Tracking and eating out is a thing, guys! How are you planning to track your macros for your next special occasion?
Is it a wedding, a birthday, a work event?
When you begin tracking your macros, you are already making the huge commitment to weigh and diarise everything you consume. It's a promise you make with yourself that shows your dedication to your fitness goals. While competitive athletes may not have the flexibility to eat out often...
The Bod is about your lifestyle, not just 12 weeks. You CAN repeat The Bod for life, enjoy eating out, and transform your body at the same time. We want you to be able to eat out without guilt, but realise you also genuinely love the foods you eat day-to-day during the week. You can't avoid these inevitable events life throws at you (and you shouldn't). You can truly enjoy these moments without wavering too far from that
end goal.
So how do you go about tracking and eating out?
- The first thing to be aware of is that it will never be as accurate as eating at home.
You can visually make out the main ingredients of a meal, but you won't know the exact weight or what kind of things were added in the cooking process. Do your best to eyeball your food and track as accurately as you can.
For example: If you've ordered a steak, guesstimate how much it weighs - remembering that cooked food weighs less than raw. Try to find out what kind of cut of meat it is, and also take into consideration that it more than likely has been prepared in a lot of oil or butter.
- First check if the restaurant you're going to has an online menu
This is a great way to anticipate what you might order, and allow you to plan your breakfast/lunch/dinner around it. You might be going out for pasta, and therefore will choose to have more protein-rich foods throughout the day, with more carbs later
- Look out for the nutritional breakdowns online
Did you know that a lot of cafes and restaurants now include the macro breakdown of their meals on their website? Rather than trusting previous entries in MyFitnessPal, why not browse some online menus and create your own foods/recipes in your tracking app?
Remember that you aren't escaping a restrictive diet. You are simply going out with friends which is the reason why you technically can't track perfectly. It's not about the cheat, treat or reward aspect - it's about enjoying a social event without guilt aspect.
Tracking your macros is not designed to excuse bad eating, but allow for flexibility.
This is why tracking isn't always associated with being a 'diet' - it's a way of life that allows you to look a certain way without serious restriction or severe calorie deficits. Want to learn more about tracking macros and how our athletes have turned it into a way of life?
Refer to our cofounders Sophie Guidolin and Nathan Wallace YouTube video on tracking macros here. Still want to learn more? Take a look at our beginner's guide to macros
here, and how to stay on track during holiday season
here.
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