Tricks To Eating Less Calories When Dining Out
With our fast paced lives many of us are eating out at restaurants more than ever before. The problem is that many of the meals we are ordering are causing us to gain more weight. Here are seven tips for getting the calories out of restaurant meals while still ordering your favorites.
1. Say NO to super sizing. It is clear that many of the meals we order when we are out (especially at Fast Food Resturants) are larger than they ever have been before. In other words the size you ordered is already too big. Stop super sizing and you'll save money. Other restaurants may not offer a super size but they may offer you a slightly larger plate for only a couple more dollars. In either case many times all you need is the regular portion of food.
2. Skip the bread and rolls. Many causal restaurants still serve a bread basket with your meal. It is best to just skip it, remember you don't need to fill up on ordinary bread when you're paying good money for a meal. The best thing to do is just say no when the waiter brings them to your table. If you try this once you will see how much better you feel when you eat your actual meal. If you must have some bread whole grain is always the better option.
3. Stop Ordering Drinks. Soft drinks are a huge cash cow for restaurants. Soda is nothing but syrup and carbonated water, and you are paying a lot for it. Start saving those dollars. Especially if you're ordering "to go" skip the drink. If you're eating in pick the healthy choice...water.
4. Slow Down You Eat Too Fast. Ever notice how quickly we all seem to eat our meals now days? Take your time, savor the moment, enjoy the flavors. A big part of getting in touch with your hunger signals and learning to eat what really will satisfy is learning to recognize the subtle signs of hunger. You won't know when you're approaching satisfaction if you've gobbled everything down in five minutes. Take a bite then notice how many times do you chew before you start wanting to swallow? Once, twice? Make an effort to chew your food and your body will be much happier. A very large part of digestion begins in your mouth, not to mention you'll get much more pleasure if you let the food linger.
6. Ask for a Doggie Bag at the Beginning of Meal. When the food is served, immediately portion off some to take home for tomorrow. Most restaurants in the US serve way too much. There is no law you have to eat it all. Do this frequently and soon you'll find you're getting an extra lunch out of that meal.
6. Download the mobile app 'Restaurant Nutrition'. If you eat out frequently one tip on seeing what you are eating is to use this great mobile application called Restaurant Nutrition. This application shows nutritional information of over 100 restaurants & 15,000 food items of restaurant foods. There is even a map feature to find nearby restaurant locations. This app can come in very handy, infact one fast food restaurant recently introduced a new burger that clocks in at just under 1200 calories all by itself! Now that's frightening. Droid users can find the app here
Apple users can find the app here
If you really want to get a handle on your weight problem, look first to where you eat, second at what you eat, and third how much you eat. Where, What and How Much? Try these steps choosing one tip at a time, and see how easily you can take some of the calories out of restaurant food.
