Restaurant Panic? These Tips Will Help You Stay on Plan

Healthy Restaurant Eating

Tips:

These are the tips and tricks that have helped me along the way so that I could survive and enjoy going out to a restaurant:

1. Don’t go Starving: If it can at all be avoided, do not go when you are famished. When you are extremely hungry, your stomach is growling and you feel like you are going to get sick, all bets are off and you are going to eat whatever the heck you want and have regret about it later.

2. The Bread, Chips and Biscuits are NOT your friends: Before you eat, filling up on bread is not going to help. One breadstick at the Olive Garden is 140 calories and you never eat just one. Those biscuits at Red Lobster are 160 and tons of fat. Skip them and ask the waiter not to bring them or take them away.

3. Obey the DDP: One of the greatest things I learned from is DDP. Dip Don’t Pour. Take the tines of your fork and dip them into the dressing, then your salad. You will get just enough flavor and will use less. Typically restaurants will give you a double serving of dressing. You don’t need it. Always, always ask to have dressing on the side. Never let them put it on for you. This has done WONDERS for me.  You will be shocked at how much less dressing you use.

4. Always ask the waitress: Don’t be afraid to ask how something is prepared. If they tell you it’s tossed in oil and salted ask them to grill it and don’t put any salt on it. They will do it. If you see veggies on the menu, even if it says steamed ask if they are salted. Put all your sauces on the side. If they can’t do it, I highly suggest ordering something else. Remember too much salt makes you retain water and swell and restaurants usually COAT things in sugar.

Hope these tips make eating out a little easier for you.  Cheers!