Dissecting your calories, especially when you eat out

So, I seem to find myself in restaurants more than I want to here lately. I have a pretty busy social life, that includes work functions and Realtor functions... I always try to make the best possible choice, avoiding the carbs that come with a lot of meals for the most part... thing is, if I'm going to get more compliant with using MFP, then I need to add these meals as accurately as possible.

So, for example... you go out to eat and the menu item is, let's say (grilled) fish tacos from your local place. If you look up the nutritional information online for that restaurant, you can sometimes find the totals for the entire plate - corn tortillas, sauces, etc - all lumped into one total. You can't dissect the order nutritionally to get to what you actually ate.

How do you handle this challenge?

I went into MFP and picked the fish, approximated the amount I ate, but what about any sauce/marinade/lettuce/tomatoes/cheese/ mayo/ etc that comes with it that you consume? 

How do you try to get as accurate as possible on your nutrition count?

Looking forward to hearing what you do!

I have that issue as well.  I order fish tacos a lot (and just eat the innards), so I count the fish and try to guesstimate on whatever sauce is on it.  You're right that restaurants that list calories give it on the whole meal, and I don't eat the tortillas and a lot of the extra stuff.  I figure whatever I come up with is at least in the ballpark.   Although I know "ballpark" is fine if you're only going out a couple of times a month - it can be more problematic if you're going out all the time.  But what else can you do?  I do try to overestimate just in case - I'd rather overestimate on my calories than underestimate.

Early on, I liked Wendy's. It was the one place that listed everything separately. It gave me numbers for burger, bun, chicken, cheese, condiments, etc all separarely. It really helped break things down, if I wanted just grilled chicken or a burger patty without everything else.

You know, I really don't like fast food OR chain restaurants much at all... but I gotta give it to Wendy's for breaking stuff down like that! With today's technology, it wouldn't be that hard for a lot more places to follow suit.

Most choices at most chains are horrible. Applebees has 3 different salads that are 1500 calories! But everyone has good choices as well. Wendy's grilled chicken, by itself, has 27 grams of protein, 0 carbs, and 130 calories. You can't beat those numbers anywhere.

Don't make me fall in love with Wendy's! I won't do it! Hahaha!

The 3-4 times that I've eaten any kind of fast food since surgery (and probably for quite some time before) was Chick Fila grilled nuggets, and the bean and beef burrito at Taco Bell (sans the tortilla)... (Pizza doesn't count as fast food, right? I mean we've had pizza at the house twice since surgery, but one was from a local place, and the other day our house guests bought Papa Murphy's and we cooked it at home. Both times I just ate the toppings)

I got all weird about all of the 'chain' stores in general taking over all of our shopping habits, that I truly try to eat/shop/buy at as many local places as I can. Our house guests came home the other day with this industrial sized bottle of honey they bought at SAMS... I told my hubby I wasn't having that in the house... I buy all of our honey from a lady here in our hometown! Not that I eat it. I don't even like honey! LOL

But if I am out, not prepared, in need of a quick meal, I just might go to Wendy's! 

Be careful. Wendy is kind of a harlot. I used to think she loved me. But she just wanted my money.

Pam,

with some places, you can put in like: chicken fajitas, no tortillas, and it will subtract those for you. It probably just depends upon what it is. I don't nickel and dime myself on what I consider "cheap" sauces, etc--but if it's creamy or cheesy or seems like it's calorie laden, it probably is!

I try to enter everything as accurately as I can. But as you've discovered, restaurants can be a challenge. 

Though MFP keeps track of everything, the only thing I really care about is calories. I eat mostly protein, low carb, and don't care about fat. Calories are king.

Also, I eat simply. I use no sauces, dressings, or add ons of any kind, except salt. Pretty much just meat, with maybe a few fries, sometimes part of a bun on a burger. That all makes logging simpler. I've logged enough meals that I weigh accurately at home that I can estimate fairly well on the road. And I always try to estimate high. It's too easy for our brains to trick us into thinking something is 4 ounces, when it's actually 6. I always log high when I don't use a scale.

Dissecting is a good way to think about this. When I was a participant in HMR's protein shake program, they trained us on calorie and nutrition anchoring.  Things like ranges on simple carbs start with soft carbs at 70 to 80 calories per ounce. Hard carbs are 110 calories per ounce.  Fats range up to 200 cals per ounce. So was the carb baked or fried. Or chocolate is a mix of fats and cards or about 140 cals per ounce.  Proteins range from 25 cals to around 100 per ounce (shrimp to meat).  So the anchor moves depending on what's in the item. You could then estimate the mix of macros.  I can do it in my sleep now. It's kind of empowering.  Just my 2 cents. Hope it helps.