Look, dining out can be tricky. It is also is a part of life given business related meals, travel, and social engagements. When you shop for yourself, plan your meals, read labels, weigh and quantify your food intake, etc. YOU have complete control. However, when dining out, you lose some of that control. With this being said, it is still possible to not completely blow your diet when dining out. All too often, people use dining out as an excuse for not sticking to their calorie limits and healthy food selection guidelines. I hear stuff like this: "I didn't know how many calories were in the menu items, so, I just "screw it" and ate whatever I felt like." This isn't a valid reason. Here are some ideas on dining out healthfully and in a calorically appropriate manner.
1. Research a Restaurant's Menu Items Ahead of Time
Most chain restaurants make their nutrition information public, so, this is no different than looking up and quantifying the food you would normally eat at home and fitting it into your overall plan. Yes, I know it is tedious and takes a little extra effort, but this is just "the deal" when it comes to serious weight loss. Here is a great resource which provides the nutrition information for many national chain restaurants:
http://ow.ly/4LO
Websites like http://www.calorieking.com also provide some restaurant nutrition information, so put this in your "arsenal" as well.
2. If a Restaurant's Nutrition Information Isn't Available, USE COMMON SENSE!
Many fine dining establishments do not publish their nutrition information. In these situations, use your common sense and use general healthy eating principles:
- Lean Protein
- More Veggies and *Salad (*get dressing on the side and dip your fork in it before you take each bite)
- Less Bread
- Skip Dessert
- Limit or Eliminate Alcohol
- If You Do Choose a Fat and Calorie Rich Meal, Eat Half of the Entree or Split it with Someone Else
Tony Gentilcore, a Boston, MA based trainer had a great blog post sometime back on general dining out tips. Check it out below:
http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/entertainment/step_up/index.php/2008/01/07/rules-to-eating-out/
3. If You Do Decide to Indulge and Overeat, Don't Sweat It...and Certainly Don't Use it as an Excuse to go on a "Food Bender".
Look, I'm not a "food Nazi". I, too, love to eat "bad stuff" from time to time. Eating is supposed to be enjoyable, and is a great way to spend time with family and friends. The occasional "pig out" isn't going to derail your weight loss efforts. Just be sure you don't say, "Screw it, I ate bad last night, I might as well just go ahead and eat bad today because I've already blown it."
No one gets fat in a day or during one meal. If you do over indulge-intentionally or unintentionally-don't sweat it. Just get back on course the next day. Also, if you know you plan on pigging out on a certain day (hey, the Superbowl was yesterday), get in an extra workout that same day, or add one in earlier in the week. Although the 300-500 calories you burn during the workout isn't going to "counter act" the extra 2000 calories you plan on consuming, it's certainly better than NOT burning that energy and taking on the full caloric load.
Remember, eating to induce weight loss/fat loss, and, for that matter, eating to maintain weight loss/fat loss, is a lifestyle. You have to modify your behavior, and this means giving extra effort, and doing tedious stuff (like counting calories, pre-planning meals, going shopping...and researching restaurant menus before eating out). There is no magic bullet and no way around this. Don't whine "This is too hard!". It's really not. Few fulfilling things in life come without putting in the effort. Experiencing success, in any area of life, doesn't come through going about things haphazardly. The sooner you "get on board" with this line of thinking, the sooner you'll start to experience weight loss success.
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