I've been making a significant effort to monitor my food intake in terms of an array of info. And I'm not a social person, but I enjoy getting together with friends at times, and usually that happens over a meal. For example, Friday of this week is the big written comprehensive exam in our department, and all the grad students get together afterwards and go out to dinner to celebrate. And the following day, I'm throwing a small party for one of my friends that's taking the exam. So that's two meals back-to-back that I have no idea of the nutrition. :whistle:

So how do you folks who calorie-count deal with situations like this? Just attempt to minimize them, eat ahead of time so you don't eat much when there, or guesstimate? Or something else?

Hi there astroguy,

There are a number of ways of dealing with this...

1. Make it a cheat meal - in which case you dont count the calories at all and just relax and enjoy it. If you take this route then try to limit it to one meal a week. Maybe what you could do is cheat for one of the meals and then try to contol the others (see below).

2. Find out before hand whats on the menu of the place you will be eating, (I do this a lot). Ask the restuarant to fax or email you a menu before hand. This way you can make an informed decision without any pressure. Most places will have a relatively healthy option.

3. Eat before hand and just drink water or diet soda at the restuarant. This is the least likely option because all your friends will not understand and make things difficult and uncomfortable for you. Beside you are also celebrating.

Remember: One or two meals will not make or break your goals but if you find it happening more often then try to make sensible decisions. You can also just judge the quatities of the food you are eating make a mental note and record it later when you get home. This wont be very acurate but its better than nothing. Above all dont starve yourself in preparation for eating out or cheating or after cheating. Stick to your regular meal plan and eat often.

I'll be watching this thread intently. I'm very worried about going out with friend's and family. And I don't wanna be a "Party Pooper":nono:

All good advice from Jokat. I just posted on a similar thread earlier tonight.

Allowing your cheat meal to come at times not of your choosing from time to time may be socially necessary. You can minimize the damage by picking the healthier looking dishes, but be aware of hidden fats and sugars in most restaurant food. I once worked in a restaurant where literally every dish got coated in a liberal squirt of melted butter to improve taste and appearance -- it worked! The place was packed with gourmand regulars every night, and the food was sexy-looking and delicious.:eat:

You can always estimate portions when recording them in a calorie-counter, and a trained eye will get close enough to at least assess the damage. Try to estimate what you will eat before you go and manage your diet beforehand to compensate (at least partially).

Also keep in mind that there's no prize for getting into the Clean Plate Club. Portions at most restaurants are irresponsibly huge, so take some home for a second meal if it's a healthy choice, or just chuck it. Leaving food on the plate is probably a better idea than starving yourself during the day only to gorge at a restaurant later.

As a former restaurant worker and as an educated amateur foodie diner, please do not antagonize your waitstaff and chefs by making a laundry list of special requests for your meal. It makes your fellow diners uncomfortable, it irritates the restaurant workers, and, quite frankly, it makes you look like a neurotic, high-maintenance ass. :nono:

Sauce on the side is one thing, steamed rice instead of fried is no problem, but do not try to design and modify your own uber-clean 40/40/20 meal out of a proud professional's signature dish.:nope:

For your specific situation, Astroguy (astronomer? physicist? astronaut?), the grad student group dinner should probably be your cheat meal. Try to pick healthy and exercise portion control.

The intimate function you're hosting the next day can be totally in your hands, no? If it's a dinner party, why not find some tasty but healthy recipes to serve your friends and colleagues? If the recipes are good enough, your guests need not ever know that they were healthy!!

If it's a mix-and-mingle cocktail-type event and you're worried that they'll balk at the absence of a cold-cut plate or some such staple, set out some "cheat hors d'ouvres" for them, but stick to the crudite yourself.

For your specific situation, Astroguy (astronomer? physicist? astronaut?), the grad student group dinner should probably be your cheat meal. Try to pick healthy and exercise portion control.

The intimate function you're hosting the next day can be totally in your hands, no? If it's a dinner party, why not find some tasty but healthy recipes to serve your friends and colleagues? If the recipes are good enough, your guests need not ever know that they were healthy!!


Perfect suggestion... I couldn't have put it better... :tu:

I usually count the calories before, or make it a cheat meal. Or, if it isn't a cheat meal, I order something healthy. Also, since most meals served anywhere are overproportioned, I don't eat all of it. You see, after you count calories for awhile, you can approximate how many calories are in a food just by looking at it. For example, if I order chicken breast in a restaurant, I can estimate the calories since I know how much calories are in a 4oz chicken breast and also know the general size of 4oz chicken breast.

Well...if it's a restaurant that is nationwide, I usually look on their website for the nutritional info or google it. If not, I'll try looking for similiar foods in fitday and use that, taking into consideration that it may be high or low.

When it comes to situations like these, celebrations, birthday, holidays, etc, I say don't worry about it. A few meals aren't going to kill you, enjoy yourself!


jason

I have three strategies.

1. It's a splurge meal ... I eat whatever and just do a "best guess." I'll even create a custom meal called "best guess" and try to figure out what went into my gorge-fest, and always prefer to overestimate than underestimate. This is rare.

2. It's a place that posts nutrition values ... then i.e. if Subway or some place like that, I use the actual nutrition info they publish

3. It's not a place that publishes nutrition values, but I want to eat clean. I almost always can get away with ordering a salad and chicken breast or something "familiar" and then with cooking so many chicken breasts I can usually estimate within an ounce what the portions are (i.e. 4 cups romaine lettuce, 1 tbsp parmesan, 6 oz chicken) ... I also found at many places you can ask for the portion sizes, you can order the vegetables steamed without any seasoning, etc. etc.

Jeremy

PS - often I'll look at www.CalorieKing.com - they seem to have almost everything

Seconding the Calorie King option, or the company's own nutritional info.

Second, drink water. It's cheaper and better for you.

Third, salads are usually not a bad idea, but stay away from anything with fried anything in it. Also, ask for dressings on the side- they tend to slather them on when you only need a little bit.

Finally, if nothing else, expect your sodium intake for the day to spike. Many of the foods prepared at chain restaurants are often frozen beforehand at some warehouse. Better restaurants usually have fresher ingredients, though not necessarily.

Good luck

For your specific situation, Astroguy (astronomer? physicist? astronaut?), the grad student group dinner should probably be your cheat meal. Try to pick healthy and exercise portion control.

The intimate function you're hosting the next day can be totally in your hands, no? If it's a dinner party, why not find some tasty but healthy recipes to serve your friends and colleagues? If the recipes are good enough, your guests need not ever know that they were healthy!!

If it's a mix-and-mingle cocktail-type event and you're worried that they'll balk at the absence of a cold-cut plate or some such staple, set out some "cheat hors d'ouvres" for them, but stick to the crudite yourself.


Astronomy grad student, so aspiring professional. :cool:

The function tomorrow is one where I'm making the appetizer and dessert, and another person's doing a salad and the main course, which is going to be roast chicken or something similar from which I can get the nutrition info. So I can pretty much control that one.

The main issue is more the dinner tonight. It's not a national chain, it's a very local place, so I won't be able to get nutrition info. I was planning on guesstimating the meal in terms of fat, carbs, and protein - and probably get a salad as the meal - and stick with water ... as opposed to the gallons of booze that everyone else will be drinking. And yeah, I usually assume that the sodium in any meal at a restaurant is over 1000 mg. :confused:

I was planning really on doing only one cheat meal a month, but I don't think I can plan ahead that well and might just bring it down to once a week. :eat:

Thanks for all the input!

I time it so I have a meal beforehand. I drink water while there (as they probably won't have decaffeinated tea). Then when it's time to eat, I leave the restaurant and either have a protein shake and other stuff that I've brought with, or (if the restaurant is close to home) walk home quickly and eat there.

ALternatively, if it's a restaurant I *REALLY* trust, I will ask them to simply make me a specific simple meal, e.g. chicken and boiled rice with mushrooms, and no sauce, or chicken and a spoonful of olive oil. You have to be careful with this approach, though. Sometimes they add stuff that you prohibit them from adding, even if you're adamant about it. After some early experiences, I am now VERY cautious.

I would just use it as a cheat meal and enjoy it. Your going out with your friends, so enjoy life. Exercise some control and the damage done from the meal will be minimal. For example, have one beer, instead of all the gallons you mentioned.

I think a successful lifestyle change involves this type of compromise. I used to be stuck in the all-or-nothing mindset and it always ended in failure.

Compromise and enjoy life. Personally, I like to make it a habit of only having cheat meals when I go out with family or friends. Because it usually happens 1-3 times a week, it's not too bad. Someone who is more social may have a problem with this though. Although I prefer this method to a scheduled cheat meal.

I'm thirding the use of calorieking.com - I use the Australian version a lot. Even if you do treat it as a cheat meal, which is fine, perhaps have a look at the site, establish what sort of calorie and fat contents you might encounter, and work with it. There's a lot to be said walking in to a restaurant educated against the hidden fats in, say a chicken cesaer salad (just because it's a salad, doesn't mean it's not fatty) or some such. Similar to Bud's story, tomatoey pasta sauces can be laden with oil, because it adds flavour!