Word Count: 650

Time To Read: 3.5 minutes

 

 

Main Points

• Eating out in a restaurant can be a minefield.

• It’s not uncommon for a night in a restaurant to ruin all the hard work of the week.

 

Diets and Life

Diets are like clockwork. The pain from our lack of fitness rears its ugly head somehow, so the diet starts.

And starts with a bang. Veggies with every single meal. The carbs have been thrown in the fire. You’ve even started jogging again.

There’s a new world created. It’s the new you. You’re beginning to lose weight.

And then life happens.

Life can be anything, Getting sick, Nights out drinking alcohol. Work, Kids.

Eating out is one of those potential minefields where all our best laid health plans can fall apart.

A three course meal followed with copious amounts of alcohol can really set us back.

 

5 Tips for eating in a restaurant

Here’s 5 tips to use when eating out to reduce the damage done.
 

1. Portion Sizes

2. Pace Yourself

3. Plan Ahead

4. Prioritize/Presence

5. Pre Meal

 

1) Portion Sizes.

Portion sizes are usually gigantic in restaurants. Correct portion sizes can reduce the overall calories consumed in the meal.

Simple rule

• Use a fist size for your meat

• For your carbs/ bun/ pasta use a palm size

• Stock up on your veggies.

So before you decide to dig into the full bag of pasta in your bowl, aim for those portion sizes and you won’t be far off.

 

2) Pace yourself.

Instead of just inhaling your food, aim to eat slowly. Satisfaction and taste will be a lot higher.

Simple Rule

Aim for 30-50 chews per mouthful of food as a good estimate

 

3) Plan Ahead

Planning food around a restaurant involves two aspects.

First, the lead up, the night before your meal.

Have a good breakfast then aim for more salads and protein to keep you satisfied through the day.

Instead of eating your usual wrap or sandwich. Go for a protein shake or chicken and veg.

This will save you calories for the big meal later that day.

The second part of planning is the meal.

Simple Rule:

-Skip either the starter or dessert.

-For the main, think of increasing the meat and vegetables.

 

4) Prioritize/Presence

The next step to dealing with eating out is having presence of mind.

Before deciding to gorge on chicken wings and a block of cheese. All washed down with a bottles of wine

Have why you want to be healthier clear in your mind. Be conscious in your decision.

Asking do you really need 20 chicken wings before the main course, can help slow the mindlessness.

 

5) Pre-Meal

A great trick for reducing your overall amount of food eaten in the meal is a pre meal strategy.

Drinking water and filling yourself up with salad before the meal will help you eat less overall.

So before you even decide on what you eat. Get some salad and water into your system to help you out.

 

Eating out not Pigging out

And there you have it.

Eating out in a restaurant can be a minefield.

It’s not uncommon for a night in a restaurant to ruin all the hard work of the week.

Here’s your first line of defence from the chocolate brownie and artery clogging conglomerate that ends up on a lot of plates.

 

Think of these  5 P’s when going out for a meal.

1. Portion Sizes

2. Pace Yourself

3. Plan Ahead

4. Prioritize/Presence

5. Pre Meal

 

Recap

• Eating out usually takes place with friends or family in a time of relaxation when we let our guard down

• It takes us out of our normal routines and environments

• Alcohol can come into the equation messing up with our willpower

• On top of that, the food usually has a tonne of calories.