How To Eat Healthy While Out-To-Eat

Ahh, sitting down for a hot meal that you didn’t have to prepare while chasing a toddler. Did I mention being able to sit down to eat? Yeah, that doesn’t happen as often as I’d like it to these days. And is there really anything better than someone else making your food for you? I think not. But do you know you should be ordering? Here are my 8 tips for How to Eat Healthy While Out-to-Eat!

A question I ask my potential clients when starting out together is this; “What would you say are three nutritional habits you have that are keeping you from living the healthy lifestyle you’re desiring.” Almost EVERYONE answers with saying they go out to eat too much or that going out to eat and actually staying on track is a “weakness” of theirs.

But it doesn’t have to be and you shouldn’t have to dread going out for a meal. You can both be thriving in a healthy lifestyle and get out of your kitchen for a meal.

Now there’s a  B I G  difference between going out to a sit down restaurant, and fast food. Although there are tips I can give for how to choose healthy-ish meals at fast food joints, I’ll save that for another day because honestly there are better options for getting healthy food quickly than stopping off for a burger and fries.

So hear me clearly; restaurants are not your enemy. Sure, it’s best to home cook so that you know exactly what you’re putting in your body. However, date nights and social events are a part of life and I do want you to partake in those moments with full enjoyment all while walking away from them without feeling blah!

If you’re like me, mama likes to EAT and when there is food in front of you, it’s hard to say no. It’s just how it is! Good news is there are a few ways you can make sure you leave a restaurant feeling your best and I am sharing them with you today.

HERE ARE MY 8 TIPS FOR HOW TO EAT HEALTHY WHILE OUT-TO-EAT

Tip 1: DETERMINE WHAT KIND OF NIGHT ITS GOING TO BE

What I mean by that is if you go out to eat 3x in one week, allow yourself 2 of those days to be super healthy choices and 1 day to be your “date night splurge”. If it’s a healthier night you can look forward to the day when you’ll allow yourself to get whatever you want. This mindset for me helps with choosing healthier options.

Tip 2: LOOK AT THE MENU BEFORE YOU GO

When we’re picking a place to go out, we always look at the menu first, we skim and scroll until we see a few options that will work for us. If we look at a restaurant and it’s very specific food and limited options, (an example would be an Italian restaurant with only pasta and pizza dishes), we’ll skip it or save it for that once a week date night.

Tip 3: DRINK PLENTY OF WATER BEFOREHAND + DURING

Before we go anywhere to eat I chug a ton of water. This not only fills you up so you don’t overeat but it’s important to hydrate when eating out. You never really know how much sodium is in the food you eat when at a restaurant so drink up!

Tip 4: SKIP THE LIQUID CALORIES

Skip the soda and alcohol when out to eat. If you’re specifically going out for drinks, balance the meal out by ordering a low-carb dish that consists of lean protein and veggies or a salad. Not only are those extra carbs and a whole lot of sugar you don’t need, but it’s expensive! They’re also just empty calories that won’t bring you any nutritional value. I normally recommend my clients stick to 3 drinks a week or less for optimal health if they’re still wanting to life their life and have balance.

Tip 5: EAT SLOWER

It takes 15 mins for certain hormones to travel through you body to let you know you’re full. Eating slowly gives you a chance to listen to your body and stop when you’re full which will happen sooner if you give your body the time to do its job! Taking it slow is better for digestion as well since you take more time to chew your food. Plus, this allows time for more conversation!

Tip 6: PLAN TO TAKE IT HOME

Most restaurants have massive portion sizes. When we are at home it’s much easier to control those portion sizes and when we’re out to eat, we get put in front of us is what we feel we should eat. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO EAT ALL OF IT! Okay? I personally love big portions (which is why I enjoy intermittent fasting so much). Eating slower and allowing yourself to feel the fullness will give you the opportunity to pack it up and take home the left overs. This is obviously more cost efficient too! If your meal was super clean – by all means go ahead and chow down if it’s the proper amount of food for you. Otherwise, set aside some of your meal at the beginning and ask for a to-go box!

Tip 7: AVOID UNHEALTHY WORDS

Avoid words like “fried, drenched, dipped, smothered, slathered” these are normally giveaways that it’s probably not the healthiest option.

Tip 8: WHAT TO ORDER

So what SHOULD you order?!

Treat your meals at a restaurant as you would at home when you’re eating healthy. How I find balance in my life is this: I eat super clean at home Sunday-Friday afternoon. Load up on protein, carbs from veggies and some fruit, and healthy fats. Minimize gluten, dairy, sugar and high fat meats and make your own salad dressings mainly from lemon juice and vinegars.

I also intermittent fast 5 days a week until 11:30am everyday. If you’d like to start on a balanced 80/20 lifestyle where you can absolutely go out to eat on the weekends and enjoy yourself, try this approach! To learn more about intermittent fasting, click here!