Dieting strategies when eating out

Nutrition Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hey BBM team,

I’m currently on a caloric deficit seeking to lose bodyfat and centimeters off my waist.(193cm tall, 140kgs, 124cm WC) My current intake is 275p/300c/95f and am losing about 1-2 lbs per week. I weigh everything with scales and log everything in the LoseIt! app. Gains are coming along nicely on the beginner template.

My question is how do you deal with eating out with family or friends? I don’t want to ostracize myself and be alone and only eat my own prepared and “approved” foods. If food items like grilled meat + sauteed vegetables + potatoes or something is an option I’ll pick that and record the servings to the best of my ability. Sometimes we’ll go to a place where the it’s hard to tell the composition of the dish without extensively grilling the waitstaff about the ingredients and proportions, something I wish to avoid if at all possible.

So far my approach is to focus on super lean protein in all other meals that day and let the carbs and fats work themselves out during that meal where I’m eating out, preferring to undershoot than to take in too much for the day. Do you have any alternative strategies? Thanks for your input.

2

Sounds like what you’re doing is working well and I would keep that up. Additionally, I may ask for any sort of sauce to come on the side and choose sides with less added fats- e.g. the rice over the loaded potato. Portion size is likely important as well depending on the frequency of eating out, so putting some in a to-go box from the kitchen may improve adherence.

3

Right on, those are all good tips. The sauce one, I hadn’t thought of that.
And yeah, I’d only chose potato if its not deepfried, just baked without added cheese or sour cream or the like, but I get what you’re saying. I do watch my portions when eating out and it’s not very frequent, perhaps once or twice a month. Thanks for some extra tools in my toolbox to help me make this work.