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Eating Out While Dieting

Eating out while dieting is tricky, you have to diet properly to get the best results, but it isn’t always as simple as abstaining from all food that isn’t on your diet plan. Occasionally you might be invited to a party where non-diet food will be served, or you might want to get together with friends at a restaurant to catch up with each other while enjoying great food. However, none of this means that you can’t stick to your diet still, you’ll just need to play things by ear and keep your self-control in check.

 

There are a number of ways that you can stay strong when eating out while dieting, and here are some of our top tips for doing just that:

1) Check out the salads

When eating out while dieting, always make sure you take a look at the salads. Salad options are bound to be healthier than big main meals, and if there are ingredients contained within the salad that you aren’t keen on or which could use up more calories than you would like, simply ask your waiter to get the chef to omit them.   However, when opting for salads you will need to watch out for calorific salad dressings such as French dressing, Caesar salad dressing, ranch dressing and blue cheese dressing.

2) Order a starter as a main

This is an excellent way of keeping within your calorie allowance, and you should also find that it takes away the temptation of eating a large main course. A lot of people will go out for a meal and tell themselves that they’ll simply leave half of their main course uneaten, but this can be a difficult promise to keep. Before you know it, you’ve eaten your entire main course and have almost certainly gone over your calorie allowance, but by ordering a smaller starter as your main course, you can eat without the guilt.  

3) Ask for a smaller portion

If you spot a main meal that you love the sound of but you don’t want to have to stop yourself from eating all of it, call the waiter over and see if the chef would be able to serve you a smaller portion. A lot of the time restaurants are happy to deal with the requests of customers as it means they’ll be earning some money and earning themselves a good rep at the same time.

4) Share with a friend

This option works perfectly for starters and main meals like pizzas. You’re sure to have a friend that will be willing to share with you, and that way you can both stay within your allowances and on your respective diets.

5) Avoid the desserts

Though you might be tempted by the dessert menu, it’s best to give it a wide berth. Even if you opt for a seemingly healthy choice such as fruit salad, chances are it would be healthier to simply call it a day after your main meal.

6) Don’t give up hope

If you do go out for a meal and end up overeating, don’t beat yourself up about it too much. Everyone has slip-ups now and then; the important thing is that you don’t let it ruin the rest of your diet. If you use it as an excuse to binge eat in the following days with the thought that it’s already too late to go back, it could affect your diet badly. Simply pick yourself back up again and get back on the dieting wagon.

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