What on earth to eat at a restaurant when calorie counting?

[HeadingForHome]

I don't eat out often but I'm going out for lunch this weekend and going out for an Indian curry in a few weeks. Looking at the menu there's no salads available, which would be my first choice. The lunch place is pizzas, sandwiches, burgers etc.

Any tips? I'm fairly new to calorie counting so any shortcuts to work out lower calorie choices would be welcome.

Look carefully at the menu & particularly any variations. For the burger place I’d probably look for something like a burger, no bun & a side salad? Plus or minus chips if you can make the calories back elsewhere. Drink water.
Indian I forget where now, but there is info about Indian food & calorie counting out there. In other restaurants I would order starters only, not mains. Or I would as I say, either have a day off for that day or make the calories up elsewhere with very light breakfast & lunch.

For Indian I would order tandoori chicken or Dahl with raita. Stay away from the breads and rice.
The lunch place might do a salad if you ask as they will have lettuce, tomato etc for the burgers. Sone places will do a burger without the bun ie extra lettuce. I’d probably get that

Kebab starter and Tandoori main course. Both usually come with a side salad anyway.

I’ve been calorie counting but had lots of visitors last weekend. My calories went way over so I ended up not losing any weight but just maintained for the week. TBH I’m ok with that.
For a curry, aim for one without sauce, and have fish or chicken. That will make a huge difference. And only have a bit of rice. Maybe a veg curry side dish and leave most of the sauce, rather than having fried accompaniments?

For the burger place, leave a bit of the bread, go for fish or chicken if you can. But just try to make it up on other days. If calorie counting means you can never go out, you’ll give up soon enough.

Thanks, that's all super helpful! I'll have a closer look and see what I can do. And I can easily have fruit for breakfast and salad for lunch on the day I'm going to the Indian to leave a bit of wiggle room.

Chicken burger with no bun and swap the fries for something healthier?
With Indian I also went for chicken tikka which is still really nice

For the Indian I’d avoid any sauces I’d possible, as they will be either creamy and nutty or oily. (In actual fact I’d avoid the diet and eat the sauces, but that’s why I’m 15 stone ). You could have chicken tikka, rice, salad and maybe some raita to add a bit of creaminess without the richness of a curry sauce. Or just accept that a full on delicious meal will be your entire calorie allowance for the day and enjoy it.

Half a thincrust veggie pizza with a friend plus a side salad is usually OK - it's the fatty meat/thick dough/large portion size that pushes pizza over the edge. A burger with no bun is good too.

Indian I'd go with grills - lean meat or fish or veg. Tandoori stuff often comes with a separate sauce - a few spoons of that is OK, it's just eating the whole portion that's an issue. Or drizzle with the yogurt sauce.

And also, reduce elsewhere and enjoy yourself!

I would have chicken tikka with either Bombay potatoes or Dahl

Chicken tikka usually comes with salad, ask for extra. Avoid pilau and dhal. There's often a lot of ghee in dhal.

The pizza place, go for a thin crust, veggie too, you can ask for no cheese.

BUT that's really dull, it's only twice over a couple of weeks, I wouldn't go mad but at least have something you enjoy. Do some extra exercise or have a very strict day after.

Daal, plain rice and side salad, or chicken tikka/tandoori chicken. Avoid deep fried starters like samosas, onion bhajis, pakora, etc.

@HeadingForHome - if you use the My Fitness Pal app, it gives calorie counts for literally thousands of dishes, including restaurant and takeaway type food. It obviously wouldn't be exact, because it wouldn't know the precise recipe your restaurant would use, but it would give you a general idea of the calorie count of the various dishes, and that might help you make your choice.

In an Indian restaurant you'll be better off if everyone is sharing a selection of dishes because you then just help yourself to small portions of a couple of them. But generally when I have been trying to lose weight I just order what I want and don't eat it all. Most importantly I accept that it doesn't really matter if I eat loads of calorific food on one day because I have every other day to eat less and eat healthily. If I'm going to a restaurant I might as well enjoy it.

Avoid the naan at all costs! Go for a vegetable curry in a tomato based sauce, with plain rice.

Sandwiches/burger - avoid options with cheese and mayo. Plain meat/fish/salad choices are best. Another option would be to take the burger out of its bun.

Burger without the bun? A starter portion? Save some calories from the rest of the day?

I like a chicken shaslick at an Indian, its like barbecued spicy chicken with pepper and onion and you probably wouldn't need a side with it. Either that or prawns cooked in a tomato based sauce. Always eat light at other meals!

And lots of burger places will do wraps, some of which will be lower calories

I highly reccommend the Nutracheck app as it has a whole section on eating out which includes tons of well kinow chain restaurants etc. as well as a taekaway section covering indian, chip shop, chinese etc.

It's also great for calorie counting in general as it is really user friendly and has most items in there, accurately

Whenever I eat out when dieting I just order what I want and enjoy it. I make up for it by skipping breakfast and just having an enormous salad with cold meat or prawns for lunch.

Brilliant thanks everyone. Great ideas. I've made really good progress so far and have a wedding I'm going to at the end of March so trying to stay on the straight and narrow until then. After that will relax a bit!

@HeadingForHome

I don't eat out often but I'm going out for lunch this weekend and going out for an Indian curry in a few weeks. Looking at the menu there's no salads available, which would be my first choice. The lunch place is pizzas, sandwiches, burgers etc.

Any tips? I'm fairly new to calorie counting so any shortcuts to work out lower calorie choices would be welcome.

Open burger, sauce on the side, served with lots of salad or a baked potato instead of chips. Beef is your best bet but if you can’t eat it then focus on non-fried options - eg grilled chicken, veg, grilled halloumi etc.

@katienana

I like a chicken shaslick at an Indian, its like barbecued spicy chicken with pepper and onion and you probably wouldn't need a side with it. Either that or prawns cooked in a tomato based sauce. Always eat light at other meals!

Paneer shashlik can be lower in calories - a lot of restaurants design it for Indian kids so there isn’t a lot of spice and often make the paneer themselves - and less spice / home made means less fat.

I'd order what you like but just eat a small amount. Also, one big meal won't derail everything unless you will struggle to get back on it the next day.

Tuna, sweetcorn and 2 litres of Diet Pepsi!

I try to just eat meat, vegetables and if I eat a carb, plain boiled rice or jacket potato as chips are often fried and mash has butter in it. If it was something in a sauce I would just not have a creamy sauce. And no bread.