roast pork loin and asked them to leave off the glaze. My husband ate the majority of the salad, and I brought home half of the meat to have as my Protein for dinner this evening.

Other times, instead of an unhealthy carb choice such as fries or carbs that likely get stuck, (such as rice for me) I will ask to substitute with the steamed vegetable. The vegetable, along with a basic protein choice is an acceptable bandster meal for me.

Not overly patient with apps, I rely on basic food choices and Portion Control to maintain my diet compliance. I just can't be bothered to use apps to track food choices. And my rule of keeping everything simple and basic works for me.

Other's mileage may vary...