It is bound to happen.
You will either:
- Forget your meal(s) at home while rushing out the door
- Run out of food before you can go grocery shopping
- Just want some fast food
- Get caught at a relative’s place for the weekend with no scale
- Not feel like prepping that day (which is no excuse but it does happen)
You have a goal, don’t want to eat poorly, and you want to make the best choices and the best of your situation until you can properly prepare yourself again.
What do you do in this situation?
Well if you are going to eat out, plan ahead of time. Many of the corporate-style restaurants will have PDF nutrition charts on their main website. Hit Google, type in the place you are wanting to go eat, enter your nutrition in the tracking app you use, then eat around that.
As an example, here are menus from two very popular destinations; McDonald’s and TGIFridays.
If you wanted a burger from TGIFridays, just enter the macros manually in to the app. It will be preplanned and you can enjoy your meal without “feeling guilty”. This will not only keep you accountable, it will allow you to be flexible in your dieting and still hit your goal. If you end up going out later and it wasn’t preplanned, you can ask the host/hostess for the menu. They will have it.
If you find yourself at a ‘mom & pop’ place, your best bet is an estimation. For this, ask your server what’s the size of protein you are getting if it isn’t already labeled in the menu (ie: 80z Filet or 12oz T-Bone. If it’s chicken, ask the serving size). Save the calories by asking them to put the butter/dressing on the side. Then you can put everything in your app as an estimation (since really, fat loss is a game of very close approximations) and continue on with life.
“But what if I don’t want to eat that?”
Well, that is certainly your choice and hey, maybe you’re only away for a bit and what something that is going to hold you over when you get home.
What I recommend is hitting the local 7-11 or gas station and purchasing beef jerky, Greek yogurt, and a diet drink. Again, it’s not that these are you only choices, but if you are making wise ones, this is a route I personally would go.
Be Imperfectly Perfect
While you can do everything in your power to be perfect, it just won’t happen. This isn’t an excuse to not do what you need but sometimes estimations are off. My suggestions is to be prepared as best as possible for all situations and have go-to’s when necessary.
The major key to success is consistency so remain consistent and you will reap your rewards.