A lot of people tell me that they struggle with losing weight because they eat out so much. My first reaction used to be, “Well don’t eat out then”. Haha, I know. I recognize that it is flawed to an extent. What I really should have said is if you have a choice, do your best to eat home cooked food as it gives you the greatest control over what you are eating. When eating out be mindful of your meal plan and do your best to eat within those parameters. Some of my clients have ‘cheat meals’ or ‘reward meals’ at certain times. These are basically meals where they can eat anything outside their meal plan. These should be eaten within reason of course. You certainly do not want your ‘cheat meal’ to completely undo everything you have worked on all week. That is to say, do not go all out and drink a bottle of wine and eat chicken alfredo, fried calamari and tiramisu. That alone will make you gain a couple of pounds in one sitting. A ‘reward meal’ serves to take the edge off, fulfill the desires you have had for a certain food and allow you to feel free and at ease eating out with friends and family. It should not be an all-out pig fest.

Recognizing that many people lead busy lives, are out an about and have to eat out more often than they eat at home, I wanted to give some pointers on how I stay in control of how I eat even when I eat out.

1.       Check the menu before you go
I find it helpful to look at the menu of the restaurant you are going to before I go. This allows me to make a choice without being influenced by the pictures, what others are eating or the awesome special the waiter has been paid to sell. Many restaurants also have nutrition information on their websites. Believe me; you’ll think twice about eating that chicken alfredo after seeing that it can sometimes contain a whopping 3000 calories!

2.       Eat a small snack before you go
There is nothing that can blow a diet faster than being in a restaurant feeling hungry. I’m given the menu and suddenly everything looks good. I have discovered that I think clearer when I am not hungry and can make wiser food decisions. I now keep a stash of nuts in my car and I’ll eat a few just to take the edge off. I also try to have fruit on hand which I’ll eat before I get to the restaurant.

3.       Put the fork down.
Those who know me know that this is my favorite saying. In all honesty, many of the restaurant portions are contain 2 or 3 servings. I DO NOT attempt to finish off everything on my plate. I DO divide the dish in half and choose to take the rest to go. I DO share a plate with someone else. I DO stop eating when I am full.

4.       Choose vegetables over starches
We have been trained to always eat a vegetable and a starch. But if at all possible, I try to eat a vegetable and a vegetable. That is, I order chicken, fish or steak and choose to forgo the rice, potatoes and pasta and double up on vegetables.

5.       Avoid creamy sauces and creamy dressings
A salad with a ton of creamy dressing is NOT good option. Vinaigrettes are a better option than creamy dressings. When I eat out, I usually ask for the dressing on the side and use it sparingly. I like to drizzle some vinegar or squirt a lemon over my salad

6.       Grilled and Baked
I also avoid options that are fried and sautéed and instead opt for food that is grilled or baked. And just for the record, I discovered that food that is ‘lightly fried’ or ‘flash fried’ has definitely been completely submerged in cooking oil and therefore regardless of how they label it, it is still DEEP FRIED. Go figure, so I now avoid anything fried regardless of how creative they get with the labeling.


As I have said before, I believe that most things are ok in MODERATION. However if you are in weight loss phase you have to be a little more careful of what you are eating. Sticking to your meal plan is what will ensure your success in losing weight. In essence if you must deviate, deviate thoughtfully and carefully. Once you have reached your goals it does not become a free for all. You don’t want to go back to old habits but you want to remain mindful of how and what you are eating at all times.  Hopefully this little guide will help you stay in control when you eat out. Let me know how it goes.

Picture this, the year is coming to an end, I would sit down to make a list of all the things I wanted to do including reading more books, getting a new job, going sky diving and losing weight. Year in year out I would have different things on my lists and somehow losing weight always made it back on the list (as you can see from my pictures). I am at a place where I can now look back and think of all the things that I did that kept me fat. Most of these things were done unknowingly and I truly believe lots of people are doing these things in one form or another.  
 




1.      Crash Diet
I was the queen of going on crash diets whenever I had a vacation or big event coming up.
Why it didn’t work: The problem with doing this is that I would follow a set of rules for a certain amount of time and throw them out of the window when I reached my goal.
Solution: I experienced drastic weight loss when I took the time to understand food and make a lifestyle change. I have been able to maintain my current size for over a year and don’t feel restricted in any way.

2.     Counting Calories
The premise behind counting calories is fundamentally a good one. In order to lose weight, calories out need to exceed calories in.
Why it didn’t work:  I reached a point when my sole focus was on a number and not the quality of food thereby setting myself up for failure. The truth is anyone can slash calories and eat less and less food but that has negative effects on basic body functions and overall well-being.
Solution: When I began to focus on eating more of the right food and creating balanced meals that contain key nutrients I lost weight fast. Interestingly, I lost the most amount of weight when I began eating more food.

3.     Too Many Bites and Nibbles
On their own bites and nibbles don’t add up to much. I would reason with myself and say oh, it’s just an extra teaspoon of peanut butter, surely it shouldn’t matter.
Why it made me fat: While I understood the importance of balance and allowing myself a bit of something that I was craving so I didn’t feel deprived and go crazy there still needed to be some structure to it.
Solution: I found it was best to eliminate bites and nibbles and schedule a treat/cheat item once a week. That way I knew it was coming and when it came it remained structured so I could continue on my meal plan without getting seriously derailed. I recognized that I needed to allow myself these items in order to make weight loss easy.

4.     Not Measuring Food
Even after I learnt how I needed to eat and what I needed to eat I used to slack on my serving sizes. I would eat half a rotisserie chicken and argue that protein was good right.
Why this was problematic: While I understood the right combination of foods to eat, I was exceeding optimal caloric intake. The healthy foods I was guilty of eating too much of were oily fish, nuts and fruit.
Solution: When I became more mindful of the appropriate serving size and measuring the food I ate I lost weight with no problem. I also learnt not to have too many calorie dense foods in one day and to space them out appropriately.  

5.     Eating Out Without A Plan
Everyone who knows me well knows that I love eating out. For years this was the thing that made it difficult for me to lose weight.
Why this kept me fat: When I ate out I repeatedly fell into several traps. These include ordering what everyone else was ordering, sharing plates with people who were not watching what they were eating and being tempted by the pictures on the menu and ordering something that would clearly be bad for my diet.
Solution: Most restaurants have a menu on their website. I became diligent about looking at the menu before I went to a restaurant and would make a decision without too many external influences. Sometimes I decided against going to a restaurant if I knew there was nothing healthy for me to order. 
 
6.     Setting Unrealistic Goals
I used to set unrealistic goals for myself and was bitterly disappointed when I didn’t achieve them and would throw the towel in. For a long time my unrealistic goal was that I wanted to be thin.
The reason why it kept me fat: It was such an absurd and unrealistic goal that I embarked on drastic and unhealthy tactics to achieve it. With periods of extreme deprivation came periods of extreme binge eating and the cycle continued
Solution: When I set the small goal of simply losing 10 pounds I was kinder to myself and allowed myself to take a  practical approach to achieving it thereby giving me successful weight loss. 
   
7.     Not Planning Meals for the Day
After I had learnt the right foods to eat I still carried on about it rather aimlessly and ate whatever struck my fancy. Most times I had healthy food in my house but it the meals remained unstructured.  
Why it kept me fat: I discovered that I would over eat whenever I threw my meal together randomly. By the time it was lunch time, I had forgotten how much I had eaten at breakfast and put together food without any thought about how it worked with my previous or future meals.
The solution: When I started to create meal plans it helped because I knew in advance what I was supposed to eat at different times, I was more likely to stick to my plan and less likely to over eat. 

Are you doing some of these things and keeping yourself fat? What commitment will you make to yourself to help you eliminate these bad habits and see amazing changes?