Diet Guidelines For Eating Out

Eating out can be troublesome when watching your weight. Restaurant food and take-away food packs a bigger calorie punch than the equivalent home cooked meal. That doesn't mean you cant eat out and enjoy it, you should be able to do that and maintain a healthy weight.

Number one rule, do not eat out often!!!!

It's not what you want to hear I understand that, but stop and thing about your goal for a minute... If you have watched Masterchef, like I have, you start to get a sense of just how calorie rich those lovely meals are. Most of us are not active enough to wipe off the calories we consume eating out on a regular basis.

However, when you do eat out enjoy yourself and try some of these simple guidelines.

1. Limit yourself to one of the following: an entree/appetiser, a drink, a dessert.
2. Don’t order dessert when you order your entree and main. Only order it after you've finished your main, take time to assess how full you are. Perhaps you will feel differently about that dessert once your belly is full of vegetables.
3. Don't eat bread from the bread basket.
4. Always get toppings like butter and salad dressings, in side plates.
5. Switch between glasses of water and glasses of whatever else you're drinking.
6. Always be the last one to start eating and put down your fork after every bite. Talk between mouthfuls, drink more water and generally savor the experience rather than eating like it is a race.
7. Watch the person at your table who eats slowest and use them as a pacesetter throughout the meal. Can you eat slower then them?
8. If you're served unhealthy sides like chips, discard half as soon as you receive the meal, eat only the remaining half. (If only the Labrador would sit quietly under the table!)
9. Get into the habit of leaving food on the plate. A tough one if you have been raised with the "eat everything on your plate or else..." parenting. The truth is, you are not being wasteful, restaurants generally serve far above a sensible portion for a meal, so we have to make a decision for ourselves about the right portion size.
10. Only order dessert if someone will share it with you. (Keep in mind that the best part of dessert is the first two bites.)
11. Come up with "food policies": personal rules that don't allow exceptions eg: "I can only buy brekkie and lunch twice a week incl. weekends)."
12. Create food trade-offs- such as: "If I buy my breakfast or lunch, I must add 20 minutes to my regular workout time."

Special thanks to Women's Health Magazine for contributing to this list.