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How to Eat Healthily at a Restaurant

Is it possible to eat healthily at a restaurant? Of course it is!

One of the regular excuses from weight loss clients is that they had a meal out so couldn’t stick to their diet principles. It needn’t be like that though – you can eat healthily at a restaurant, you just have to think about a few things. Eat consciously, if you prefer.

Use these 10 tips to avoid ruining your diet whilst still enjoying a night out….

  1. Make a wise choice of restaurant. If you are going low carb, avoid pasta and pizza places – you limit your options. You can eat low carb at a steak place, Chinese, Indian, Thai, Japanese, French etc. Make wise choices and you will be given far more options to choose from, increasing the chance that you can eat healthily.
  2. Go for a starter, avoid the dessert. Typically we go for 3 courses – why? Do you eat three courses at home? Opt out of your dessert. Sugar is basically the dietary enemy, so reduce the amount of sugar you eat by going for a starter and main course instead of a dessert and you will save yourself both calories and an insulin spike.
  3. With side dishes, go for vegetables. This is an obvious one – more vitamins, minerals, fibre and fewer calories, carbs and fats. If you want to, add butter to your vegetables – improves the taste and is still far healthier than fries!
  4. Go for a high protein option. I always opt for a meat dish. Mostly because I love meat, but also the protein keeps me full for longer, meaning I don’t need to add lots of extra sides to increase the size of my meal.eat healthily at a restaurant
  5. Instead of bread at the start of a meal, go for olives or crudités. They aren’t processed, higher in fibre and lower in carbs. They are also much more interesting and tastier as they can be eaten with various dips.
  6. Don’t be afraid to ask for a dish to be tweaked on the menu. Any decent restaurant will be happy to accommodate your requests (within reason!) You are well within your rights to asked for steamed vegetables instead of fries with a meal, for example.
  7. Remember that ‘all you can eat’ isn’t a challenge. Don’t go crazy just because you can. Stick to a sensible amount of food (trust me, I have learnt this the hard way!)eat healthily at a restaurant
  8. By all means have a drink, but see if you can avoid wine during the meal. Doing this will reduce the amount of sugar you consume during your meal, which will make the whole thing healthier.
  9. Chew your food thoroughly. Eating out is usually a sociable thing, so make it so. Take your time, enjoy your food, conversation and your company. It isn’t a race – slow your eating down and research shows you will eat less.
  10. If you still crave something sweet after your meal, go for a coffee with sugar. Even a coffee with 2 sugars will be significantly less sugar than a typical dessert, so you can save yourself a whole load of sugar and calories by opting for coffee.

These 10 tips on how to eat healthily at a restaurant give you an idea of how you can still enjoy yourself whilst taking care over your diet. As I have said before, living a healthy life doesn’t mean living a boring life!

Published by

HoylesFitness

Owner of www.hoylesfitness.com. Personal Trainer, Father and fitness copy writer. Working hard making the world fitter and healthier!

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