Eating Out Healthy Way
How many times have you sabotaged your healthy eating efforts because you went out to a restaurant with friends? If you are anything like me (and the rest of the health-conscious world) then your answer is probably something like, “every time!”
Trying to always eat healthy can make you feel cut off from the rest of the world and no matter how strong your dedication and will power may be, eventually, you are going to crack under that pressure. Does that mean you shouldn’t even try to lose weight around your midsection?
Of course not! It DOES mean that you have to learn how to change your attitude about eating out. Eating out the healthy way is actually pretty easy once you learn how to understand a menu and the ingredients in your food choices. And it doesn’t mean you can only eat dry salads!
Eating Out Healthy Tip 1
One of the best eating out the healthy way tips we have found is to USE THE INTERNET! Most restaurants have websites with their menus and nutrition info available. This allows you to investigate at your leisure, at home, without the delicious smells and intoxicating atmosphere to lure you into ordering something that is 5,000 calories.
At home you can figure out the right combination of healthy food and little indulgences. As a matter of fact a lot of restaurants even offer small indicators of the healthier menu selections. If you want to eat out the healthy way then doing some research beforehand will help a lot.
Eating Out Healthy Tip 2
Another tip for eating out the healthy way is to look for key words in the food item description. Words like fried, creamed, sauteed, or stuffed should scream EXTRA CALORIES to you. Yes, they can be tasty but sauteing healthy veggies like mushrooms or onions in butter can add 100 to 200 more calories to an otherwise healthy side dish.
Instead look for the words broiled, grilled, baked or roasted because these words indicate that the food has been prepared pretty much as is so you are only getting the calories of the food itself. This is important to remember because a lot of dieters see sauteed veggies and only see the “veggies” part. Pay attention to how the food is prepared.
Eating out healthy can be easy if you learn to ask for modifications. Instead of a giant portion of mashed potatoes and gravy with your entrée, ask for grilled veggies with a melody of spices. Restaurants are more than happy to help make the modifications you ask for.
Eating Out Healthy Tip 3
One of the best eating out the healthy way tips I have ever come across is to immediately cut your portions in half. Ask the waiter to bring you a to go box with your meal and before digging, in cut everything in half and store it in the to go box for later. Restaurants serve huge portions so this is a tip everyone should learn from.
Eating Out Healthy Tip 4
The final, and maybe most important, eating out healthy tip I can give you is to pay attention to the liquid calories. They sneak up on you. Sodas, alcoholic beverages, even juice can add hundreds of calories to your meal. Choose your indulgences wisely. Want to add bacon to your burger? Then drop the giant soda or beer and go with water instead.
I hope you enjoyed this eating out healthy article, if you have any feedback or questions please leave a comment below…
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Thank you for visiting! Weight Loss and Training is a health blog which features all the best weight loss tips that I have learned over my 20 years of training. My background includes a degree in Kinesiology from the world renown Simon Fraser University, certification in nutritional sciences from UBC, and Personal Trainer Specialist certification from Can Fit Pro.