Hi Everyone!!! Hope you all had a fabulous weekend! I realize it has been a little while since I have posted. I wish I could say more about what has been going on in our lives but honestly, we have just been crazy! …So busy going in many different directions and moreover, a TON of events! I think we realized that we have had/have something every day of every weekend in June and along with being busy at work, it has us going non-stop… But all fun!!! This past weekend we spent in Long Island where my BIL was graduating college! The weekend started off with a cruise around the Hudson and we ended the long weekend at Gallagher’s Steakhouse in NYC! SOOOO fun and delicious! Along with all of that, I just completed one of the certifications I was working on. I am super excited about this as it is a huge milestone in my business!
Along with all of the craziness going on in life, I recently have been thinking about struggles and where people fall down in regards to weight-loss and one of the conclusions I often talk to people about is: eating out. This time of year is usually super busy for people, yet we all are trying to look our best for the summer, so I thought there was no better topic than to write on dining out today!
Dining out is something that has become so common, more than ever but when you think about it, meals out can often make or break a healthy lifestyle. While dining out is often delicious, it’s also the social aspect, the convenient aspect, among many other things that make it so appealing to both individuals and families. I do know that when trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle, dining out can often be daunting, overwhelming and saboutaging! With bread baskets being passed around and delicious desserts, it is not always easy to navigate and healthy choices can often be pushed to the wayside.
With many different daily lifestyles, sometimes eating out is unavoidable. Typically I tell clients that are trying to lose weight that they should really try to avoid eating out when possible because it is often very hard to stick to a plan and besides that, since we are not in the back of the kitchen preparing the meal ourselves, how do we REALLY know what is going into it? We don’t! For me personally, I have learned to adapt because often between work events, it is unavoidable. I don’t mean to not practice what I preach here but basically I have come to adapt these few rules for when you dine out that I think you may help you too!
– I clearly… love food.. so I am usually interested in the menu before I even go to a restaurant. From a health perspective, I would recommend looking at the menu of where you are going to dine out prior to you arriving. I enjoy creating a plan so I find if I look over the menu in advance, I can easily find something on there that is good and then I let it settle in my head for a bit so that when I get to the restaurant I already know what I am getting so it does not require any thought and I am also not influenced by other people’s food choices. If you wait until that point where you are starving and searching for a menu item, it is often too late and you will most likely pick something you would not have if you had planned ahead of time.
– Skip the pasta and choose an entrée with lean protein. Go for the fish, chicken, filet, etc! Then add a salad or steamed veggies and a baked potato instead of mashed potatoes. Since American portions are often MASSIVE, I will typically eat half and take half home! Seems difficult to do but once you get in the habit it’s easy! For me, this has become routine.
– Enjoy the company you are with and enjoy the atmosphere. SLOW DOWN!! Relax, and enjoy every bite of your food. It will help you feel full and take longer for you to finish!
– Try not to go to any restaurant STARVING. I’m sure you all know the deal when it comes to going food shopping when you are hungry. Most likely, you get items you would have not gotten if you went when you were not hungry. You overdo it! Same goes for when you go to a restaurant hungry. If you are ravishing, you will most likely indulge WAY more than if you were not ravishing. Often, I will have a protein filled snack if I know I am going to be eating later in the evening and don’t want to be ravishing!
– I mentioned this in an Instagram post a while back but if you follow the #alwaysdipneverpour rule, you will save yourself a lot of fat and calories when it comes to salad dressing or any “sauce”for that matter. I have been doing this for years and it’s a simple way to eat healthier without sacrificing very much. I actually have come to hate salads with lots of dressing now… something about the sogginess! Yuck! Hey! It works in my favor! 😉
Well thats all for today. Hope you enjoyed these tips! Have a great rest of the week!
