[JessLess]

While I know that eating in restaurants can be counter-productive for weight loss, I have a specific calorie counting question.

I often order a salad with grilled chicken and no dressing. My question is about the "hidden fats" used to cook the chicken. Does anyone have a guess how much and what kind of fat 4 oz. of chicken would be cooked in? I guess I could ask, but I was curious what other people estimated for this item.

Thanks in advance!

[jessica2231]

my best advice would be to only go to restaraunts that have nutrition menus for now. Thats what Im doing and my friends and family now know we go somewhere with a nutrition menu. : )

[juliana77]

I generally would add 1/2 to 1 tbsp of oil to my count, depending how greasy it feels.

[dstalksalot]

YES, check the nutritional info.They should also have dressing info too on the chart so you can take that off of your calorie total.

My problem comes if I start hollowing out the bread and taking off Bacon or Mayo. I am never sure how to adjust for those things. I usually just estimate a bit high in my count..

[lin43]

When there is no nutritional info available, I add a tablespoon of oil to my count. If the chicken seems super moist and tasty, I may add a bit more.

[carter]

Originally Posted by juliana77

I generally would add 1/2 to 1 tbsp of oil to my count, depending how greasy it feels.

This is what I do, as well. I cook a lot myself so I have developed a feel for how much fat food picks up while it's cooking. I know how wet or dry my own food would be cooked in a tablespoon of fat, so I mentally compare the restaurant meal to that and adjust my estimate accordingly.

I know I may still be underestimating, but since I normally don't have to do this for more than one or two meals a week I just give it the best guess I can and don't worry about it more than that.

[JessLess]

Thanks for the tips. I would LOVE to live somewhere like Philly where restaurants have to post their nutritional info, but I don't and I don't really like chains. Fortunately, I only eat out 1-2x per week. Thanks, people!

[sontaikle]

Going to restaurants isn't necessarily counter-productive to weight loss. I go out every weekend and I did during my weight loss too. As long as you make smart choices it's really only bad for your wallet

In New York the chain restaurants have to post their info and I find if they don't you can request it.

Smaller restaurants or ones that aren't chain places don't have to post their info, so what I usually do is find a similar meal from a restaurant that does post their nutritional information and sort of estimate it that way (you can find all of this online)

If I really can't find the information I'll usually make the best choice possible and get something that I generally know the calorie count of. I also don't eat the entire meal and take half or more of it home

Then again I just can't eat as much anymore! I don't really have to worry about portioning out my meal because I get full on small amounts.

[anna ng]

Just FYI, a lot of restaurants' posted calorie counts are very inaccurate. 20% of those calorie counts are under the actual calories in the dish as served by 100 calories or more. Lower calorie items, such as salads and soups, are especially likely to be wrong. Whenever I eat out, I log 10-20% more calories than the menu tells me I've eaten, just to be sure.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._n_903861.html
http://articles.boston.com/2011-07-2...nd-menu-boards

[JessLess]

Originally Posted by anna ng

Just FYI, a lot of restaurants' posted calorie counts are very inaccurate. 20% of those calorie counts are under the actual calories in the dish as served by 100 calories or more. Lower calorie items, such as salads and soups, are especially likely to be wrong. Whenever I eat out, I log 10-20% more calories than the menu tells me I've eaten, just to be sure.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._n_903861.html
http://articles.boston.com/2011-07-2...nd-menu-boards

Thanks, good point.

[sontaikle]

Originally Posted by anna ng

Just FYI, a lot of restaurants' posted calorie counts are very inaccurate. 20% of those calorie counts are under the actual calories in the dish as served by 100 calories or more. Lower calorie items, such as salads and soups, are especially likely to be wrong. Whenever I eat out, I log 10-20% more calories than the menu tells me I've eaten, just to be sure.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._n_903861.html
http://articles.boston.com/2011-07-2...nd-menu-boards

This is why depending on the dish I'll usually add 100 calories or so to the count. If it's one of those low-calorie menu options I usually have more than enough room for any "extra" calories that would sneak in so I don't worry about it.