How to Eat Out and still Lose Weight

One thing that is unavoidable is the occasional eating out at a restaurant. This is where many people trying to lose weight run into trouble.

I know some people plan a cheat day once a week and use it to go out to eat. The problem is you can ruin an entire weeks weight loss at one meal if you are not careful.

I have an occasional day where I eat more than I should, usually on special occasions such as Thanksgiving. When I indulge in such a meal I find I will gain 2 to 3 pounds in one day and it takes an entire week to re-lose that weight.

It just isn’t worth it to me to do that on a weekly basis if I want to be healthy.

Say no to buffets

The first rule for me when I started my weight loss journey was no buffets.

For the first year and a half I kept myself away from any buffet. Over the last year I have given in a couple of times with family and gone to a couple Chinese buffets but I always regret it because I have to double my effort to take the weight back off.

Even though I eat less now at the buffet than I did before I started my weight loss journey it is impossible to avoid eating too much because there are too many selections for you to pick from.

Instead of eating at a buffet, go to a regular sit down restaurant where you can order a meal. At a sit down restaurant you won't be tempted to try everything before you like in a buffet.

Eating at a sit down restaurant

The nice thing about going out to restaurants now is at most restaurant’s menus show the amount of calories for each item. That is a great help for those of us who want to live healthy lifestyles.

Still, when you look at the amount of calories in a separate meal it can be overwhelming. Most restaurant dinners can easily be 1200 to 1500 calories. Sometimes I have looked for the item with the lowest calories and it would still be close to 1000 calories.

Sometimes a restaurant will actually have a low calorie menu. I came across one at the Cheesecake Factory. When you find something like that, it makes your life easy.

If you don't have a low calorie selection at a restaurant then here is a way to enjoy a good meal at a restaurant and double your pleasure.

What I do is pick one of the lower calories meals like a fish dinner or one of the smaller steak dinners that are around 1000 or 1200 calories and then on purpose divide it in half.

I cut the meat in half and divide the vegetable and potato or rice in half as I start my meal. Then I will eat half of the meal at the restaurant and ask for a doggy bag to take the rest home.

Not only do I keep my calories within range of where I want it to be, I also have a second meal that just needs warmed up the next day.

Just last Sunday I did this. I ordered Orange beef with plain fried rice. Though the restaurant didn’t have a calorie count listed, my app calculated that the meal would have been around 808 calories. I divided the meal in half and ended up with two meals of 404 calories, well within an acceptable range.

Eating at a fast food restaurant

Normally I wouldn’t go to a fast food restaurant for a full meal these days, but sometimes for a quick bite you can stay within your calorie budget by doing a few things.

First of all, don’t order a combo meal. The combination of a sandwich, fries and a soda is just too many calories.

Secondly, drop the fries. I know fries are tasty but they are loaded with carbs and fat. The way most restaurants make them just doesn’t fit into a healthy lifestyle.

Thirdly, if you want a drink, opt for either a bottle of water, a coffee or unsweetened tea. The sugar in everything else is just not worth it and the diet sodas aren’t safe either.

Also watch what you get for your sandwich. Some sandwiches have enough calories by themselves to equal half your daily calorie intake.

Fortunately in this more health conscience world they now list the calories on the board at most fast food restaurants so you can make an informed decision before you buy food.

When I go to McDonalds when I’m on the road I have two go to sandwiches. The McDouble is 380 calories and the McChicken is 370 calories. I usually get that with a cup of black coffee and that keeps me within my calories count.

There are other choices there as well. Their fish sandwich is 410 calories and their Artisan Chicken is a very healthy choice at 360 calories though it is more expensive then the others I have mentioned.

The point I’m trying to make is if you look around and observe what is offered you can find food that won’t spoil your attempt to lose weight. At Burger King the Whopper Jr. is a perfect size hamburger with only 310 calories, at Wendy’s the Cheeseburger Jr Deluxe is only 330 calories.

If you can get use to the smaller size sandwich then the battle is won.

The full size sandwich will destroy your efforts even if you didn’t get it in a combo. Before I started on this healthier lifestyle I had a favorite meal that I would try to get at least once a week. I don’t even know if I could eat the whole thing any longer. Many of you have probably had it. It is a Whopper with cheese, a large onion rings and a large coke. The Whopper is 730 calories, the Onion rings is 500 and the Large Coke is 380 calories. Combined as a single combo that is a 1610 calories meal. That is close to my daily calorie consumption now for the day and I use to eat that as just one meal! No wonder I was overweight!

What is your weakness? Let me know if I can give you some advice how to control it.