Feb 9, 2023

 by Lauren Cubellis

One of the first areas clients often think they need to restrict when beginning their nutrition journeys is eating out. We're here to tell you that, regardless of your goals, you don't have to give up enjoying the food you love from your favorite restaurants! 

Sure, you may need to make some adjustments to how frequently you dine out or the types of meals you order, but completely removing dining out from your life is both unrealistic and unsustainable.

We're all about implementing small, manageable, and sustainable changes that get you closer to your goals without completely disrupting your quality of life. So, here are five tips to help you navigate your nutrition goals when tracking macronutrients and dining out:

ASSESS THE PROS AND CONS

If you're a Verve nutrition client, then you've likely already completed this assessment with your dietitian at the beginning of your journey. This is such an important step for anyone looking to make behavior-based changes in their life. Take the time to sit down and really think through your goals: the steps needed to achieve them, the time investment required, the changes you may need to make in your everyday life and how long you may need to implement these changes, how these changes might impact your life and those around you, whether or not these changes are sustainable long-term, etc.

When you establish boundaries that you're willing to work within to achieve your goals, decision making becomes far easier and less stressful. When it comes to dining out, here are a few questions to ask yourself that can help guide the decisions you'll make:

• How serious are you about achieving your goals?
• How might this meal make you feel afterwards (in relation to your goals)?
• How might this meal impact your progress?
• How will you feel if this meal negatively impacts your progress?
• Are there other things to consider?
  • Will this meal create fond memories with friends or family?
  • Will this meal provide me comfort after a stressful day at work?

The most important thing to remember here is that one single meal will never completely derail progress! 

PLAN AHEAD

When possible, planning ahead can ensure a stress-free dining experience that keeps you on track with your goals. Restaurant meals are almost always higher in calories than the meals we prepare at home. To avoid frantically searching the dinner menu for a low-calorie dish that fits your remaining macros, log your restaurant meal first thing in the morning or when planning out your week. This will allow you to work backwards through your day and plan your food in a way that doesn't leave you feeling completely deprived at the restaurant.

Most menus and their nutrition facts can be found online, but if you're dining out somewhere that doesn't provide this information, here are a two generic variations of average calorie and macronutrient breakdowns that you can track as estimates:

• For meals where the plate is ≥25% lean protein:
  • Calories: 550
  • Fat: 25g
  • Carbohydrates: 50g
  • Protein: 30g
• For meals where the plate is <20% protein:
  • Calories: 700
  • Fat: 35g
  • Carbohydrates: 80g
  • Protein: 15g

ACCOUNT FOR BEVERAGES

If you enjoy a beverage with your meal, whether that be an ice cold soda from the fountain, coffee with cream and sugar, a cosmopolitan, or a tall draft beer, it's important to consider these when accounting for your meal out. Nutrition information can be found online for any non-alcoholic drink that a restaurant may be serving. Nutrition information may also be provided for some brands of alcoholic beverages, but chances are this information can be hard to find or inaccurately listed. If you plan to enjoy an alcoholic beverage with your meal, use this guide to determine the calorie and macro contribution it will have to your meal.

ESTIMATE TO THE BEST OF YOUR ABILITY

When nutrition information isn't provided for a menu, the generic calorie and macronutrient variations provided above will give you a great starting point. Depending on the boundaries you've established for your goals and your meal out, you may want a more accurate estimation for what you'll be eating. Here are a few ways to go about obtaining a better estimate for your meal:

• Use the generic variations provided and increase or decrease calories depending on quantity consumed (most recommended)
  • When adjusting calories for a meal out, you will then need to adjust the meal's macronutrients. For most, fats and carbohydrates can be interchangeable. Fats have 9 calories per grams while carbs have 4 calories per gram.
  • For example, if you decide to increase calories by 200 to account for a dinner roll with butter, you may choose to attribute 90 calories towards fats (9 grams) and the remaining 110 calories to carbs (~28 grams), so you will then increase each macro accordingly.
• Estimate each individual macronutrient.
  • Start with protein. If you know how many ounces of a specific protein your meal contains, then a quick search should provide you with a very close estimate of calories and macros. If you're not sure how many ounces of protein are in your meal, estimate the quantity using your hand. A protein portion that is approximately the size of the palm of your hand will be roughly 3-4 ounces.
    
    • Add about 10 grams of fat as the protein is likely prepared in oil or butter
  • Use 30 grams as a baseline for carbs and increase as needed. If you're enjoying a pasta dish, you may add anywhere between 30-100 grams of additional carbs depending on the size of the dish. If you're enjoying a salad or low-carb meal, you'll still likely need to add about 15-50 grams of carbs depending on dressings or condiments.
  • Finish with fats and use 20 grams as a baseline. Ensure you're considering fats contained within the protein or used when cooking the meal, as well as fats that may be added for flavor to sauces, toppings, and condiments.
• Estimate the quanitities and log each individual ingredient you see on your plate (this can be very time consuming and is not a method that is recommended for most)

STAY MINDFUL

When in doubt, stay mindful of your goals and boundaries throughout your meal. Check in with yourself every so often to ensure you're sticking with the plan you decided works best for you at that time. If you decided against planning for a meal out, take the time to assess your hunger and fullness cues to make sure you're not subconsciously pushing yourself to uncomfortable extremes. If you took the time to plan but didn't end up sticking to it, take it easy on yourself! Embrace every hiccup as an opportunity to learn more about yourself and if there's anything you could have done differently.

Need help navigating your nutrition? Book a free discovery call to learn more about working with one of our registered dietitian nutritionists.