Poll of the Day > Appropriate amount of dining out

(+) Yeah! (+)

How often should someone go out to eat, within reason?
I always grew up with it being a treat and strongly agree with that.
When it comes to health, I know it's better to cook at home.

I've always figured maybe once a month is okay and not more than once a week, especially if it's full meals.
Fast food should be a final option when you need something quick but not good. Seems like maybe advertising is convincing people it is acceptable to have fast food often.

When I talk to others, especially in the 20 year old age group, some say up to twice a week seems okay. These are generally impulsive people who are highly influenced by others.

Thoughts? Is the trend of having someone else cook for you, once your parents stop, going in the right direction? This is mainly about fast food, but I'm including chain restaurants as well.

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pedro45 posted...

How often should someone go out to eat

As much as you want as long as it's within your budget

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When do you consider health?

The stories I hear constantly, and working around food myself, I know most people don't put love into it; it's a job. If they can get away with serving that last piece of meat they wouldn't eat themselves, then it's good for the business.
If they accidentally serve something old and get away with it, then that's good for the business.
If it drops on the floor for a second, and no one cares, they'll serve it instead of toss it.

Relying on someone else to feed you, especially when all they want is profits, sounds very unwise and unhealthy.

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pedro45 posted...

When do you consider health?

There's a lot more than just McDonald's out there. Not all dining out options are bad for you. So...

Far-Queue posted...

As much as you want as long as it's within your budget

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As often as they want

Some people are happier just eating at home and thats ok, some people want to eat restaurant food every night. Different strokes for different folks.

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As with anything, being absolute about it isn't wise. Some restaurants are gross, but you can generally tell which those are. Many restaurant items are unhealthy, but you can go/order whatever you like (even though the healthy stuff is likely more expensive).

I don't see anything wrong with twice per week. (Or more, if the budget allows and you develop the ability to cook on your own at some point)

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Far-Queue posted...

As much as you want as long as it's within your budget

Was going to say, "How much money do you have, and how much are you willing to spend?"

If you're financially secure with a lot of disposable income, and enjoy having meals out, there's not a ton of harm in it if you feel like it makes your life better than the alternative.

On the other hand, if your budget is tighter or there's a lot of other things you'd rather be spending money on, it might makes sense to scale your meal budget back a bit.

There's no real one "RIGHT ANSWER" or optimal amount of times to eat out in a given time period. It's going to be different for everyone based on their own circumstances.



pedro45 posted...

When it comes to health, I know it's better to cook at home.

Depends on where you're eating out, and your habits at home.

If you hate cooking, so all you're really making at home is frozen or prepackaged foods and other garbage meals, at that point eating at home isn't necessarily healthier than eating out... especially if you're willing to go to actual restaurants or places with relatively balanced food (as opposed to just grabbing pizza or fast food).

If you're willing to cook (and are somewhat good at it), then yes, home meals can be both much cheaper and much healthier than almost anything you're going to be able to find elsewhere, but if your entire diet consists of buying frozen chicken fingers, pizza rolls, mac & cheese in a box, and microwavable hamburger patties, you're really not doing yourself any favors.
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PO spelled out exactly what I was thinking with my initial posts but I was too dumb to elaborate

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I like to eat out just under once a week.

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yesterday I was making dinner and I just felt like I was done with it. I'm not doing this again. I am busy as fuck these days and I don't want to spend 2 hours+ in a night going to the store, cooking food, doing the dishes. Just to save like 10 dollars. it's not worth it.

Far-Queue posted...

As much as you want as long as it's within your budget

This
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Everything in moderation

Especially moderation

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Far-Queue posted...

PO spelled out exactly what I was thinking with my initial posts but I was too dumb to elaborate

Nah, you elaborated fine, I just expanded on the idea a bit.

Let's make out.
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OK but I'm the bottom

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It varies greatly depending on circumstances. There's no obligation to go out or eat at home, it's a matter of your finances and inclinations.

On top of that, cultural norms will vary depending on where you live. Cities tend to have a larger restaurant culture, where there's an expectation (and convenience) to eating out. If you live in a place with a ton of restaurants, you're more likely to want to check out restaurants than if you live in a place with only a few restaurants. Smaller, more rural areas may see eating out as more a matter of necessity (if you're on the go) or as a special treat.

If you want to eat out every night, you can do that. If you never want to eat out at all, you could do that as well. Both are on the extremes. However, I'd say most people of average means probably only go to a nice restaurant a few times each year. There's really no issue in doing more or less than that. Similarly, most people of average means probably just do 1-2 vacations each year. There's also no issue in doing more or less than that. Personally, I've often just cashed out my unused vacation time if that was an option.

pedro45 posted... When it comes to health, I know it's better to cook at home.

It makes zero difference. The question of diet and health doesn't really factor in because you can either go to healthier places or pick healthier options. There's nothing intrinsically worse about dining out than dining in, no matter what some people (including one guy who's AWOL) will try to claim.

There are countless things that people might make at home that are less healthy than things you'd get while eating out. And depending on your cooking expertise, improper cooking habits at home might be hurting you. A lot of people just don't know how to cook things properly, which can lead to both immediate and cumulative health impacts.

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I would eat out every day for every meal if I had the money. Theres too much food out there to experience for me to figure out how to make it all myself and I really dont enjoy cooking that much. But I dont have that kind of money, so I meal prep so I only have to cook once every week or so. I probably eat out more than the average person.

While I dont know if its considered eating out or not, I do buy breakfast most weekday mornings
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never, waste of money and not healthy

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Wanded posted...

waste of money

Kinda depends. I was getting stuff cheaper from fast food places for a while than if I had just made something, although I think all of those deals are gone now.

Wanded posted...

not healthy

Just straight-up wrong. There's nothing about cooking in a restaurant that magically makes food less healthy.

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Wanded posted...

not healthy

Thats wrong. Not everything is unhealthy just because it was made at a restaurant
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Zeus posted...

Just straight-up wrong. There's nothing about cooking in a restaurant that magically makes food less healthy.

LinkPizza posted...

Thats wrong. Not everything is unhealthy just because it was made at a restaurant

unless it's vegetable juice or salads it's not healthy, even then it's not safe to count on them to use good and fresh ingredients, you think they're using quality olive oil or cheap kanola oil?

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Wanded posted...

unless it's vegetable juice or salads it's not healthy, even then it's not safe to count on them to use good and fresh ingredients, you think they're using quality olive oil or cheap kanola oil?

Its no different than food at home. Depending on the restaurant, it may be healthier food than people would make at home. Whether it because they use better ingredients than someone has at their house, or because its made with less extra stuff. For example, I know people who add extra stuff (thats probably bot super healthy, even if not bad for health) to foods they make that technically make it less healthy. Or people who use cheap ingredients. To say food from a restaurant is unhealthy solely because its from a restaurant is just wrong
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Wanded posted...

unless it's vegetable juice or salads it's not healthy, even then it's not safe to count on them to use good and fresh ingredients, you think they're using quality olive oil or cheap kanola oil?

So, you grow all of your food yourself, I assume.

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I eat out at least 2-3 times a week. mixture of fast food/local eatery. It gets tiring having to always cook and clean up. sometimes you just want a nice warm cooked meal without the mess

Also "kanola" lol

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Honestly I eat out like 5-7 times a week

I am addicted to food

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Wanded posted...

unless it's vegetable juice or salads it's not healthy, even then it's not safe to count on them to use good and fresh ingredients, you think they're using quality olive oil or cheap kanola oil?

That's just a fucking stupid argument for any number of reasons. Do you think most people eating at home are getting fresh produce daily? Because most restaurants do. Do you think most people are home are only buying the highest quality stuff? Even if they were (and hint, they're generally not), that has little impact on health.

And if you're bringing up salads at a restaurant, does that mean that people are only having salads at home? What's that? They aren't?! Then why are you trying to make an apples-to-oranges comparison.

Metalsonic66 posted...

Also "kanola" lol

Yeah, I kinda worry about what they're making at home if they're buying imitation canola oil where, for legal reasons, they can't even call it canola oil.

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Mead posted...

Honestly I eat out like 5-7 times a week

I am addicted to lady parts

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Holy shit its batman

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Most restaurants use boil-in-a-bag techniques, making food consistent throughout their chains.

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pedro45 posted...

Most restaurants use boil-in-a-bag techniques, making food consistent throughout their chains.

Anecdotal, and even if you were to back it up there are still restaurants that provide healthier fare, so your point is moot

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I could tell you about what I think of an appropriate amount of eating out, but it's honestly between person and person. You know?

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Why are you guys so aggressively defending restaurants? I'm sensing some insecurity.
I'm concerned for people who need others to cook for them. Sounds like most do it for convenience and ease and rarely does that create good habits.

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as often as your budget allows, really

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Not defending restaurants as much as I am making the case for people's right to choose how to spend their own time and money, and choose how they feed themselves. Why are you so concerned with other people's spending and eating habits?

tbh your posts come across like a disgruntled employee who is out to disparage the industry, and your arguments are flimsy at best


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I probably order food/eat out about 3 dinners per week. Both the wife and I work full time 40 hour jobs, and neither of us want to cook something every night and I also like to eat out once on the weekend. Quick meals at home are not necessarily going to be any healthier. Last night I made air fryer chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes and peas (which was not really a quick meal), this is was less healthy than if I went and got a chicken kabob and greek salad (though more healthy then if I got chicken nuggets at a fast food place).

pedro45 posted...

Why are you guys so aggressively defending restaurants? I'm sensing some insecurity.

Could say the same about the defensive stance you take in a lot of these duckbear lite topics

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I want people to be healthy, which leads to happiness generally. You also gain better brain function which in turn will cause better habits.
Clearly everybody that eats out in this topic has salads and everyone who cooks at home fries food. Clearly....
Y'all really think people who eat out for convenience are choosing healthy options?

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Metalsonic66 posted...

So, you grow all of your food yourself, I assume.

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"Eating out" isn't inherently more or less healthy than home cooking, so if we're talking strictly in terms of nutrition, there's really no clear answer to this question. If people aren't eating healthily enough, doing more home cooking is often a good way to address that because that gives more knowledge of what goes into the food and therefore offers greater control over their nutrition, but using eating out on its own as a metric for determining how healthy somebody's diet is isn't particularly reasonable.

In a nutshell, what/how much somebody eats is what determines how healthy their diet is, not where they eat. You can make some generalizations (fast food, by and large, is unhealthy and should not make up a significant portion of one's diet), but providing actual useful advice is going to require you to dig a lot deeper than those generalizations.

Economically speaking? Home cooking is better. Full stop. If you're trying to fixed an inflated food budget, one of the first things you should do is cut back on how often you eat out.

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itt: eating out means there's only junk food outside of mama's kitchen

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pedro45 posted...

I want people to be healthy, which leads to happiness generally. You also gain better brain function which in turn will cause better habits.
Clearly everybody that eats out in this topic has salads and everyone who cooks at home fries food. Clearly....
Y'all really think people who eat out for convenience are choosing healthy options?

The problem is you're making assumptions about what people eat. Some people do eat healthier options. My ex use to have salads when we went out to eat on the weekends. So, it probably was healthier than what he ate at home. That said, healthy isn't the only thing needed for happiness. Eating foods you like would probably make you happier. If all I ate was healthy foods 24/7, I'd probably be depressed. But either way, you're making huge leaps. Like by saying something like, "Clearly everybody that eats out in this topic has salads and everyone who cooks at home fries food. Clearly...." Most importantly, they are too many periods. But after that, you're acting like those are the only choices. Think about what Archgoat said. When they made their dinner of "air fryer chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes and peas", it could be more or less healthy than food from a restaurant based on where he went. LIke he said if he went to a restaurant and got a chicken kabob and greek salad, that would probably be healthier than his "home-cooked meal". But his home meal was probably better than chicken nuggets and fries from a fast food joint. You're acting like their are only two choices, and that they are that extreme... You just sound like a snob. And started to sound like another food snob that recently left...
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pedro45 posted...

Most restaurants use boil-in-a-bag techniques, making food consistent throughout their chains.

That's complete bullshit. Even if you were making the claim about restaurant CHAINS, I'd think it's probably untrue. Taking fast food off the table, most restaurants in this country likely aren't part of a chain (and even counting fast food, most restaurants might not be chains)

pedro45 posted...

Why are you guys so aggressively defending restaurants? I'm sensing some insecurity.

Why are you posting outright lies and getting mad about being called out on them?

pedro45 posted...

I want people to be healthy, which leads to happiness generally. You also gain better brain function which in turn will cause better habits.
Clearly everybody that eats out in this topic has salads and everyone who cooks at home fries food. Clearly....
Y'all really think people who eat out for convenience are choosing healthy options?

Eating in vs eating out has zero impact on health because it depends on the food you choose. Likewise, "eating salads" isn't necessarily healthy because it depends on peoples' nutritional needs.

And "healthiness" generally has little impact on overall happiness. And people in peak physical condition are pretty frequently miserable about what they can't eat.

pedro45 posted...

Y'all really think people who eat out for convenience are choosing healthy options?

Y'all really think people eating in are choosing healthy options?

Even assuming that they're not doing frozen food (which is generally far more unhealthy than fast food, although there are some healthier brands), people still tend to go for convenience and taste over health.

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