How I Use Calorie-Averaging for my Weight-Loss at Staten Island Restaurants (and How You Can Too!)
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Why Your Weight-Loss Feels Hard (It’s Not Your Fault)
As a society, our celebrations and marked occasions revolve around food. Good food. Whether it’s a happy event, or someone wants to show you love during a tough time, food is our Go-To.
Not just homemade food, where we know roughly what’s in the dish. Usually, we celebrate with special food that’s made by our local restaurants and catering companies.
This is a wonderful thing! Supporting local small businesses on Staten Island is a key part of loving our community.
But when you have a weight-loss goal, achieving a calorie deficit and making weight-loss happen is a question of whether you can manage your calorie intake. And restaurant foods are basically a black box. You never know for sure whether your estimated calories are too high, too low, or roughly in the ballpark.
Restaurants are a part of life; we’ve got to make them work WITH weight-loss.
This means that when we make a habit of eating what we BELIEVE are reasonable meals from restaurants, we’re usually consuming more than we would at home. This means we THINK we’re achieving a calorie-deficit, but the weight-loss doesn’t happen because we’re not actually doing so.
Plus, it feels hard to achieve a low calorie number when you have a restaurant dinner planned. It often seems like you have to UNDEREAT during the day, and eat less than you really want to at the restaurant. Therefore, having a social occasion coming up with a restaurant meal often means that people give up on their weight-loss goals altogether, or “skip the day” or “make it a cheat day.”
Nothing interrupts your Weight-Loss Momentum (and causes you to give up on your goal completely) like a “skipped day”!
Denino’s Pizza, anyone?
Why Staten Island Makes Weight-Loss Hard (But Not Impossible)
Simply put, we have too many high-quality restaurants. For pizza, we got Denino’s, Lee’s Tavern, Dough by Licastri, Joe & Pat’s, Campania, Brother’s, Pier 76, Pizzeria Giove, Round Pie, Ungaro, Nonna’s Pizza, …
And that’s just pizza!
Don’t forget our amazing Sri Lankan food (Lakruwana, anyone?), southern and soul food (Shawnae’s House!), our old staples (Basilio Inn), and we’re even getting some great Korean BBQ spots. And you know there’s a million more.
I Tackled This “Staten Island Restaurants + Weight-Loss” Problem
I lost 100 lbs in 2018 and 2019, and I’ve kept it off since then. And during these past years, I’ve visited restaurants weekly. (If you want to see more of this history, check out my instagram and give me a follow.)
Don’t get me wrong, I definitely reduced my weekly frequency of restaurant meals from Staten Island food spots, and I’ve increased my homemade dinners dramatically. These are some of the habit changes that helped me reach my lower and happier weight.
But I don’t say no to the social occasions that pop up in my life. I embrace them! And that usually involves Staten Island restaurant food.
I still hit my weight goals each week! Let me share more about the mechanism I use to achieve this.
Megan Gaul, Staten Island Native and Health Coach, who lost 100 lbs in 2018 and 2019.
Calorie-Averaging Is The Mechanism For Sociable Weight-Loss
When you have more calories to play with on a restaurant day, everything seems more possible. You are confident that you can have fun, enjoy the day, and still make progress on your weight-loss goal.
This means you plan out your fun foods, let off steam, have an awesome day, and continue your healthy habits the next day with no sweat off your back (and no unnecessary stress or guilt).
What helps you have more calories to play with? Averaging your calories across the week.
Calorie-Averaging Is Simple To Learn
If you have a Calorie Deficit number that you hit daily for your weight-loss, here’s how you can give yourself more calories on a restaurant day.
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Let’s say it’s Sunday, and you notice that your friend’s birthday is going to be celebrated at a restaurant next Saturday. And for the sake of argument, let’s say you have 1,900 calories as your Calorie Deficit Target.
1. First, multiply your Calorie Deficit target by 7. This is your Calorie-Deficit Target for the whole week.
1900 * 7 = 13,300 calories for the week
2. Then, give yourself a calorie goal for your restaurant day that feels doable. Many people can consume 2500 to 3000 calories during a restaurant meal without even paying attention, so planning ahead here is key.
Restaurant Day Target: 2,500 calories
3. Take the Restaurant-Day Calorie Total, and subtract it from your Calorie-Deficit Target for the whole week.
13,300 - 2,500 = 10,800 calories left for the week
4. Finally, evenly divide your leftover calories among the remaining 6 days.
10,800 / 6 = 1,800 calories allotted for Monday through Friday, and for Next Sunday
This will achieve your Calorie-Deficit Target for the whole week:
Monday: 1,800
Tuesday: 1,800
Wednesday: 1,800
Thursday: 1,800
Friday: 1,800
Saturday: 2,500
Sunday: 1,800
Total: 13,300 (same as 1,900 calories for 7 days)
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Quick Review: What Is the Difference Between Maintenance Calories and A Calorie-Deficit?
Maintenance Calories: The total number of calories that, if eaten consistently over a period of time, will result in remaining the same average weight.
For example, if you have an average of 2,400 calories daily over the course of 6 weeks, and your average weight stays the same during that time, your Maintenance Calories are 2,400.
A Calorie-Deficit: A period of time where you consume fewer calories, on average, than your maintenance calories and achieve weight-loss.
For example, if your Maintenance Calories are 2,400, and you have an average of 2,100 calories daily over the course of 6 weeks, your average weight will decrease and you will have achieved a Calorie-Deficit.
Waffles are shockingly easy to fit into a weight-loss journey.
Going to Oakwood Diner with my Weight-Loss Goal
1. I wanted to achieve a Calorie-Deficit Target of 1,500 calories. I had a restaurant day planned on Sunday (the last day of my week), where I was going to the Oakwood Diner for brunch with a friend.. I multiplied my Calorie-Deficit Target by 7.
1,500 * 7 = 10,500
2. I decided on a higher Restaurant Day Target.
1,850
3.I subtracted my Restaurant Day Target from my Calorie-Deficit Target for the Week.
10,500 - 1,850 = 8,650 calories left over
4. I evenly divided my calories by the 6 remaining days.
8,650 / 6 = 1,441 calories daily, rounded to 1,440)
This gave me a plan for my week:
Monday: 1,440
Tuesday: 1,440
Wednesday: 1,440
Thursday: 1,440
Friday: 1,440
Saturday: 1,440
Sunday: 1,850
Total: 10,500 (rounded up to the nearest 10, because calories aren’t THAT exact!)
This is the same as if I had had 1,500 calories for 7 days straight. Love it!
What I Had at the Oakwood Diner so that my Day was 1,850 calories
I enjoyed a delicious pumpkin spice waffle! I estimated this to be around 450 calories, given other chain restaurants with similar items.
I added 2 scrambled eggs on the side (180), 3 slices of turkey bacon (120), and I definitely added a pat or 2 of butter to my deliciously spiced waffle (45). Along with some good refills of black coffee, this was an amazing 795-calorie brunch.
For my afternoon snack, I enjoyed a protein bar and a few cherry plums (around 250 calories).
For dinner, I actually visited the Cheesecake Factory in Menlo, New Jersey (since we were out shopping). So I enjoyed a Skinnylicious Turkey & Avocado Sandwich for 560 calories. I didn’t feel the need to add bread, butter, cocktails, or dessert to this meal, since I had planned for my fun restaurant meal to be the Oakwood Diner. I treated my Cheesecake Factory dinner as just a “Normal Dinner Away From Home.”
And when I got home, I enjoyed one of my favorite light desserts: 2 rice cakes with around 1 ½ tbsp of peanut butter (chunky!). This was a great 220-calorie way to end my evening, and was much easier to fit into my day than a 1,900 calorie piece of cheesecake.
My total? About 1,825, which was 25 calories below my target. It was a super successful day.
I Made a Free Worksheet To Teach You How To Average Calories
I’ve created a free worksheet for you to learn this skill for yourself. Click the image below to enlarge, and feel free to print and share.
Here’s your free worksheet
Do you need help with this?
If you need a partner to guide you through the ups and downs of your weight-loss journey, including the calorie averaging strategy above, my 1-on-1 coaching program is for you.
Can’t wait to connect!