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Eat Out Without Gaining Weight!
- Don’t go out to eat when you’re starving. Have a low-calorie snack before you leave home, especially if you will be eating later than usual.
- When you arrive at the restaurant, order a large glass of water and lemon slices. If you add a packet or two of no-calorie sweetener, you can make your own lemonade for free! If you order a large soft drink instead, it will cost you about 165 calories every time your waiter fills your glass up.
- No matter where you’re going, have a healthy choice in mind before you get there. Usually it’s best to stick with grilled seafood or chicken. If you do order beef or pork, always remove every bit of visible fat. Every ounce of fat that you eat costs you 250 calories!
- If you order a baked potato, be careful with the butter because each little pat is 45 calories. If you order a salad, be careful with the dressing. Always order it “on the side.” An innocent looking packet of salad dressing can have more than 240 calories so order the low-calorie or fat-free kind if they have it. If they don’t have it, dip your fork in a small bowl of regular dressing, stab a bite of salad, and enjoy.
- Many fast-food restaurants have healthy choices, but some favorites are Chick Filet (grilled chicken sandwich—hold the mayo), Backyard Burger (Hawaiian chicken sandwich—hold the mayo), Taco Bell (bean burrito) and Mc Donald’s (Snack Wrap with grilled chicken). Double cheeseburgers often have 1,000 calories, and that’s without the fries! The good thing is that many restaurants will now let you substitute a small salad instead of fries in a combo.
- Try to stay away from mayo, cheese, cream sauce, fried foods and flaky bread. (Did you know that a croissant can have up to 35 fat grams? As a rule the flakier the bread, the more fat it has in it.) Decide ahead of time that you will only have one piece of bread or ask your waiter not to bring it to the table.
- Consider splitting a meal with someone or ordering an appetizer as a main course to help you to eat smaller portions. You might even order off of the child’s menu if you can.
- When you order, you might decide to ask your waiter for a take-home box so you can box up half of your meal before you start eating.
- Concentrate on enjoying the people you’re with, not seeing how much you can eat. Pay attention to every bite you’re eating. Ask yourself, “Is this good or am I just eating it because it’s here?” Don’t eat anything that’s not really yummy.
- Pay attention to how full you are. Think about how proud you’re going to be of yourself in the morning because you made such good choices and quit eating before you got too full.
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