How to Lose Weight While Dining Out

If you dine out because you travel a lot for work, you don’t cook, or you just like to eat out, you’re at a disadvantage since restaurant meals are high in fat and calories and low in fiber. There’s typically a plateful of meat, a heaping of gravy-mashed potatoes or a bounty of cheesy-buttery pasta with a few par-boiled dry pieces of broccoli for garnish.

Whenever I go to a restaurant I look at the dishes other people have ordered so I can see what looks good. I can also see if a meal looks massive, fried or greasy so I can avoid those. At lunchtime last week I saw an obese woman with three entrees in front of her and those weren’t to share. She was eating all three. Not one was a salad so I don’t know if she ordered and ate an appetizer too. If she couldn’t decide which one to order, why didn’t she package one up for dinner? I wanted to give her the web address of my blog, but I didn’t know how she’d respond.

When you eat out, don’t let the waiter entice you into adding an appetizer and definitely decline the dessert! A restaurant appetizer can contain enough calories to be your main meal. Don’t forget that beverages have calories too. Shun the beer, soda, lemonade, and house-special mixed drink; have lemon water, flavored (unsweetened) iced tea or black coffee instead.

Remember to ask how a dish is prepared. There were times when I thought I was getting grilled fish and when it arrived, it was fried. Another tip is to avoid the toppings like croutons and parmesan cheese. Those little sneaky additions add up fast.

I wish more restaurants would give the option of a medium or small entrée because it’s really hard not to clean your plate. Oh yeah, don’t clean your plate!