5 Tips for Eating Out When on a Diet
Each and every one of us likes to treat ourselves to a nice meal in a restaurant sometimes. Some people that don’t enjoy cooking, prefer eating out over home cooked meals. But how often do you question the quality of the food you’re eating outside of your home, and how it affects your health? According to USDA, what they call FAFH (food away from home) increases daily caloric intake and reduces diet quality. Breakfast and lunch away from home increase calories from saturated fat and SoFAAS (saturated and solid fat, alcohol, and added sugar) on average more among dieters than among nondieters. So, how do we approach this “bad” habit of eating out?
If you are a person that is trying to get their nutrition in check, it would be better for you to plan and cook your meals at home. These same rules apply for people that are in a calorie deficit/surplus, but some days, we all want to take a break from cooking. Events such as birthday dinners, celebrations, and anniversaries also make it difficult for us to avoid eating out: they are associated with consuming some alcohol and fast food. This leads us to the question whether its possible to maintain our healthy diet and nutrition, without avoiding a nice meal out on some special days.
We are here to tell you the good news! It is possible to eat out without ruining your diet, or calorie deficit, with slight adjustments and planning beforehand.
Here are our 5 tips to follow while eating out on a diet:
1. Check the menu beforehand
Before heading out to a restaurant, do a little research on it. Check out the reviews, look at pictures and find the menu on their website or any social media profile. This way, you can see the prices, the food options you have and check out the ingredients to meet your macros. This also helps with the indecisiveness and overwhelming feeling that you get when you are rushed to choose a meal quickly when you’re already at the restaurant.
2. Do not starve prior to eating out
Getting excited and preparing to eat at your favorite restaurant, shouldn’t include skipping meals. If you’re planning to have a nice meal with your partner for lunch, don’t skip your breakfast, it’s as simple as that. Eating a big meal on an empty stomach will only result in a blood sugar spike, that will end up making you even hungrier. This will undoubtedly make you crave more food than you can handle, and you will end up overeating.
3. Go for grilled & steamed food, instead of extra fried, processed food.
Food such as meat and vegetables when grilled and steamed, keeps its nutrients and health benefits, when compared to the same food when fried or boiled. Grilled meats have a reduced fat content and lower calorie content which can lower bad cholesterol levels.
Additionally, recognize that some breakfast food, such as cereal and granola, is extremely processed. Be careful when eating in brunch spots that claim to be healthy, but add sugar and use processed ingredients that increase your calorie intake. Your acai bowl can have more calories than bacon and fried eggs! Don’t be fooled by food that is advertised as healthy, and always check the ingredients in it.
4. Ditch the appetizers
Along with hospitality, one of the main reasons you are served bread, or bread sticks before ordering a meal, is to make you hungrier! Simple carbohydrates trigger insulin production and spike your blood sugar, leading to cravings for more food. The cycle continues as previously mentioned in this blog, because you end up overordering and overeating. To avoid this, simply avoid appetizers and skip straight to dinner! Or if you have company, share the appetizer to consume less calories.
5. Limit your alcohol intake
Liquid calories are sneaky, and mostly forgotten while counting calories in dieting. Unfortunately, liquid calories count too, and alcohol has many of them! If you love your wine and want to relax on a night out, you don’t have to avoid alcohol entirely. Our pro tip is to set a limit on your alcohol intake, by choosing a number of drinks you’ll have for the night. You should also consider opting for some lower calorie options when choosing to drink alcohol. Vodka soda, white wine, and hard seltzer are some of the best low calorie alcoholic drinks!
Bonus tips:
1. Share your food!
In some countries such as the USA, dinner portions are quite big. If you feel full, don’t force yourself to finish the meal. Instead, share it with somebody or ask the staff to pack your food and take it home with you.
2. Avoid soda.
Along with a lot of calories, soda contains huge amounts of added sugar! These types of drinks dehydrate you, make you feel bloated and increase your calorie intake. Instead, try drinking unsweetened ice tea, or just water.
3. Ask for sauces and dressings on the side.
When ordering salads, or anything that includes sauces and dressings, ask the staff to bring them separately. Sauces and dressings can contain a lot of calories, which can add up to the ones of your meal. If you ask for them on the side, you can control how much of them you consume, or if you want to add them to the meal at all.
Consider these five tips when eating out so you avoid those sneaky extra calories.
But firstly, remember to enjoy your meal and spend some quality time with your loved ones! One extra meal wont ruin your whole diet, because your fitness journey isn’t linear.
