Can I have a cheat meal?
There isn’t a need for a cheat meal, and a flexible dieting practice instead facilitates a more balanced approach, we aim to move away from the mindset of a 'cheat meal'. If you want your favourite take-out or dine-out meal, instead, you can track this into your overall intake for the day so that you are still keeping sight of your goals but allowing yourself to enjoy the meal you want.
How do I track a dine-out meal?
There are a few ways to track a takeout or dine-out meal depending on the level of detail available.
For items that we have in our database (such as McDonald’s, KFC, Subway etc.), you can accurately track each item individually based on the menu. For example:
1 x McDonald’s Cheeseburger
1 x Small Fries
1 x Sweet ‘N’ Sour Sauce
Because these restaurants provide full nutritional information, this is the most accurate way to track your meal.
To make tracking even faster and more intuitive, you can now use the in-app scanning features:
Meal Scan (for plated meals or takeout food)
You can upload a photo of the meal you’re eating to help estimate calories and macros. To use it:
Go into tracking as if you’re searching for an ingredient
Underneath the search bar, tap the ‘Meal Scan’ icon
Upload a photo of your meal
The app will help break down and estimate the nutritional content to support more accurate tracking
Menu Scan (for dining out decisions before you order)
You can also scan a menu to help you make smarter choices before you even order. To use it:
Go to the ‘Today’ tab in your app
Under your meal plan, look for the ‘Dining out?’ prompt
Click into this and upload a photo of the menu
You’ll receive smart suggestions on what to order, along with easier tracking options to reduce guesswork
These tools are designed to reduce stress, improve accuracy, and make dining out much more manageable while staying on track.
For meals where you’re unsure of the exact ingredients or quantities, you can guesstimate by breaking the meal down into components. For example, a beef burger could be tracked as:
1 x Burger bun
150g x beef mince (full fat)
1 x cheese slice (full fat)
20g lettuce
20g tomato
20g onion
20g sauce (full fat)
You’re essentially tracking everything that makes up the meal, even if it’s estimated.
A steak and chips meal could be tracked as:
300g steak (type of cut)
1 x regular hot chips
10g olive oil (used for cooking)
1 x side salad
100mL pub-style gravy
Always aim to be generous with portions and calories when estimating to ensure accuracy over time.
If neither scanning nor estimating works for the meal, you can simply use a calorie allowance entry. There is a ‘Calorie Allowance’ option in the database for these situations. This allows you to stay flexible without over-restricting. Leaving 1000 calories is quite generous, but anywhere from about 800 is advised on the day of your dining out experience.
Next, you want to ensure that the remaining calories throughout your day are high in protein, high volume and fibre for satiety and micronutrients but are also low in calories so that you can maximise your bang for your calorie buck. Hitting within 30g of your protein target and over 20g in fibre is ideal. For example, if the event is a dinner, you could opt for:
Breakfast = egg white omelette loaded with veggies.
Lunch = Chicken or Tuna salad with lots of low-calorie veggies.
Snacks = protein bars, protein smoothies, fruit, high protein yoghurt or vegetable sticks.
What if I want to have alcohol?
This is more than fine; you just need to track the alcohol either on top of your dine-out meal or in your day if you're not dining out as well. We suggest opting for lower-calorie beverages such as:
Vodka Soda/Diet Drink = 69 calories each.
Champagne = 88 calories per glass.
Red/White wine = 128 calories per glass.
Corona Light Beer = 99 calories per bottle.
The rules still apply in terms of hitting your calories/macros if including alcohol too.
What's the best option to choose when dining out?
We'd always suggest lean meat with a side of veggies. Try to avoid anything too deep fried, breaded or crumbed, or creamy - as these can really increase the calorie content of the meal.
Top tips for dining out
Our tops tips:
Order simple; the less ingredient, the easier to track: Steak & Chips, Eggs on Toast.
Track via the app - will ensure accuracy.
Pre-plan your day - ensure you’re hitting fibre and protein requirements, most importantly.
Leave ample calories - dine-out meals tend to be high in calories, so ensure you are leaving around 800-1000 calories.
Ask for dressings on the side.
If having alcohol, think smart - vodka soda, champagne, wine etc
Go to places that have the nutritional information in our app, e.g. Grill’d, Subway, Sumo Salad, Sushi Train etc
Have a read of our blogs on dining out: