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Picture this: You get a call or text from a friend, saying that they and your whole group of friends are going out to eat to celebrate someone getting a new job, and then invites you! Are you going to join?? If you’re in the midst of losing weight, or figuring out how to maintain that weight loss, you might pause, you might consider saying no. I’m here to tell you that you can say YES with confidence!

Two reasons:

1) One meal will not kill your weight loss. I don’t encourage eating and drinking all the things, but if you have a meal that isn’t fully on your meal plan, you’re OK. Life is meant to be lived, and food is a tool. (If, however, you don’t trust yourself or are still in the first few months, don’t listen to that. You need to build your healthy habits first. Also, keep reading)
2) You can stay on plan at restaurants!! And NOT hate your meal!

One of my biggest fears when I started to lose weight was, “but what about eating out?!” I already struggle with my anxieties around missing out, so what was I supposed to do if I cut a huge social aspect out of my life?! Was I just supposed to eat at home every night and NEVER go out?!? Was I supposed to never have a night where I came home from work and said, “I’m exhausted. Can we just get takeout?” And what about my precious Tuesday nights with one of my best friends, which almost always included take out and Pretty Little Liars?! (The show hadn’t ended when I started this, and I wish it was still on, even if the A reveal was weird. Still not over it.)

After letting those thoughts spiral through my brain, I almost immediately disregarded them, because that sounded silly – to stop my life because I didn’t want to have as much fat on my body. That wouldn’t be a great example for my mini-monster either. No, I was determined to still enjoy life and lose weight at the same time. PLUS, I had to learn how to eat out at some point, because eventually I would be off the program, and it’s best to learn those habits when I was at my most committed. I needed to be more conscious of what I was choosing, and how often we were eating out.

So with that in mind, I present to you my top tips to eat healthy at restaurants! Aka: how NOT to sacrifice your life for weight loss!

Preparation is Key!

There are a few ways you can prep before eating out:

• Eat a healthy snack before you go out! I’m not saying to eat a meal, but eat something small, satisfying, and that will help to fill you up. Think of things like a protein bar, a half of an apple, something easy and light to make the big heavy meals look less appetizing to you.
• Eat light meals throughout the day. If you KNOW you are going out to dinner, eat extra healthy and light meals throughout the day, so you can enjoy your meal.
• In a similar vein: eat a large lunch. If you know you’re going out and you don’t want to go wild, eat a larger lunch so you want to eat a smaller dinner

Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!

Drink a big glass of cold water before you sit down at the table, then drink several glasses of water throughout the meal. Science has shown that if you are drinking water during a meal, you are less likely to consume as many calories as you would if you were not drinking water. Plus, if you are drinking water, you are pausing more and allowing your body to feel full and satisfied.

Cut the alcohol – or at least dilute it!

Alcohol adds so many calories, and by just adding one drink to your meal, it ups your chances of overeating. If you DO choose to drink, because hello, life is meant to be lived, dilute it! I don’t mean pour water into it, I mean drink a lot of water while you drink! Trade yourself sip for sip. Also, choose lower calorie alcohols, like a vodka soda over heavier drinks like beer.

Go halfsies.

Eyeing something delicious, maybe even a little decadent? Split it! Each of you get a salad to start and split your entree. First, your salad (or soup) will be the kick starter to your body sending off signals of satisfaction. Then, you still get to enjoy the decadence, but without the guilt or overstuffed feeling that you (OK I) tend to walk away from such meals with. And as an extra bonus – you save money!

Step away from the bread basket.

Seriously, don’t even let them put it on the table. Just say “no thanks!” when they bring it by – don’t tempt yourself! “But SAM,” I can hear you saying, “what if I am with people who WANT the bread!?” OK – good for them! Ask them to keep it at the other end of the table. Grazing on food is so much harder when you have to make a significant effort (like getting up, leaning over people, or asking them to pass it).

Cus-tom-ize.

Go ahead and order the burger, just ask for no mayo, no cheese, and a lettuce bun. Order the steak and ask for veggies instead of mashed potatoes. Almost every restaurant anywhere will customize something for you, you just have to ask! As a former server, if you come in knowing what you want, even the customization, you will be less of a pain than the table that asks for “just a minute” 42 times.

Talk it up!

The more you talk, the more engaged you are with those around you, the slower you will eat. The slower you eat, the less you consume before your body says, “Full! Stop eating please!” You are less likely to feel the aforementioned overstuffed feeling, and as a bonus, you can ask for a….

Doggie bag!

If you take part of your meal  home, you get lunch the next day AND you’ve split those calories so you aren’t over-consuming. This is especially key when you go to somewhere with huge portions, like most Italian restaurants.

Remember that salad is not always your friend.

It’s so easy to think that salad is the best, most healthy choice at a restaurant. Well, not always. First, you will get sick of it SO FAST and then be more likely to get not so healthy items. Also, trust me that as a former server, there are quite a few salads out there that are WAY worse for you than other menu items (including a burger). If you DO go the salad route, do yourself a favor and get your dressing on the side. That’s where the calories live. They also live in croutons, side bread, and breaded protein. Don’t believe me? Go check out some restaurants caloric information that chains now post…it’s eye opening.

Strip it all down to protein and veggies.

At the end of the day, your healthiest choice will be protein and veggies. May that be an omelette stuffed to the brim with vegetables, a steak with no starch and double steamed vegetables, a burger with no bun or mayo, just keep it simple. The words “protein and veggies” scare people into thinking that what they will get is bland, but there are so many options out there that fall into that category, and at most restaurants, that’s what you would get anyways, but they add a carb.

With all that – are you hungry now? Ready to face the world? Lets loop back up to our original question and start over…

You get a call or text from a friend, saying that they and your whole group of friends are going out to eat to celebrate someone getting a new job, and then invites you! Are you going to join??

Want some SPECIFIC menu items and customization’s for your next trip to a restaurant? How about for FIVE different types of restaurants, like Americana, Mexican, Chinese, Sushi, and the all too carb heavy Italian? Put your email in down below, and I will send you orders off the menu FOR FREE!!!!