Is eating out on SW relatively impossible?

morshield

Member
I had Wagamama last night. I didn't have my book with me so I hazarded a guess as to what would be relatively low syn wise. I picked chilli chicken men with wholewheat noodles. I came home to discover that it was 20 odd syns. Jaysis ******!!! :D

I love SW. I think it's a brilliant plan. But would I be right in saying that it's proper hard to eat out on it??!!
 
I eat out quite a. It and don't find it hard, but have to be honest have never been to wagammama since starting sw. I think sometimes it's about trying to choose the best option rather than counting the syns what would you have had there if you weren't on sw and how many syns would that off been? Sometimes you have to ask them to slightly modify things like no butter on veg, and for thing to come with potatoes not chips.
 
I think it's quite difficult to eat out too- especially in the early days! I never know whether to attempt to stick on plan and pick very carefully (made twice as difficult because I only eat vegetarian when out so already limited) or whether to have a cheat meal and get what I want.
So far I've tried to stick to plan, but agree it's hard!
Rosie x
 
You can't eat where you used to, or what you used to have off a menu I agree. Brewers fayre is a particular no-no as I found out!! But I don't actually find it that difficult to eat out, you just have to go to the right places!! Nando's for example is 5.5 syns for 1/2 chicken, salad and corn on cob. Harvester and anywhere where you know you can chose your sides ie salad, new potatoes, jacket etc tend to be the better places to eat out on SW.
 
Well you see, this is where I got caught out. Considering the amount of horrendous options out there, I thought Wagamama would be a relatively safe bet. And it was because of all the free stuff in the dish. I even swapped soba noodles for wholewheat, thinking I was being really good.

I'm going out tonight for a friend's benefit night. It will be a late one. I can't stand spirits so i'll be drinking bottled beer and pacing myself. But I feel like I can't eat any syns today now to compensate. It's a bit of a bummer. And this is my first week so I REALLY wanna see a loss. :(
 
You can eat out most places, some cuisines are healthier than others of course and typically starters are the main thing to enjoy as they tend be the most syn heavy.

I would advise looking up the menu in advance so you can see what options are SW friendly then when you get there you're not guessing and remeber most places allow substituions of sides, Jacket potato for chips, for example
 
I met with a friend last night and had already had a healthy dinner at home in the day so I decided to look for a healthy options of the bar menu for tea.

OMG is all I can say!!!. Almost every single item on the very long menu was either creamy, crispy, deep fried etc. I was so angry when I ordered what I thought was the healthiest option...... open grilled spicy chicken marie rose sandwich on soda bread to find that they had buttered all the slices of bread!!. I had specifically asked for the sauce on the side, no dressing on the salad and then they butter all the bloody soda bread. I never take butter at all and I had to eat who know how many syns and not even enjoy it!!

Why is it such a chore to ask for food cooked with no oil/butter, no dressing etc?. It really does seem next to impossible to get real healthy food eating out as you don't even know what they are really using in the kitchen to cook/season your meal, so it can also be very deceptive!
 
Worried about this for tomorrow, going out with my mother in law and don't know where I'm going, hopefully I can ask her later and have a look at the menu. I just don't want to ruin my weight loss or start up cravings for fatty food again after doing so well in my first week! I'm thinking something like a jacket potato with beans no cheese (you know they will put way too much on) or butter is perfect for green days or pasta with a tomato based sauce. That's what I'm aiming for with a side salad
 
Sounds like a good plan. I was the same as you last night. I didn't know i'd end up in Wagamama and there wasn't much else around. Grr. It's annoying when your intention is good but the food on offer isn't.
 
The teriyaki salmon us about 14 syns in wagamama, things like the prawns in tomato and chilli sauce at Prezzo are quite light but beware the 'light' pizzas - they're about 25 syns each!!
 
I have to admit, eating out is the one thing I find very difficult on this. I actually didn't go out at all (apart from one evening when I drunk mineral water) for the first 5 weeks as I knew it would be difficult. I went out to lunch on Sunday and everything was either in sauce, lots of them creamy, or fried. (Which I guess is going to be the case in a fish restaurant). And if you have a non-cream sauce they could have used a load of oil, or more likely butter to cook stuff in, and you don't know what's been used to give a sauce thickness and texture. I guess I could have asked for a piece of grilled fish with a few veg or salad but not having been out for so long I actually wanted to enjoy what I was eating!

I think it may be a case of cutting down on the syns before & after - no point in going out and paying for a meal when you have to worry about every morsel that goes in your mouth.
 
I find it really easy to eat out on SW. I was at Frankie and Bennys last saturday with my daughter and her friends for her birthday. I had Spaghetti Oceana off their lighter bites menu - it was delicious and after looking at SW website I think it was free!! I obviously had to resist the garlic bread pizza that the girls were tucking in to but that was a choice I made as I knew I'd regret it.

Also what you have to remember is its one meal out of 21 in a week - ok so you may go over with it but it doesnt mean the week has to be wrecked unless you let it
 
Yeah, very true. I just feel bad when I go over syns though. I was banking on tonight being my cheat night as i'll be having a few drinks. I feel like i'm being really bold now cos of wagamama last night too. My only saving grace is that I only ate half of my dinner. So I divided the syn value by 2. In essence, I didn't go over my syns. I like to keep my syns low though. Ah, we'l find out on Monday at weigh-in. You have to live as well.
 
Yeah, very true. I just feel bad when I go over syns though. I was banking on tonight being my cheat night as i'll be having a few drinks. I feel like i'm being really bold now cos of wagamama last night too. My only saving grace is that I only ate half of my dinner. So I divided the syn value by 2. In essence, I didn't go over my syns. I like to keep my syns low though. Ah, we'l find out on Monday at weigh-in. You have to live as well.

Remember that weight loss takes time and you're changing your lifestyle, you can't go your whole life without eating out, call it a nice night, draw a line under it and start again, the best thing is that even though it was 20 Syns, you consciously tried to make the right decision - that in itself is a HUGE achievement! Drink plenty of water, flush out any excess salt etc and you'll be fine. You're doing well, don't be so hard on yourself.
X
 
Thank you. I have to say, this is the loveliest forum I have ever been on. You are all so supportive and inspiring. It would be so much more difficult to do this journey without you lot. :) xx
 
Thank you. I have to say, this is the loveliest forum I have ever been on. You are all so supportive and inspiring. It would be so much more difficult to do this journey without you lot. :) xx

I think we all know what it's like to feel endlessly guilty about tripping up, or to punish ourselves unnecessarily! Good luck with your journey, I hope you enjoy it as well as meeting your goals :)
X
 
I'm finding it really tough eating out atm.. Even in Italians, a plain tomato sauce will contain oil...

Where I live, there is so much going on surrounding food.. i'm going for a bbq tonight and kept my hex B so I could have a wholemeal bun with some steak instead of a burger as there will be no fat in it...

I feel like you can't even have a few drinks :(

Sent from my U1 using MiniMins.com mobile app
 
I also find it hard to eat out, I try taking lunch with me when I go to Uni to avoid having to get something because in town the streets are lined with sandwich shops (ready made, mega sized buns with tons of dressing) takeaways and in the centre there is 2 Greggs, a pound bakery and Mcdonalds :(
 
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