Social situations and eating out can be tough, but we hope to give you some tips to make it a little easier! Do any of these scenarios sound familiar to you? Your favorite restaurant doesn't have any nutrition information, your friend offered to cook you dinner and you feel uncomfortable asking what is being prepared, your significant other is planning a night out but wants to keep the location a surprise. Social events and eating out are inevitable, hopefully the tips below will help you to pre-plan and prepare.
Eating out at a restaurant
First, research the restaurant and see if any nutrition information is listed. If the restaurant is not in the Macrostax database, try looking up the restaurant online to see if nutrition information is listed. If you do find nutrition information, you can create a Custom Food and add that item to your Planner.
If nutrition information is not listed, guesstimating is better than nothing! Within the app, search for a generic item that is close to what you plan to order. Start by logging your restaurant meal first, then build your day around that. Restaurants tend to use a lot of oil, which uses up a lot of fat macros. To compensate for this, try to fill the rest of your day with lean meats, fruits and veggies while still hitting those green thumbs.
Social event where you are unable to plan what is being served
Have you been invited to a friend, colleague or family member's house but you don't feel comfortable asking what is being served? Here are some tips for staying on track!
Log a "placeholder" meal. Usually meals prepared by others will be higher in fat and lower in protein. For example, if you like burgers and fries, put that meal in as your "placeholder." Build the rest of your day around that meal. Once you get to the event and have a better idea of what is being served, you can delete your placeholder meal and input what you will be having. After the event if you have a few gaps to fill in, you can eat something at home to hit those targets!
Focus on lower fat, higher fat protein foods in the morning or prior to your social event. A couple great examples of lean proteins include: deli turkey, shrimp, canned tuna (in water), collagen peptides and protein powder.
Fill up on fruits and veggies prior to the event. This will help to make sure you are still eating carbs throughout the day but keeping the carb count low enough you can enjoy some carbs at your social event.
If you like to enjoy some adult beverages while you are out, make sure to log them in your Planner ahead of time. It's always easier to delete than add later. If you need help with tracking your alcohol correctly, check out this video.
Weekend Tracking
For many, tracking on the weekends can be tough - social events, lack of structure and kids' sports can all get in the way. Some people prefer to have one day a week off for a mental break from tracking. This works for some people, but for most people not tracking on the weekend can hinder progress. Same as with social events, planning for "the worst" is better than trying to adjust to fit things in - or blowing the whole day instead. If you know you like to go out on the weekend, put that placeholder meal in! If you know you like to have a few adult beverages on the weekend, plan those out ahead of time.
Remember: one meal won't hinder your progress. It's better to blow it on one meal, enter it and move on, than to throw the whole day out the window!