In need of some help! :(

[loulou19]

Hi everyone,

I'm really struggling with eating out. My family and friends eat out regularly (I started slimming world 10 days ago and have been out for 4 meals and have another tomorrow) and I just don't know what to eat! I feel I have failed every time so far and gone way over my syns I don't want to stop eating out as it's a big part of my social life. My problem is I cannot stand salad! So please don't recommend the salads, plus if I start eating salads all the time people will notice as it's so unlike me!

I've searched through the threads but I cannot find info for many of the things that I like to eat. I'll list the foods that I like from the places I go to often, if anyone could help me with the syn values I'd really appreciate it! This way if it's a last minute arrangement I know what I can order almost wherever I go If you have any other meal suggestions for these places please let me know also, though I am a fussy eater lol.



Fayre & Square (going here tomorrow so need to find something! Has to be in the 2 for offer as that's the reason we go)
I normally get one of these 2, the criss cross chips are also my weakness other suggestions are welcome!

- 10oz Gammon & Egg with chips
- Square chicken burger with chips


Whetherspoons (I know there's lots of threads on this already!)

- Sweet chilli noodles (can the chicken count as a HE?)
- Chicken breast burger with chips (I get drawn in by this as it's about £4 including a drink!)


Nando's

- Chicken pitta with rice
- Butterfly chicken with rice and something else...? (I usually get chips if I get 2 sides)


Crown carveries

- Carvery (I assume this is healthy, what about yorkshire puds, gravy and stuffing? I love them!)


Pizza Hut

- Sharer combo
- Chicken supreme pan pizza (usually have 2 or 3 slices - I'm expecting this to be ridiculously high in syns)


Wok n Go

- Medium or Large Sweet Box


Chinese Buffet.....?



I just feel so unhappy with myself that I can't eat out without sabotaging my weight loss so I am willing to try other meals, just not salads cause they also make me miserable. But how do I stop myself caving in and ordering my favourite unhealthy meals? The people I'm with don't help much as none of them are doing SW or are bothered about being healthy and all I get told "just have it, it's only this once!", but clearly it's not and I have to lose weight! I hate myself after I give in and eat rubbish

Also, can anything from these meals be classed as free foods or HE's??


I usually do red & green days, but I will do extra easy as well if it makes it easier to eat out.

Please help!

Louise

 

[loulou19]

Hi, thankyou for the reply!

I will try telling myself "I don't want it" rather than "I can't have it" then - hopefully will make me feel I am in control when eating out. Glad to see nando's rice is only 2.5 syns aswell!

I have looked at the menu for the pub I'm going to tomorrow and their chicken burger is breaded so I've found these meals. Can anyone tell me how many syns they will be on EE please? I don't know how to work it out when I'm not cooking it myself.

Pasta Bolognese 830 cal
"With a red wine gravy, seasonal vegetables and mashed potatoes."

Chicken Tikka Masala 603 cal
"With natural yoghurt plus poppadums and yellow rice."

Thai Chicken Curry 541 cal
"In a medium hot aromatic coconut sauce with red peppers and choy sum, served with yellow rice."

Roast Half Chicken 1470 cal
"With a selection of seasonal vegetables, roast and mashed potatoes, a stuffing ball plus a Yorkshire pudding with gravy."

I'm guessing the roast chicken I just syn the roasties, yorkshire pud, stuffing & gravy like for a carvery?

 

[muffinandsam]

Hi there!
A rough rule of thumb is 20 calories per syn. Of course this doesn't apply to everything as some foods are free. And you dont need to count calories in free foods. With the above, it mentions yellow rice. I have no idea if that is boiled? because if it is its free.

I enjoy eating out but I've not let it hold me back. Stop with the faces because SW isn't about making different choices -its about making the right choices.
I love gammon, egg and chips whilst I'm out with garlic bread and a big pot of peppercorn sauce. So now I order the gammon, with chips and veg and pineapple instead of fried egg. I ask for the chips seperate and a pot of pepper sauce. Instead of smothering my food, I dunk my chips in my sauce. I will only eat perhaps 4-6 chips and syn it accordingly. I can't possibly sit and eat a salad like you - so instead I plan on using my syns on stuff that matters to me.

Try not to get talked into going to pizza hut though - it will make you crash and burn lol.
I eat at chinese restaurants a lot - and I enjoy things like chicken in black bean (5 syns) with fried rice (4 syns). I'm happy to use my syns on fried rice because I think its an important part of my meal lol.

You aren't missing out on things, you just need to plan accordingly - save your syns throughout the day and when eating out don't go mad.

You mentioned chicken and chilli noodles at weatherspoons above? I dont have my book with me but I remember the noodles was something like 8 syns, but adding chicken made it around 30. At weatherspoons they deep fry their chicken to cook it!
The other thing is dont be fooled by 'jacket potatoes' as 'jacket' doesn't mean 'baked'. some restaurants deep fry their 'jacket pots' lol.

 

[loulou19]

Hi, it doesn't mention how the rice is cooked on the website so I'm not sure... incase I'm just missing something I got it from here. I hope it's boiled! This is what confuses me though, I just don't know what is free food in these meals even if it looks free it might have 30 syns from how it's been cooked.

I know, I'm just having a bit of a panic as I gained 6.5lbs last week so I would love a loss this week. I'm doing EE today and not having any syns so they are all free for tonight. Ahhh so I could still have gammon I'm not a massive lover of regular chips so I often leave loads of them anyway, it's just the criss cross chips upgrade I'm bad with - must resist and save £1 too.

Lol, I love egg fried rice, it's my favourite part of a chinese meal! I will have to expand my horizons with chinese as I normally go straight for the battered sweet & sour chicken even though I know I like other things too.

Bye bye Pizza Hut - my boyfriend will be disappointed lol.

Oh that's crazy! And I thought a jacket potato was a safe option. I will just have to enjoy chicken-less sweet chilli noodles next time. Or maybe a skinny chicken burger and syn the bread (I love bread, well worth syns!)


I'm thinking the pasta bolognese or roast chicken dinner for tonight, they seem like they'll be the easiest to work syns out for.

Thanks for your help!

 

[ScarlettStar86]

Wetherspoons sweet chilli noodles are really tasty and only 1 syn, with chicken it goes up to 10.

And they don't deep fry their jacket potatoes...

 

[donna88]

They don't deep fry the jackets....


The sweet chilli noodles are 1 syn from weatherspoons, but 8 or 9 I think with the chicken, I think that's because they use oil to cook the chicken or something, not sure...

 

[donna88]

Ahhh Scarlet beat me to it (and knew the proper values.... so completely beat me there lol)

 

[ScarlettStar86]

Haha just edited! It's 1 syn without chicken 10 with x

 

[loulou19]

1 syn, that's great! And that's good about the potatoes too, thanks guys xx

 

[AnnaFaraday]

Salads make you miserable?? Never heard that before. Well, if you don't like them, then you don't. You could order some vegetables instead. I have never been to any of the places you go to (apart from Wetherspoons where there seemed to be all sorts of healthy alternatives) but I notice that in the list of meal choices in your original post you don't mention vegetables once. Don't they serve them?And would you really have chicken with rice AND chips at Nando's? One or the other, surely.It doesn't matter if people notice that you are eating something different. So what? It's your dinner. Don't discuss it, just order. No-one can actually make you eat things you don't want to eat, short of tying you down and force-feeding you.Get into the habit of saying things like "without the chips", "no sauce please", "dressing on the side please"Going out to eat is as you say a big part of your social life, but if you make it more about the social life and less about the eating, it could be easier to manage. Talk too much; you can't eat while you are talking.

 

[loulou19]

I just hate salad, a small side salad is ok I will eat it but I like hot meals usually. And I love carbs I'd rather just have a plate full of rice/pasta/potatoes/bread than meat or veg... So yeah. Makes healthier meals awkward! I don't mind veg but generally I opt for other stuff, even carvery I normally pile my plate full of potatoes rather than veg.

I guess I need to start creating a more balanced meal - equal amounts of meat, carbs and veg!

 

[Texty_F]

Try keeping a food diary at home you dont have to keep it on here, plan meals ahead, batch cook if you can, what did you do differently/eat differently for the 6.5 gain? You dont have to live on Salads, veg is good, what about making the SW quiche with SW chips, I eat a lot of sweet potato chips, or butternut squash chips

Chilli with or spag bol with Jacket potato have extra mushrooms and stuff on the side, jacket pot with beans - Lots of options and no salad in sight

 

[loulou19]

I'm not having problems cooking at home, I'm used to planning meals normally before I go shopping. I just ate out a lot last week and didn't make the best choices, it's eating out that I'm struggling with. Also I'm keeping a food diary on here, I tried keeping one offline but I wasn't consistent, I feel more like I can keep track on here - plus if I'm making any big mistakes someone will hopefully notice and tell me!

I just wanted options other than salad for eating out - in past experience that's usually the answer I get when wanting a healthy choice.

 

[muffinandsam]

Sorry the sweet chilli noodles were way different to what I'd thought lol.. soz!

I wasn't suggesting the potatoes at Wetherspoons were necessarily deep fried - I was suggesting that you need to ask the question if you see ' jacket', because some places do.

I had tea at my mums last night, she made toad in the hole and it was yummy - 19.5 syns in all (for my portion). I'm not too worried though, I didn't have all my syns the day before and I'll cut back a bit today too. nom!

 

[loulou19]

Haha don't worry I never knew anywhere would deep fry jackets, doesn't sound too nice really. I'll just make sure I'm getting a baked one if I go somewhere new!

Well I had the pasta bolognese last night, was disappointed as it wasnt very nice. My mum had it too and thought the same, so I know I need to try something else next time. I also learnt a lesson from my (very slim) cousin - I don't have to eat everything on my plate! Must remember that.


Thanks for all your help! I feel better knowing there is places I can go out to eat without going crazy with syns.

 

[jennawillbethin!]

Thai chicken curry - Fayre and square

Does anyone the syns for the Thai chicken curry?? I have never been to this pub before and get caught off guard so ordered this, it does say it was only 541 calories but just don't want it to be full of syns