How To Eat Out On A Diet

Has this happened to you? Friends of yours invite you out to dinner and you are on a diet. Your heart starts beating faster the closer the time comes. They choose an all you can eat brunch, and now you are sweating bullets. The options are vast. Smells overtake you. You begin to feel like you have absolutely no control.

Eating out can be a scary thing when you are on a diet. But it doesn’t have to be. Below are some of my best tips to help you stick to your diet when you go out to eat.

CHECK IT OUT

Whenever you are going out to eat look for the restaurant’s menu online. Checkout all of the meal options to see if anything they have will fit into your diet plan. Look for the nutrition stats. Make sure you note how many calories the meals have. Stay away from meals over 500 calories.

START HERE

Many restaurants today have a section in their menu specifically for those who are trying to make healthy choices. The meals will usually have less calories, less fat, be low carb, or even vegetarian. Always look in this section first.

DECIDE NOW!

After checking out the menu at home, decide before you enter the restaurant what you will be ordering. Making a decision ahead of time helps you not to be tempted with family and friends.

SKIP STARTERS

Restaurants want more of your money, and they usually help make us fat. Do yourself a favor and skip the appetizers. You don’t need the extra 1900 calories in the Bloomin’ Onion, nor the 140 calories each in OG’s breadsticks. Make your wallet fatter and tummy thinner by skipping the starters.

HELP I’M AT A BUFFET

When at a buffet always fill half your plate with salad. Choose a light dressing. The next quarter should be filled with veggies that aren’t smothered in sauce, and possibly a little bit of grains. Finally, find lean protein options and eat only about 3oz of it if it’s meat.

BOX PLEASE

Restaurants today serve portions that are 2-4 times larger than you should be eating. My favorite tip is for you to ask your server for a to-go box as soon as you place your order. Ask them to bring it out before your food. Once your food arrives, check out how beautiful it looks. I know you want to take your Facebook or Instagram picture. Go ahead and do that, and then place half of your order (sometimes more of it) into your take home box. Place it on the seat next to you, or ask your server to put it in the back until you are ready to leave. This way you will only eat what is currently on your plate. You’ll be set up for success so that you will not overeat.

TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE FOR DESSERT

The great thing about having a husband and friends is that you can always share with them. For diet success order one dessert and split it with your best mate. Your waistline will thank you for it.

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Annett Davis

Annett Davis is an Olympian in Beach Volleyball. She loves great food and helping people get healthy over at GetFitWithAnnett.com. Her favorite topics are marriage and anything fitness related. Being married to her soul mate, Life Coach and author Byron Davis for 16 wonderful years, Annett loves being a homeschooling mom of 2. She blogs over at FitMomsFitKidsClub.com, and inspires kids to grandmas to get in shape for life in her private accountability groups.