Valuable Tips: Eating Out & Sticking to your Eating Plan - Stay On Track & Succeed!

We've all been there. You're on your eating plan and doing well. Food prep is going smoothly, you are hitting your daily targets and feeling motivated. And then we receive invitations to dine out and you're wanting to join.
What to do when you feel that you may veer off of your plan and possibly sabotage your goals?

Dining out can be pleasant and satisfying, and you can honor your eating plan if we follow some clear parameters to keep us on track.

Here are some tips and ideas to help all of us who are following a diet or healthy eating plan (clean eating) and are dining out.

Earlier on the same day or 1 day in advance:

• Review the menu in advance – Check out the menu online if possible and assess which is the best dish for you.

• Plan/Strategize Ahead - Plan out your meals and caloric distribution for the day so that you can identify how much you will budget for dinner. Chances are the dinner (meal X) will be higher in calories even when you estimate and will likely contain more fat than you can accurately estimate. This is especially true since it's not entirely feasible to weight your food at the dinner table. 

Psychological, Mental & Emotional Preparation is key:

Prepare yourself mentally and emotionally - Set yourself up for success with Positive Vibes in advance. 

Decide in advance of sitting at the table on how you want to feel. Example talk to self: 

• "By the end of the dinner I want to feel light and satisfied, I want to feel good, proud of myself, I want to enjoy the company of other diners. I want to appreciate this special moment and opportunity to take in fine food."
• "I want to eat well and make healthy choices that are aligned with my health, wellness and fitness goals. 
• I trust myself to make the best possible choices knowing what I know about good food selections. I can do this. I trust myself to make the very best, ideal choices for myself tonight. It's going to be OK. I'm going to be fine. It's alright and I feel good about this new experience. I've got this and I can do it. Most importantly, I WANT this and I believe in myself. 
• I am my own partner on this wellness, health, fitness journey. I trust myself! I love myself and I can do this. It’s going to be fine.

When seated at the table & you’re ready to order: This is where your power lies.

Make savvy choices when you ready to order. Here are some pointers that can support you in more easily and effortlessly making the best choices aligned with your goals:

• Simply ASK for what you want - Inform the waiter directly: "You know, I'm really careful with my nutrition. Can you please recommend the lightest or "healthy" dish available tonight? That with the most veggies and least oil/fat? The waiters typically know which dishes the restaurant would rate at on the 'healthier' side.

• Salads - Look at the salad options and if it’s enough for a main course, pick the salad. Request dressing on the side which includes oils. If there is a protein, ask how it is prepared to avoid inadvertently ordering fried options. Ask for grilled, steamed or boiled options (same for the vegetables).

• Appetizers - Try to avoid appetizers since these are normally small bites packed with loads of fat and calories but which will not fill you up as you will then have a Main Course (correct?)

• Inquire on the Cooking Method - Request grilled, boiled, smoked, or steamed options. Bypass the sautéed, fried, deep-fried, pan-fried, seared, buttered, breaded or such ‘rich’ sounding dishes. The restaurant will typically be generous with the oils/butter they use when preparing their dishes and this is true from simple restaurant to 5-star cuisine.

• Request grilled or steamed with little to no butter/oil. Mention, if need be, that you are allergic to excess oil/butter.

• No Fried Anything - Be wary of and avoid dishes that are deep-fried, or with a complicated-sounding sauce, especially because sauces are made with fine ingredients like butter, oil, cream, milk, etc.

• Sauces/Dressings - Request all sauces and dressing on the side so you can then control the amount you decide to ingest. You can sample the sauces, and thus not deprive yourself, by using the Teaspoon as a measuring tool.

• Avoid dessert. You do not really need it, do you? If you can exercise self-control then only take in 1-2 bites and call it a day. Desserts will be energy-rich no matter how you slice it and any dessert can easily add 100-500 extra calories, unless you choose simple fruits (without creams, sauces, or other accouterments, etc) - bear this in mind! 

You made it through the main course making healthy, mindful options; don't squander your excellent effort by consuming excess calories at the very end. Furthermore, if this is dinner remind yourself that desserts are pure sugar; large quantities of sugar consumed at night will have you buzzing with energy the rest of the night and thus interfere with getting deep and restful sleep. 

• Alcohol – Alcohol/Spirits contains calories and carbs (sugar) and thus you may want to restrict this particular item from the evening. Beer can cause bloating which you probably don't  want to feel after eating. However, if you absolutely feel obliged due to social/professional pressures, then go for 1 glass of red wine which is easy to account for and contains some positive qualities such as resveratrol which is an antioxidant (antioxidants reduce oxidative damage in the body). However, bear in mind that there are many mixed evaluations on the need to drink wine for its health benefits. You can obtain antioxidants through fresh fruits such as berries.  

   

When you receive your food; the process of eating itself. 

You still have the power to:

• Bless your food and thank life for having it available here and now to nourish your body.
• Infuse your food with positive vibes and trust that it will only have positive, desired, beneficial effects on your fantastic, special and unique body.
• Pace yourself whilst eating; take slow and deliberate bites. No need to rush because if you eat too fast and finish before others you may feel compelled to eat even more food such as bread or any leftover appetizers still on the table.
• Savor each bite. Detect the variety of favors. Appreciate the food that you are eating and its preparation. 
• Appreciate the different food components - spices, ingredients, etc -  all the more if you are dining in an elegant, refined restaurant with a noteworthy chef and top-notch cuisine.
• Engage in conversation with other diners so you enjoy their company and also give your stomach enough time to process the food being ingested.

Finally, may we always appreciate that one meal will not make or break our ultimate success. Overeating in one meal can leave you a bit puffier and bloated for the next day, or feeling mental fogginess if you've eating something completely off of your plan.

The most important thing is to realize that it's about the habits and actions we are taking on a daily, consistent basis. How are you eating every day at each meal? Are you being true to your plan and thus aligned with your goals and vision?

When it comes to eating out perfectionism usually jumps out the window. Rather, it's about eating as close to ideally as we possibly can. The more you practice and experience what works for you, your own psychology, your own triggers and your own strengths and weaknesses, you become a more skilled eating-out diner.

For those of you who must constantly eat out for business and social reasons, then you will definitely want to be more strict (dare I say militant) about your nutrition and eating with the above ideas in mind.

Practice, reassess and see how your progress goes. And if eating out if really complicated for you then do not do it as much - you can always say no and meet you friends and others within another context that does not revolve around food.

Wishing you the greatest health and wellness! 

Jennifer

Personal Power Life Coaching