Dining Out Guilt Free – Day 24

How many times a week do you eat out?

Take a look at your calendar from this past week and actually count how many times you ate out for breakfast – how many times for lunch – and how many times for dinner. Then think about what you ordered, what you ate and whether or not you felt guilty afterwards. Were you satisfied? Full? Stuffed? Reflect on your thought process after you got done with your meal.

 

Some of you will review you week and maybe will have only eaten out one or two meals, which is likely dinner with a friend or a spouse or a date. Others of you may eat out nearly every single day for most of your meals. If you eat more than four meals out per week regardless of which meal it is you want to pay very close attention to what you are selecting when you got out.

 

For Baby Boomers and the early Gen Xers (like me) eating out was usually a treat or something special when we were growing up. I remember we were pretty lucky because my grandpa would take us out to lunch every Sunday; sometimes the Country Club sometimes a favorite local restaurant. That was pretty unusual for most of the people that I grew up with.

restaurant table

Nowadays eating out is part of every person’s lifestyle. Many families dine out or get takeout food frequently and it needs to be looked at as part of your regular meal plan as opposed to a special treat. What I find with people in the Baby Boomer/Gen X age generations is that because we viewed eating out as a treat when we were young we carried that thought process with us and still consider going out to eat as a treat, even if we are doing it every day!

 

Dining out is special, simply because you’re not having to prepare a meal! It’s done for you! However, the mentality of splurging when you go out to eat is something that often causes people to get into a lot of trouble with weight management. If every time you go out to eat at a restaurant you decide that it’s okay to order a plate of nachos for an appetizer and make sure that you get dessert and you’re doing that every single time and it several times a week you’re adding more and more calories to your diet on a regular basis.

 

It’s really easy to do because many of that old mindset that going out to eat is a special occasion and that it’s an opportunity to have a little bit of a splurge. Part of the process of making healthy food choices when you go out to eat is changing your mindset. You want to tell yourself that you are going to choose foods that nourish your body well!

 

I had one weight loss client that ate out for lunch nearly every day and every time he would have really really heavy meals that were very high in calories, 1500-2000 per meal. He had the mindset of splurge instead of nourish.

 

I’ve put together 8 Strategies (get it, “ate”) that you can use to help you start changing your mindset and dine out guilt free!

1. Check out the restaurant menu online if it’s available in advance to get an idea of what you want you will most likely order. Then you will not be as tempted to order something more decadent when you arrive because you’ve already made the decision.

 

2. Don’t show up to hungry. Many people will save their calories because they’re going out to eat later and then what happens is you arrive and you are so famished that it’s really easy to eat 3 or 4 pieces of bread or four baskets of chips when they are placed in front of you! You end up missing out on enjoying some of the great food that is going to be served for your meal because you’re already sort of full. You may want to have a quick snack like a glass of milk or a handful of carrots or part of a protein bar — something that will tide you over and take that edge off.

 

3. Share your food items – especially entrées. Restaurant portion sizes are generally too big for the average person so there is easily enough food for two.

 

4. If you don’t like to share with others – share with yourself! Take home half of your food – a great trick is to order your to-go-box to be delivered the same time as your meal. Put half of it in the box. Out of sight, out of mind – you won’t keep eating a few more little bites when you are actually already satisfied.

 

5. Don’t feel obligated to eat through an entire meal before you have dessert. If there is a particular restaurant that has one of your favorite desserts perhaps you want to have a salad and then enjoy the dessert (I still recommend splitting it with someone!). Typically (and what the restaurant is hoping for) is that you will get an appetizer, then have a salad, eat your entrée and then you get the dessert menu and there is something that you really want, or had been day dreaming about because it’s your favorite. You know you’re too full, but you order and eat it anyway which is adding way too many calories at the end of the meal. Another idea is that you could order your dessert to go and enjoy it a few bites of the time for the next few days.

 

6. Carefully read the descriptions of foods on the menu. I have been surprised a few times with getting a salad with chicken on it to find out that the chicken was fried; sometimes it isn’t specified on the menu so always ask your server.

 

7. Take the opportunity to try new foods that perhaps you have never cooked for yourself at home, especially a new healthier food you’ve been wondering about. For example, if you have never had quinoa maybe that something that you try at a restaurant. You can also order foods that the rest of your family doesn’t enjoy as much so you don’t have to cook two different meals!

salmon sandwich

8.Use activity or exercise as a reward or an offset for dining out at a restaurant. Most often you will have a few more calories than you would if you eat at home, however you can make sure that you get your exercise in that day or exercise a little bit extra because that way you were offsetting some of those extra calories. The other thing that happens is that you will be less likely to splurge if you have exercised because you won’t want to ruin the benefits of your exercise. That’s a mindset change that I’ve been using it for years and it really works.

 

Next time you dine out focus on Enjoying your Food and Nourishing Your Body,

Health & Bliss to You,

Susie

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