Step-by-step: How to track calories when you’re going out

My favourite restaurant serves spicy fried chicken with jalapeno and chipotle mayo. They also serve bbq pork belly soft tacos. And strawberry guava margaritas. (Yes, I’m obsessed with Mexican food).

If I’m going out to this restaurant, I’m going to enjoy it, without guilt!

But often, going out to restaurants can get in the way of our other goals in life. It sometimes makes you feel like you’ve “ruined” all your progress and often makes you feel demoralised to the point you think “screw it, I’ll eat everything this weekend and start again on Monday!”

But going out to restaurants doesn’t have to mean you’re going to ruin all your progress or set yourself back in your journey to your goals.

How to stay on track when you’re going out

1. Remember how to put together a great meal!

• Choose a good lean source of protein – chicken, fish and lean beef are good options
• Fill your meal with whole fruits and vegetables – salads, steamed vegetables, fruits and soups are good options
• Try to minimise highly-processed foods, such as white breads/rolls, and foods with a lot of added refined sugars.
• Choose healthy minimally-processed sources of carbs – rice and sweet potato are good options

And use these basic guidelines to choose your meals while dining out – even at fast-food places! For example you can choose to order the burger without the bun, or remove one half of the bun. Ask them to make burgers without the sauces (this is usually where a lot of the calories and sugars come from). Choose low cal drinks and even swap the fries for salad.

(Want to learn more about how to put together a balanced meal? Take the FREE LoveFit Weight-Loss Foundations course!)

2. Check out menus beforehand

Study menus online before you go. Make decisions beforehand so when you get there you’re not tempted by everything you see. It also gives you a chance to go through the items you love and see if you can make them a little healthier, for example:

• Replacing bread-based or fried starters with soup, 
• Replacing fries with steamed vegetables or salads,
• Asking for meals to be prepared with sauces on the side or emitted altogether

Use MyFitnessPal to pre-plan your meal and see how it can fit into your calorie targets.

3. How to track restaurant meals

A lot of the more common restaurant franchises will have their nutritional information available online. This makes it easier to track on MyFitnessPal. If your restaurant doesn’t post nutritional info online, just find the closest option on MyFitnessPal. For example if you have a burger at your local cafe, you can use a McDonald’s burger instead.

BUT countless studies have shown restaurants commonly unreported their calorie counts by up to 40%!!

So if you’re serious about tracking (and if you’re doing the Eight Week Transformation!) I suggest you track restaurant nutrition in the following way:

• If the restaurant posts their nutritional information, add 20% on. For example a restaurant posts their calories for a bowl of fries as 300 calories. 300 x 1.2 = 360 calories tracked in MyFitnessPal
• If the restaurant doesn’t post it’s nutritional info, find the closest food on MyFitnessPal and add 40% to the calorie count. For example, I have 3 slices of pizza at my favourite little boutique pizza takeout. They don’t have their nutrition available, so I find three pieces of Domino’s pizza is 525 calories. 525 x 1.4 = 735 calories tracked in MyFitnessPal

4. ‘Bank’ calories to use when you go out

Sometimes for my refeed days, I’ll fast until lunchtime and have two high-protein meals before going out. This helps ‘bank’ calories from earlier in the day to use later in the day. I’ll usually have chicken and salad for lunch and protein oats for a snack, which gives me good quality, high protein, lower calorie fuel and also leaves me extra calories to enjoy later in the day.

Another tool can be to have a high-protein snack such as a protein shake, protein oats or simply protein yoghurt, about an hour before you go out. This means you won’t feel super hungry.

5. Go easy on the alcohol

Try to avoid alcohol if possible, as that often leads to more unhealthy choices around food.

If you do want alcohol try low-cal options like vodka and sparkling water, and alternate with water. I often suggest clients order sparkling water and lime, as it looks like an alcoholic drink, so it can stop others questioning why you’re not drinking.

And finally, here’s some other things to think about when you’re going out with friends

Social gatherings are just that- social!

They’re beautiful occasions we need as humans to connect with others.

Here’s some more ideas to make sure social gatherings aren’t too stressful:

• Focus on the company, rather than the food.
• Rely on friends for support – Telling friends and family and work colleagues about your goals and plans will help. When eating out with friends they can keep you accountable, and they will be able to offer further help and support.
• Everyone going for dessert? Choose fruit-based desserts, or go for the coffee/tea option.
• And no matter what happens – one day is not going to ruin your progress! Be kind to yourself!

Want to learn more about the Eight Week Transformation? Check it out!