The lifestyle change required to get great abs includes better nutrition as one of its cornerstones. When you prepare your own meals you have control of how many calories you consume during each meal. However, going out to eat will never go out of style. Whether it’s part of socializing or you just want to try a new restaurant or return to a favorite, you will likely end up dining out at some point. For some of us, we might be going out to eat on a regular basis. No worries, there are plenty of great options for those who follow healthy lifestyles at most restaurants.
I work at a restaurant and see the portion sizes. Let me tell you they are no joke. A huge dish of pasta or a large burger with a side of fries are both going to be loaded with calories. I see many people ask for a box up front to avoid overeating, and would recommend doing this when you order your food. Save it for tomorrow’s lunch or give it to a family member to eat. You can also split a dish when you’re dining out with somebody who wants to order the same thing you do. Another option when it comes to pasta dishes is to ask if they offer half portions.
The healthy, low calorie options you have when dining out depends on the restaurant you are eating at. More and more places have a section of their menu for low cal meals. Even if the restaurant you are dining at doesn’t have a ‘light’ menu you can usually opt for a fish dish with veggies and rice or a plate with chicken breast or lean beef. A salad with a light dressing and salmon or chicken makes for a great lunch that won’t have you bogged down an hour later when you’re back at work.
Unfortunately, a lot of restaurant food is fried. Fried foods are cheap and easy to make, and people love them, so it’s no wonder you’ll see a lot of them in menus. Appetizers, and of course french fries, are the usual fried favorites, but even entrees may have fried items on the plate. I’ve even seen fried chicken salads that are loaded in calories, which seems to defeat the purpose of eating a salad. It’s best to avoid anything that’s coming out of a deep fryer when you can. If your table is sharing fried appetizers try to keep your consumption of them to a minimum. Instead of fries try a vegetable or salad side instead.
Many restaurants give out a freebie to start you off when are seated at a table. Bread is the usual complimentary culprit, whether it’s bread and olive oil, rolls or biscuits. Chips are another go to snack for some places to give away. Sometimes they are just set in front of you at some point in the service, other times they ask you if you’d like them to be brought to the table. Whatever the case, while they may not be bad for you they also aren’t likely to be beneficial to following a healthy lifestyle. The best suggestion I can give is to limit your consumption of the free bread or chips brought to the table, or request to not have it at all. This will depend on your company as well. If anything, just try a piece of bread if you want without going overboard. Believe me, a lot of patrons will ask for a bread refill – which is really overdoing it to me. You can enjoy more of your main course if you don’t partake in much of the freebie food brought to the table.
A lot of sauces on restaurant dishes are very high in calories. A lot of butter and cream are used to add flavor in many popular sauces made in restaurants. Some favorite sauces like lemon butter and marsala are going to have more calories than you realize. The best option is to get the sauce on the side or at least not consume all of it.
Of course there is always the option of going out to eat to have a good time and not think so much about healthy options. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to try foods you haven’t tried before. You want to try an appetizer or two, a salad or soup, a tasty entree and maybe even dessert. In this instance you can just try a little bit of all of the meal courses. If you want to indulge, do so. Giving yourself a cheat meal can help you keep at your overall healthier lifestyle. Once in a while, you should give yourself a treat. In my case, I recently tried In-N-Out Burger for the first time in Denver. I enjoyed it, but kept my calories low for the rest of the day. If you have a heavy lunch, make dinner light and vise versa. As long as it’s only once in a while, a little indulgence is okay.