Help - eating out for wedding anniversary?

Hi all!

It's my first wedding anniversary next Monday and my best friend has very kindly offered to babysit my children tomorrow night so we can go out and enjoy ourselves tomorrow.

I know I can make 'healthy' choices at the restaurant and not drink alcohol but it's our 1st wedding anniv and I'd like to let my hair down and not worry about what I'm eating and how many calories there are in it! I'd also like a couple of drinks, maybe!

Anyhoo.... I was wondering what you do when you know you're going to go out? Do you eat light during the day or do you eat normally in the day then not bother counting the evening meal? I used to try and not eat if I knew I was going out ('saving myself' for the evening) but I can't do that any more!! And if you do try and guesstimate how many calories etc, how do you record it - you don't always know what's in everything or the portion sizes (though that should be less of a problem for me because I don't seem to eat as much as before!)

And what about the day after, do you eat light/restrict/eat normally the following day?

Thanks in advance!

Congrats on your anniversary!!! You should enjoy yourself, get what you like just watch your portions. And if you want a couple drinks have them!! It's once a year!! And the next day your right back on your plan.

I'd just call it a cheat day, eat what I wanted while still putting SOME thought into my choices, and then go back to normal like nothing ever happened the next day!

Of course, I've started having cheat days twice a week, but that's ME.   XD

For me it would depend on where I was going.  If it were a steak place I am very happy with a grilled tilapia and steamed veggies with a salad (balsamic vinger instead of dressing) or even ordering a petite filet and that wouldn't even be a cheat!  If I do italian, forget it, I would eat sensible during the day and order what I really wanted at night (stuffed shells, 5 cheese ziti, and an appetizer too).  If I was close to my goal I would go to the steak place, if I had a ways to go I would go italian and I would get wine at either and would skip desert at both (maybe just a bite of hubby's).  Good luck.

If you're craving a night to "let your hair down" I say do it.  I would recommend eating somewhat normally during the day, maybe having a slightly lighter lunch, but definately eat during the day. 

When I splurge I still record all of my calories, even if I'm estimating.  If the restaurant that I'm going to doesn't offer nutritional information on their website, I try to find a similar restaurant that does.  If that fails, then I try to estimate ingredients and portions as best as I can.  Since I don't have these kind of meals every day, I don't worry if I'm a little off in my estimates. 

As far as the next day goes, just get back on track.  I wouldn't try to overcompensate or anything like that.  Luckily, I've found that most of my splurges have put me at maintenance calories for that day, so I just consider it a wash.  I didn't lose, I didn't gain, now I can move on. 

Congratulations & Enjoy!

Happy anniversary! I go out to eat all the time lately it seems, and when I'm paying that much for a meal, I choose to eat what I want to eat, not what seems healthiest on the menu. On those days, I make sure I eat breakfast, a somewhat light lunch, skip the snacks, then eat about half (or more) of whatever I want for dinner. I always estimate everything, and I like to think I have a good idea of what a cup or an ounce looks like. And I always assume that the restaurants cook with fat. I'll usually have a total of calories so far up to dinner, so I know about how many I can have for dinner (including drinks and dessert :p) I try to skip the breads and salads if I'm estimating dinner to be high. And if I didn't factor in dessert but ended up getting it anyway, I plan a workout for a few hours after dinner.

I hope you enjoy yourself. Like I said, I eat out a lot, at least once a week but more often 3 times a week (I really do like fine dining...) I assume I must be estimating pretty well, erring on the side of more than less, because it hasn't really affected my weight loss from what I can see.

Thanks veyr much for all of your replies!!! We went out last night and had a LOVELY time

I ended up having the same breakfast as usual, then had 2 eggs scrambled & 2 slices of toast for lunch because I know that fills me up for a long time. I had a small snack at 4.30pm so I avoided being so hungry that I grab just anything,knowing that we probably weren't going to get toeat before 9pm or so.

So, we went to an Indian restaurant and I had vegetable samosa to start accompanies by a whomeal cheese naan (yum - hardly ever have this, last time was over 2 years ago so I couldn't resist). Then as a main meal I had fragrant basmati rice and curried lentils and it was absolutely delicious!

I wouldn't know how to estimate how much all of that was - I don't even know what was in some of it, asides the obvious. I didn't eat all of the main meal though as I was too full. It's good because the portions in the restaurant don't look like they'd be very filling but they are! I left maybe just under a quarter, and had no dessert.

I also drank 2 beers before leaving, 2 indian beers at the restaurant plus their appetizer (small glass of white wine with rose flavoured stuff in it) and a malibu and pineapple then I couldn't swallow another thing. Haven't drunk alcohol for 2 months so it was nice for this occasion but I realised that I don't miss drinking!

This morning I stepped on the scales and my weight had jumped up by 3lbs, lol!!! I'm not worried though as beer tends to make me bloat big time, and sometimes for a couple of days. Not only that but my period is about to put in an appearance so that accounts for a lot!

All in all a fabulous meal and evening with my hubby and absolutely no guilt or worry about the effect of a big meal like that will have on my weight - I know it's not real fat and I know I can lose it again

Thanks all xx