When you cook at home, the ingredients and their amounts are entirely under your control. When dining out, however, you’re usually not so lucky, and you may need to make an extra effort to keep track of what you eat. Remember, you don’t have to record every tiny detail on your plate to track your food intake. If you’re trying to lose weight, start with the most significant calorie sources; if you’re trying to increase your muscle mass, focus on protein sources. Here are three methods you can use at a restaurant:

1. 1.Trust the estimation skills you improved while weighing your portions at home.
2. 2.Check the restaurant’s online menu if available.
3. 3.Ask your server.

As a fourth method, consider bringing a scale with you. Trust us, we tried it, but our confidence didn’t quite hold up to weighing Doner in the middle of a kebab house! We’ve mentioned portion estimation exercises before. You can improve your intuition about portion sizes by guessing the weight of your food before weighing it at home. This intuition will be helpful when dining out. Day by day, we’re seeing more and more menus providing information on portion sizes. For example, Tatar Salim’s menu states that a serving of döner is 110 grams. Hopefully, this practice will spread to more restaurants over time. If you can’t find the information you need on the online menu, another option is to ask your server. For example, you could ask how many grams of meat are on your plate. If your server doesn’t know, you can ask them to check with the chef. However, be cautious of the potential for incorrect information. I tracked General Tso’s chicken from Chinese Sushi Express as 150 grams for a long time until I learned that a portion was 300 grams when we ordered it for home delivery! Try to verify the information you acquire as much as possible by comparing it with other sources. Some days or meals might be where tracking what you eat becomes very difficult. During a long brunch, you might forget how much cheese you ate or not want to think about what you ate while traveling. Just try to make the best decisions you can, go with the flow, and enjoy it. Whether you’re trying to lose or gain weight, the primary goal of food tracking is to ensure that you are healthy and well. It is entirely possible to find well-being in a piece of quince jam spread on clotted cream during a Sunday breakfast.