Eat Healthily

How do you eat healthily when the average meal out is over 1000 calories? That’s 50-70% of your daily allowance right? So you should order the side salad and skip dessert?

No!

Eat Healthily – 6 Tips For Eating Out and Staying Healthy

Here are 6 tips to eat healthily and enjoying an evening at a restaurant without having to sacrifice the food you love.

Take your drinks into account… They’re a killer. You won’t notice it, but drinks are a potential significant contribution to your daily calorie allowance if not watched carefully.

Obviously no one expects you to drink nothing but water all night. How about enjoying a natural fruit juice or a diet soft drink? Anything along those lines will cut the calories compared to alcohol.

Wait what? No beer? Yeah, why not? You’re going to have to make SOME sacrifices in order to lose weight. Can’t resist a tipple? Easy, volunteer to drive! That gives you added incentives to not add a calorific-whiskey to your healthy diet coke and you will gain some points with your friends.

Consider what goes on the side. That steak may look lean enough and is well cooked, but the foot high pile of chips next to it certainly is not. Swap them for a baked potato or even better, that side salad. Remember to hold the cheese, butter, fatty sauces, croutons etc. The sort of thing that make a salad taste better, also make it less healthy than a doughnut dipped in clotted cream!

Due to the small portions and the high intense flavour of an appetizer, it is generally better to leave that out of your meal unless you really are hungry. Look down the menu, most are deep fried in some way or come with a very fatty sauce. Look for melon or ask for a Prawn Cocktail with just a little bit of sauce. If you’re the only person not ordering an appetizer, why not order a fruit cocktail from the bar if nothing else fits into your diet.

Look for the right kind of food. We know to pick boiled and grilled over fried foods; that is obvious. The amount of fat in fried foods is ridiculous when compared to something healthily steamed. If there is a fried side dish with your main meal, ask for it to be replaced with more vegetables.  A good restaurant with your health in mind should be happy to help. Got sauce? Ask for it to be served in a side dish so you can control the portion.

Say no to dessert! No, of course not, no one wants to do that!

But just like the starter, scrutinise the menu to look for the healthier option. If they don’t have one, then don’t be afraid to use phrases like “without cream” or “just a coffee thank you”.

Lastly, a rule to eat healthily; don’t over-eat. Many restaurants give you huge portions. It’s hard to stop eating when you feel full, especially if you’re paying for the meal! Drink water with your meal to help yourself eat less. You should be able to take the leftovers home, so don’t be afraid to ask for that if you still have plenty left on your plate.

Eat Healthily – You can make it happen

So the next time you go out, keep these tips in mind, and you will soon realise it’s easy to enjoy a night’s out and still eat healthily.

Thank you for reading this article.  I’m Heather and I hope I have shown you how to eat healthily, want to host a healthy dinner party? Then buy steaks online from Westin Gourmet.

This guest post on Eat Healthily is contributed by Heather.