Have It YOUR Way

When making healthier choices in high-protein foods (such as meat, fish, poultry and eggs), going with lower-fat varieties is half the equation. The other half: how you choose to prepare those foods. Some cooking methods can essentially cancel out the benefits you gained in choosing lower-fat products. Examples are:

Deep-frying chicken
Sautéing meat in a cream sauce
Having some salad with your salad dressing (more dressing than salad!)
Frying an egg in butter.

Healthier methods, on the other hand, include dry-grilling and baking.

Examples: Broiling fish without butter, grilling eggs or meat without any added oil.

This is also why it’s important to know precisely how your restaurant meals are being prepared. Ask the food server how the meal is usually prepared. If you feel the cooking method or ingredients are high in fat or calories, specifically ask for the meal to be prepared in another, healthier way.

To lose weight, you need to take charge of your food choices.  Many times when we go out to eat, our goals to lose weight can be put on the back burner to indulge in food choices offered by restaurants.  While you don’t want to feel deprived, you also don’t want to give in to the temporary indulgences of a restaurant.  For me, it is a challenge to avoid the restaurant mentality of getting back on track “tomorrow.”

Some of the strategies I’ve learned that work for me are reviewing the menu of a restaurant on line and deciding what I will eat in advance.  I then skip the menu and getting caught up in all of the usually unhealthy food choices and huge portions.  Also, by avoiding the menu and deciding what you will order in advance, you aren’t tempted by the photos of the food on the menu.

I also keep the bread they put on the table before you meal away from me.  Even better, I’ll ask the server to skip the bread basket entirely.

I also request a to go container at the same time that I order.  Before I take a bite, I will divide the restaurant huge multiple sized portions.  I will keep on my plate an appropriate portion and put the rest in the container.  By doing this, you avoid to continue eating past a normal portion.  Also, you get more meals at home and enjoy what you ate at the restaurant again.

I’ll also remember that whatever choices I make at the restaurant will stay with me after I walk out the door.  If I succumb to the temptations of eating out, that will show up on the scale and possibly serve as a trigger to continue poor food choices for a few days, weeks, etc.

Eating out is fun.  No cooking, preparation or clean up done on your part.  It can also be a trap for choices that you wouldn’t make otherwise at home.  Redefine what it means for you to eat out as fun.  Rather than food as fun, define fun by enjoying the company of those that are at your table.  Change your focus on food to family, friends, business associates.  Truly, the real purpose of going out to eat is to enjoy the ambiance of the restaurant with those people that you choose to join you.

Remember, you are paying for it so you can choose to have it done YOUR way.  Remember that you are in charge and responsible for your food choices that you make at the restaurant.  You’ll either leave the restaurant feeling awesome about the healthy food choices you made and enjoying the experience without leaving your weight loss commitment in the parking lot.

Believe In Yourself,
Cathy, CLC
Certified Life Coach, Weight Loss Surgery Coach
Back On Track Facilitator