Eating Out!
Eating out totally blows our nutrition plan, right? Well, often, YES! But it doesn’t have to! I eat out for business lunch occasionally, and of course I have date night with my wife or family dinner out occasionally. So do I throw my Tap & Track out the window and just let loose on these occasions? No way! I’ve worked to hard to let that happen. I plan ahead, do my research, and make sure that even though I eat lunch out, I will exactly hit my caloires, protein, carbs, and fat for the day!
I’ve put in some effort and researched the restaurants I frequent to find the healthiest options so I’m not forced into a corner when I get there. Most restaurants post their nutritional info on line, and you can look ahead of time at the menu choices to find something that will fit in your daily plan. Will it be chips and queso? NO! But you can still eat out and enjoy yourself without feeling guilty afterwards!
Often, you can do well with grilled chicken salads (assuming you skip the dressing, cheese, and croutons). Soups can be good, as well as sandwiches on wheat bread (but be careful about the toppings). You are usually safe with steamed veggies of all kinds. Sauteed veggies will be packed with fat though so avoid them! Fish and steaks are good too, as long as you look at how they are prepared. You can get a lot of fat and sugar that is hidden in the way a food is prepared. For instance, at my favorite Asian food restaurant, I can turn a fattening meal into a very healthy one by ordering it with brown rice instead of white/fried rice, and by asking for my meat to be cooked “STOCK VELVET”, meaning that instead of the crispy coating, the meat is boiled. It still has the spicy taste to it, but has way less fat and carbs. Try this if you are an Asian food fan!
Eating at home is always safer, but if you are willing to plan ahead and resist the temptations while at the restaurant, you can survive eating out without the guilt and without the extra pounds that often plague those who eat out!
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8 Responses to “Eating Out!”
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Coach,
good post here – i think most people are afraid to eat clean because they wont be able to go out and eat at thier favorite restaurants. This is mostly true because us americans love our fatting foods and super large portions. I feel you can eat healthy almost anywhere if you TRY. thats the hard part asking for the healthier choice items instead of going for the easy way out and get”todays special item” which is never a healthy choice. I think im going to turn into a subway sandwich – i feel thats my only place i can be in complete control of what i get there, roasted chicken 6 inch whole wheat with lots of veggies and spicy mustard-(no chips or drink, just water) thats my going out meal. Do your research and you can eat out – i choose to eat at home because its safer with less temptations
“DO WORK”
God Bless
Paul Mason
Nice post Coach. Funny you mention chips and queso. We have a Mexican restaurant here that is very popular. The first time I went in there I hadn’t done my homework and I was staring at the menu like I was playing some world championship chess match. Nice tip on the stock velvet as well, wasn’t aware of that.
Congrats on the diamond bump up as well. I must have missed that one over the weekend. It’s not the same reading updates from your phone…or maybe I’m just getting older and the 3″ screen just ain’t getting it anymore.
It’s all good
Coach,Great tips on eating out,I have teenage kids who seem to always want to go to restaurants that involve pizza or pasta and find myself searching for what to eat and sometimes simply wait until I get home to eat right.
Ron H
I have a good example. We were out of town this weekend. We went to a nice local mexican restraunt. I was good and ordered the grilled shrimp fajita salad with the dressing on the side. We also ordered table side fresh quacamole. Hard to eat with out chips right, nothing on the menue healthy right? Wrong. I asked the bar lady for a nice big bowl of fresh raw veggies cut into strips. I got carrots, squash, grean summer squash, red onion etc… I used these to dip my salsa, and avacado dip.
Jeff
Great Post Coach, I like that you mention that you always track your food. This is the only way that folks can know where they stand on their nutritional targets for the day. Most of the time if someone will just be determined to track everything they eat, that alone will lead them to making healthier choices, because they don’t want to have to write down, or enter in a food that blows their diet for the day.
Aaron
Good stuff Coach. I live on the road half the month and spend a large amount of that time in an airplane. I don’t really have the luxury of eating properly as I’m away for 4 or 5 days at a time. I have decided the only way to reach my goals is to mostly eat synthetic food while I’m flying and hopefully get 1 or 2 real meals a day. Right now its mostly the grilled chicken salad when I get a chance lol. The Shakeology seems to be a good substitute that I am going to try. Even my neighbor who writes for an organic food magazine was impressed with the ingredients when I showed them to her. So protein bars and Shakeology is what it’s going to be for me for a good portion of my month. Any other synthetic foods or dry food suggestions would be great. If the astronauts can do it so can I. I will share the results and my progress. I’m starting week 4.
Hey Coach! Quick question: unfortunately my boss takes us out for lunch every day, and it makes it a little tricky (but manageable if I just eat salads) for counting calories. I just ate a salad at a sit down restaurant. When I asked if they had nutrition info they said they didn’t have it. Do I just estimate the calories I consumed?
Thanks coach.
Yes Zack, on things like mixed salads, you just have to get a feel for it over time and guesstimate. The good thing is that no one ever got fat eating salad, so even if you are off a tad, you will still not undermine your diet.