Eating Out
A recent survey by 'Mintel', found almost one in five adults in the UK eat out at Restaurants and Bars more than once a week and that on average we spend between £10 and £14 per person on a restaurant meal, and between £5 and £9 for each takeaway.
Choosing healthier foods when eating out or ordering in, need not be a difficult thing to do. It is easy to be tempted by the convenience of high-fat, fast foods, or restaurant fare. Luckily, you don't have to abandon the pleasure of eating out to stay healthy.
Whether you’re holidaying in the tropics or having a night out at the Greek taverna in your local high street, eating something you enjoy and thinking about Weight Loss Maintenance need not be a nightmare.
Plan ahead as much as possible and cut back on what you eat before dining out. This will ensure the calories in the meal will add up to less damage over all. Cut back again the following day, redress what you’ve overdone.
Often, you will find it’s all the little things that pile on the calories when you eat out. The bread roll with butter, olives marinated in oil, side orders of French fries, oil-based salad dressings or creamy, calorie rich desserts. Avoid all these extras and you could save around 500+ calories!
You can often modify the menu!
Many restaurants will be helpful if you ask for any of the fried dishes to be boiled, grilled or roasted. Alternatively, you could try asking for something that’s not on the menu – most restaurants will carry the basic ingredients for many well known dishes (an egg omelette with various optional extras or tuna salad etc).
EAT SMALLER MEALS! It’s really not a crime to leave food on your plate (even though you will have paid for it!). Soft drinks invariably contain 'empty' calories that you don’t need!. Water, sparkling or still, with your meal is better for digestion and calorie intake. Ask for a few slices of lemon in it to make it more interesting. Keep an eye on alcohol; it’s easy to overlook this as a dangerous source of calories.
Dry wine contains fewer calories than sweeter wine. A glass of dry wine has about 106 calories and a glass of sweet dessert wine has a whopping 226 calories. If you should drink a glass of wine before dinner, another glass with dinner (only 1?) and a sweet wine for dessert, you’ve added more than 400 calories to your meal. Beer also has around 148 calories in a pint. If you drink a light beer – like Bud Light, that’s only 99 calories per pint. Enjoy the occasion by knowing you will equally enjoy the following morning when you step on the scales and look in the mirror!
