Hey everyone. Today's post will be a health post on some tips for eating healthier when you decide to eat out at restaurants. Eating out at a restaurant can be tricky if you want to stay on the healthy side. When you prep your food at home, you are in total control of what goes into your meal. This goes from beginning to end. This starts with the food you choose...organic vs non-organic, grass fed vs grain fed, whole foods vs processed foods, etc. You are also in control of the amount of fat that you add and the type of fat that you choose. Extra virgin olive oil and avocado oil are much healthier choices when compared to margarine or vegetable oils. However, they are also much more expensive. When you go out to eat, you also have to worry about will power. Many places may place bread on your table while you wait for your meal. This is adding extra calories to every meal. You also have many tempting appetizers and desserts to choose from that wouldn't have at home. These temptations can make it hard to eat healthy. Lets get to the tips that can help you the next time you go out to eat.
Believe it or not, you sense of smell could cause you to overeat. If you wait 30 minutes standing near the kitchen with the aroma of freshly cooked steak and garlic french fries wafting in the air, this could trigger chemicals in your body to eat more than if you would have just sat down right away at your table. To help prevent this, make a reservation in advance to help minimize the aroma effect. When you get your menu look for certain descriptive words that describe motion rich adjectives. Some examples include "juicy," "creamy" and "rich." These are seducing words. Descriptive labels increase sales and nudge people to purchase certain meals that they normally would not have ordered. If you have a chance, take a look at the menu ahead of time to scan the menu for healthy objects. You can do this by stopping by the restaurant before hand, or going online and checking the menu out on the Internet. This helps you consider your options without impulse.
Many restaurants are also guilty of giving large sized meals that contain a large amount of calories. These portions are often too large for one sitting. We are designed to eat food when it is abundant. If we see food on our plate, we want to finish it. To help avoid overeating you can try sharing your plate with someone else. You could also try adding a healthy appetizer or a veggie rich salad to your shared meal to bulk up the nutritional content. You could also have half of your meal boxed away right away, essentially cutting your meal in half right from the start. One other idea is to order two healthy appetizers in lieu of a meal. Avoid fired appetizers or salads that are skimpy on the veggies and instead, heavy on fillers like croutons, dressings, tortilla chips, etc.
If you order a healthy salad, beware of the dressing. Avoid creamy, calorie laden dressings, and dressing loaded with sugars. Stick with Olive Oil and balsamic vinegar with a squeeze of lemon. You should also stay away from "low-fat" dressings. These are usually filled with ingredients that are not healthy. You also need the benefits of fat to compliment the benefits of fruits and veggies. Lots of the nutrients from fruits and veggies are fat soluble. They need fat to digest in your body. Don't be scared of consuming healthy fats.
Finally, you should change your mind-frame. Use simple tricks like saying "I don't eat that" vs "I can't eat that." When you say you can't do something, you are creating a temptation. Using the word "don't" lends a feeling of control while using the work "can't" sounds more like a forced deprivation. So if you are asked to eat fried onion rings, just simply say, "I don't eat that." Simple words to help you eat healthy.
Well that is all for now. Hopefully you found this useful. If you have any tips please leave them in the comment section. Thanks for reading and I will see you again soon.