Half The Man

Ok, so everyone will occasionally eat out and be faced with the dilema of being unable to control what they are eating, in other words not knowing how many calories are in their food. I’ll lay out some tips for you to hopefully help you to make better choices when out and about.

1. Say No to Fried – Avoiding fried food while eating out is probably the best thing to do. Things that are fried will most likely have been done so in vegetable oil which isn’t one of our “healthy” oils.  A healthier option would be go to for stir fried, baked, boiled or roasted meats.
2. Go Easy on the Refills – A lot of restuarants will offer free refills on soft drinks, this is all well and good if you are drinking the diet variety but if you are drinking the full sugar variety then this could be a recipe for disaster. Due to a lot of foods being high in salt content that can lead to you being extra thirsty during your meal which would therefore mean you would drink more often. Stick to diet drinks or water.
3. Always Read the Description – When you are reading the menu, make sure you read the description of the dish carefully. Most of the time it will list the main ingredients that go into making up your desired choice. Avoid dishes that contain creams, yogurts and thick sauces as they will rack up calories quickly. Even a seemingly innocuoous dish like a salad can be extremely high in calories due to whatever dressings are being used.
4. Question Your Server – When you are ordering you can ask your server what is in the dish or more specifically you can ask for it to be done in a certain way. Since the food should be made from scratch you could ask for your rice to be brown, if they serve it, or your potatoes to be boiled rather than mashed. Don’t be afraid to ask for changes to be made to what you want to eat, it is your meal after all.
5. Skip Desert – This is a pretty self explanitory one. Opt out of desert and instead have a coffee or tea to finish off your meal. Think about it, when you are in the house after dinner do you always have a desert? If the answer is no, as I suspect it might be, then why would you have one when you are eating out. If you do plan on having a desert stick to fruit salads and sorbets.

If you follow these quick tips you should find that eating out doesn’t have to be a diet disaster, it can quite easily be a fun enjoyable time that allows you to stay true to your goals.

-Andrew

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