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This year, I've been trying to lose my Covid weight.
So far, I've been trying to avoid sugars and processed foods. I've also, haven't had a frozen dinner in almost ten months.
I'm having difficulty when I have to eat out, and especially with the holidays. I'm afraid I might regress. I have this habit of over eating and feeling sick later, so I've been testing out which proportions work for me. Instead of ordering mains, I order appetizers, light items like soup, and salads (but never together). Sometimes, I order from the kids menu. With this, I don't feel sick and perfectly fine, full, and satiated. I hate that sick full feeling, because it prevents me from having fun with my friends. Most of all, I hate leftovers. I hate carrying around, having to eat them for the sake of finishing food. In the end, it is just more beneficial for me health wise to order what I can finish.
Anyways, I have been getting weird stares from servers whenever I order an appetizer as a meal, and some of them push more food on me. I don't want to be perceived as cheap, but I also don't want to get sick from eating too much.
I need to ask does anyone order appetizers in place of a full meal? I think American food propertions are intentionally big.
I don't think this is a food issue, its more an issue of caring what others think.
You are paying for a service. You can order as much or as little as you like, for whatever suits your dietary needs and budget.
If a server pushes more food onto you, just say no thank you. If it continues to become an issue, you can leave and eat elsewhere or stay and never return.
You are 100% in control of this situation.
Cheesesticks and crab rangoon are better than entrees.
You are completely correct. Portion sizes in restaurants are obscenely large - often enough for 2 or 3 people. We shouldn't be eating that much food, so yes, you are quite right to be ordering entrees. I do it all the time. I'm paying for the service and the food, so I'll order whatever I damnwell please.
I just wanted to say that I think it makes complete sense what you are doing. If I think about it women have lower TDEE. But restsurant menu options are adapted to men and the male portion size.
As women we are expected to order and pay the same amount. Which is either financially unfair because we would more often not finish a part of the meal. Or it is a health disadvantage because we would tend to overeat relative to our caloric needs.
There should be woman menus with lower amounts of the same meals for a lower price relative to portion size.
So I would not feel bad in the slightest hun
I also often order sides. Especially going on dates I lost track of my own sense of fullness in the past. Really tackeled that this year and lost around 22 lbs, now at BMI 18.8 again which is natural for me.
Restuarant portion sizes are usually very large (esp. entrees) so they can justify charging a lot more, obviously, that's how they make money. Appetizors (esp. if you're getting multiple) is perfectly fine for one person's mean.
I know it's hard to shake the feeling of caring what others think but ultimately it's very freeing.
Best of luck in your health journey, queen!
I do this a lot, not just because of the huge portion sizes of many main dishes but also because I really like certain appetizers. Plus: as a vegetarian there usually aren't a lot of options for me when it comes to main dishes in most restaurants if I don't want to eat a salad or something with some kind of weird meat replacement (for me that includes things like tofu... never liked it). I've even been to restaurants where the only warm vegetarian main course was on the kid's menu and the server tried to tell me I wasn't allowed to order from the kid's menu because I wasn't a kid (I'm 100% convinced that they just wanted me to order something more expensive). If you don't offer a decent vegetarian alternative on the "adult" menu, that's your own damn fault. That was the last time I went there.
I prefer order a selection of one, two or three (depends on the size) antipasti, tapas, a small soup and dips with bread etc. I can actually eat and enjoy to a usually lackluster vegetarian main course any day.
As long as you're not avoiding food choices due to fear or an eating disorder, don't worry about it. I would avoid restaurants in general just because they aren't usually sanitary, and would instead just go when and where you get your favorite dishes.
Appetizers are entre sizes anyways?