eating out

I've asked this today on my little weight loss diary but thinking I'll get more opinions, experiences etc if I ask here.

I was away for a couple of nights for my wedding anniversary so ate out both nights. I've had similar thoughts before that unless you order a salad theres not very many healthy choices i seem to have found on menus when out anywhere (and even then salads can come with dressing that hasnt been asked for). I was quite pleased with myself, there was a chicken thingy on the menu that came with cheese and chips or potatoes. I asked for no cheese and extra veg instead of potatoes in any form so as far as i can guesstimate the only thing that would be pointed is the chicken breast.

I have found that most places are pretty accommodating in any requests you have mind you. Im not out for dinner much but i was just wondering how do other people cope when ordering food when out? I find it tricky not knowing how many points exactly I'm eating so i can accurately track everything for that day/ I make pretty much everything from scratch so can control how much oil etc I add and i think its the lack of control over how many points I'm eating when out that gets to me too.

I'd be interested to hear any thoughts, might be a whole before I'm out for dinner again but experiences are welcome, just because I'm on WW doesnt mean I should have to hide from things until I'm at my goal (which I dont like to think about how long that'll be!

If I fancy pasta when I'm out if possible I try to order from the Starter portions, which is the same thing but about half and I can't eat all the full portions anyway. If it's definitely shaping up to be a heavy 3 course meal I occasionally have two starters and have one delivered for a main with a side salad or veg medly or whatever. It's true that you shouldn't be afraid to ask for no chips or extra salad/veg instead or ask if the salad dressing/sauce can be on the side not all over it.

Ordering from a grill menu is usually a good option because they have the different meat weights listed and it often comes with an option of side dishes. Cut off any fat and least you have fairly accurate PP even if a 12oz stake is high.

Fish is an obvious choice but make sure its not been deep fat fried but grilled or baked.

Obviously try and exercise will power and don't mindlessly snack on the French/garlic bread or olives in a pool of oil. Since the same way make sure you work out a set limit to how much alcohol you will be drinking before hand and stick to it. If you want to blow your weeklies and activity points on shots all at once, fine (If not exactly healthy) but point how many you can have beforehand and stick to it. Having a diet soft drink or water in between rounds also helps keep units down or stretch them out.

Don't be embarrassed. You particular server may or may not be rolling their eyes but any busy restaurant, even a small independent one, deals with people on restricted diets due to health or weight loss efforts every day and you are their 15th query about prep this week and 100th query if things can be substituted or omitted from the dish.

Try and make sensible decisions and stick to them, if there are so called "light" options consider them, and definitely consider having the salad side dishes as part of the meal to help fill you up but don't panic if you over indulge put it behind you and move on. If you can plan ahead for lighter days after a heavy period. See if you can make zero/low soups or salads in advance so you have those to bulk out your day following possible over indulgency. Daily PP can't officially be carried over, but there's a lot to be said for especially making sure that the vast majority of your day is F&H (and eating it only when you need to) after a large meal the night before.

Make sure you have enough water before, during and after a night out.

thanks so much! thats a lot of good advice, especially about the grill options, least then it'd give you a weight to point. I tend to save my weeklies for the weekend for a bit of over indulgence but they'd come in handy when eating out. I'm going to have another wee read over your advice when I'm home from work, thanks for taking the time to answer

ive actually thought of a tip, its probably not news to other people but its a lot cheaper (and healthier) to ask for tap water when out. I was in a cafe recently and they wanted £1.40 for bottled water and had very limited diet juices available so asked for tap water. Free in both senses of the word!

Yeah tap water is always a good idea, even if you have other drinks as well. Another very basic one that I'm sure a lot of people do is if you don't think there's going to be anything for desert remotely within PP/F&H and you don't want or can't eat your weeklies for it is to have a sweet herbal/fruit tea or even carry an apple/orange/bag of berries etc around in your bag.

ETA Don't be embarrassed to ask for a "doggie bag" as the old cliché goes a good restaurant will assume their food is too lovely to waste and happily find something to wrap it up in if they don't offer. That way you an do F&H "satiated" portion control even on foods that definitely aren't on the list and you have the option of having the rest of a good meal the next day when you can weigh it and consider the probable ingredients more carefully if you want, so you have an even better idea next time.

thats also a great idea, thanks! I've never done the filling and health approach, i only ever got the pro points nifo at classes. dont go to weight watchers any more just doing it all myself. could you do a mix of pro point days and filling and healthy in the same week? my mums just started filling and healthy so could maybe get some info from her.

doggy bag is a good idea actually saves you being tempted to over eat and it does give you a better chance to analyse ingredients

Yes you can do a mix off PP and F&H days each week. I've been slowly trying to introduce more F&H days as I get nearer goal because I'm not sure I can count PP for the rest of my life. It definitely means more from scratch cooking and planning ahead both of which are good habits but it isn't always ideal for me right now. It's a bit confusing in terms of remembering to just track weeklies and activity points and I find I'm still weighing things into "correct" portions and tracking PP separately to make sure I'm not going over. I do try and make sure that 70-80% of the daily counting points are coming from F&H foods but I do need the flexibility of counting (and zero point fruit and veg), when I'm home I try and have a few days eating only or 90% F&H but keep tracking.

My leader is really pushing F&H at the moment. He claims he was basically counting out his points in Mars bars at the start but hasn't even touched any WW snack products for months. He very nearly morphed into the SW consultant I (briefly) had but he was still emphasising portion control. His assistant swears by PP so we've got it all covered at my group luckily. In terms of eating out I'm firmly in the "when in doubt order extra veg or salad and eat some of it first" camp for now.


It's all about finding the right balance for your body and your lifestyle and one of the things I like about WW is that it offers both options.