So, we all know how tough and tempting it can be to make healthy food choices when we are eating out, especially when we are following a strict diet like P90X Nutrition Guide or the Insanity Meal Plan. Restaurant food is already terrible enough, not to mention that most “healthy” sections on their menu’s have just as much bad stuff as the rest of the “bad” food on their menu.
I know sometimes making a “special order” to your server might be embarrassing, especially if you are in a social gathering or with unfamiliar people at the table. But remember you either “suffer the pain of discipline or suffer the pain of regret!” Don’t let the teasing comments of others influence what you put into your body, because you are the one that has to live with the results.
Anyways, I have been “special ordering” my food for quite a while now, so I have some great diet tips when eating out that I used to help me stay on track with my clean eating, and you won’t have to worry about going back home and going crazy to an Insanity DVD just to work it off.
- Stay away from appetizers!! This includes all appetizers as well as soups, which are usually packed with fats and creamy sauces and sometimes have as many calories as the main meal you’re about to order! I don’t think I have ever come across a “healthy” appetizer other than maybe seafood, but usually even that is soaked in butter. Regardless, it’s just extra calories that you’re putting into your body, and if you’re trying to limit what you eat, it’s better to just stay away from it all together.
- Don’t fall for the bread. Most restaurants will set a basket full of warm, soft, deliciously smelling garlic and butter soaked bread right in front of your face before your main meal actually comes out. You can easily get your day’s worth of carbs and sometimes even a day’s worth of calories in one sitting. It’s best that you stay away from the bread, or you can even ask your server not to bring it all together.
- Stick to WATER. Soda is terrible for you and can pack around 40-50 grams of sugar in one glass, when the recommended daily sugar intake for women is 20 grams! So obviously this is not good or healthy for your body. Alcoholic beverages and mixed drinks are also calorie and sugar killers. They pack so many sweet processed juices full of sugar, and some of these drinks actually contain as many calories as one full meal. Crazy that restaurants allow this. So, stick to water. It will save you money too! If you really need some flavor, do what I do sometimes; bring a Crystal Light and pour it in your water!
- Ask for NO butter. Restaurants love to butter everything, and when I say everything, I mean everything. Even if you’re ordering a healthy meal like grilled chicken and veggies, they will soak them in butter to make them taste better, making your healthy meal into an unhealthy one very quickly. Always ask for no butter on your meat or veggies. Also make sure to ask if and what kind of sauces come on the meat. Most of the time it is creamy and packed with extra calories, make sure you ask for everything with no sauce or sauce on the side.
- Be careful with salads. I remember the days when salads used to be healthy! Now, salads can be just as bad if not worse for you than a cheeseburger and fries, believe it or not. What restaurants do is load the salad with cheese, butter soaked croutons, oil, bacon, and anything else they can think of that will ruin your healthy meal. On top of that, the salad dressings usually pack a ton of sugar and fat. You even have to be careful of the “lite” or “fat free” ones because if they remove an ingredient, they have to make up for it elsewhere. So be sure that if you decide to order salad ask for no cheese, no croutons, no bacon, and no dressing (vinegar on the side) and that your meat be cooked with no butter or oil.
I hope these diet tips when eating out have helped! If you would like to continue receiving tips,
make sure you make me your coach (it’s free) Click here to make me your coach!
Related posts:
