Eating out recommendations while dieting!
While trying to stay in the ‘fitness zone’, eating out can create some stress and anxiety as it has the potential to derail or at least interrupt your goals. While I understand this concern, eating out does not really need to be a stresser. In fact it can be a great way to have fun and maintain both balance and ‘healthy’ social relationships and interactions. So here are some easy to follow strategies to help you when you know you will be eating out.
Oh, and before we get the strategies, please remember to ENJOY YOURSELF! And If you want to YOLO that’s fine (and absolutely needed from time to time) so long as you are okay with the potential repercussions and manage realistic expectations. No judgment nor guilt. Just don’t cry and/or complain if you gained a couple of LB’s from going off the rails.
- First off, going out to eat will almost always be more calories than what you have on your plan. So make some extra room by saving (aka ‘banking’) more calories.
- Skip a snack or two. Eat a bit lighter for lunch by eliminating some carbs and/or fats. By banking these calories, you have more to spend later.
- Stick with lean, grilled proteins. Plenty of green veggies. And a moderate amount of carbs that you are not prone to over consume.
- Take a quick trip to the restaurant’s website and review their menu beforehand. Try to choose a restaurant that lists their calories/macros on their website and choose what best fits your macros for that meal.
- Unfortunately fried foods are very high in calories and also contain evil magic qualities that seduce you into licking everything off of your plate and leave you begging for more. So not always the best choice. But if you decide to indulge, just revisit YOLO above.
- DANGER ALERT! Watch out for dressings, butters, oils etc. These items (also part of the ‘evil magic’ family above) will add A LOT of EXCESS calories. DO NOT just default to a salad assuming it’s super healthy. I’ve seen 1500+ calorie salads. Crazy!!
At the end of the day, being prepared and doing your homework is going to be the best option. What’s the old saying, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” (pun intended). But like I said above when in doubt, hit the lean protein and add plenty of veggies. Oh and eat slowly, drink plenty of water and be mindful of what you are selecting and you will be totally fine!