Tips for Eating Out & for Eating with Friends Who Aren’t Dieting

Posted on February 26, 2007 in Nutrition by byronb

Just because you are on a diet plan doesn’t mean that you have to deny yourself the little pleasures of life, like an evening out with your buddies. And when you talk of an evening out with your friends, eating out makes an inevitable part of it. But you are worried about falling prey to temptation and your diet plan going bust, because when dining out it is quite easy to overeat – all those excess calories coming from high-fat, high-salt and high-sugar unhealthy foods.

So what do you do? Skip the fun of an evening out with friends and sulk at home? Or go out and ruin your diet plan that you have been diligently following for the past few weeks? Well, you don’t have to do any of these. Not only can you go out and have a blast with your friends, you can even enjoy a good meal without sabotaging your diet plan if you follow these basic tips about eating out:

·           First of all, make a rough plan in advance about your choices of foods. This way you wouldn’t be confronted with the problem of deciding what to order when the waiter hands over the menu to you.

·           Never skip your meals in the afternoon simply because you are eating out in the evening. That way you would end up consuming more calories in the night, when your calorie requirement is actually low. All excess calories would end up being stored as body fat. They are not going to compensate for having skipped the afternoon meal or be used for your next day’s requirement.

·           In fact, have a proper lunch so that in the evening, you won’t pounce on and devour whatever comes to the table. To put your appetite further under control, carry a piece of your favorite fruit and a handful of nuts to nibble on while on the way to the restaurant. You may even eat a small bowl of salad some half an hour before leaving for the restaurant.

·           Now, while at the restaurant, go for an ‘a la carte’ menu instead of eat-as-much-as-you-can buffets. Choose dishes with extra portions of vegetables and order small portions or split portions with friends. Be confident and don’t feel shy about requesting special low-fat preparations. The chef will be more than happy to help you.

·           Start your meal with a glass of plain water. Since you are on a diet plan, you must already be aware of the kinds of foods to shun completely, namely, the deep-fried foods, creamy, buttery and sugary stuff, regular colas and sodas, etc. Ask instead for lower-fat steamed, grilled, roasted, broiled or flame-cooked items. Or maybe you can even order another appetizer as the main course itself. For drinks stick to diet colas or fresh fruit/vegetable juice without added sugar. One often forgets to count alcohol calories as part the food. Alcohol is very high in calories and can prevent you from making healthy food choices.

·           Try to sit away from the breadbasket and the chips bowl. It is really easy to keep on munching on these (especially, breadsticks with butter) while chatting with your friends without even realizing that you are.

·           Be careful about the dressings that come with salads. They can defeat the whole purpose of your diet control. One ladle of a creamy salad dressing can give you about 300 calories. Ask for the dressing on the side rather than on the salad.

Remember that it is these little things that that can go a long way in not letting your diet plan go bust when eating out with friends who aren’t dieting. But don’t worry, even if you succumbed to temptation or cajoling from your friends and let yourself go while eating, it’s okay to break the dieting rules once in a while. Perhaps you can spend some extra time in the gym the next day or take a biking tour the next time when you plan an outing with your friends.

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