Thread: How to maintain weight when you dine out?

Howdy Friend,

When we are trying to loose weight all our efforts goes down the drain by eating out once. We become happy for eating perfectly during the week and hence plan to enjoy calorie rich food on the weekend and then rings the bells, surprise…. you gained more than what you lost. When the dining out is planned by you, avoid it till you reach your goal. But, if it’s a social function and you just cant say ‘no’, you "can" lessen the impact of, calorie attack.

The restaurants and hotels are there to give satisfaction to your taste buds and make you have a good time with friends and family, with their ambience and service. We tend to choose food not on our dieting plan. Additionally, what they give you is ‘calories’ for keepsake. ☹

Today I intend to give you the cheat codes of the game, ‘Eat Out and Stay Slim’.


PLAN IN ADVANCE
Start planning as early as possible and put aside some extra calories each day, which you can then spend on your dinner commitment. Its like saving money for the day of the need. But don’t do drastic cut downs on your current food plans.

GRAB A SNACK
Grab a small snack before heading to the restaurant. This will curb off your hunger and keep your head clear while you make healthy choices.

SAY NO TO ADD-ONS
It’s often all the little things that pile on the calories when you eat out, a bread roll with butter, pickles, side orders of fries, oil-based salad dressings, cream with dessert or coffee and after dinner confectionary or ice-creams. Avoid all these extras and you could save up to 1,000 calories to start with, without even trying too hard.

STAY AWAY
Avoid starters that are deep-fried. If planning an Indian dinner avoid cheese or butter naan, go for rotis. Avoid dessert including pastry, ice-cream, gulab jamun, have a juice or fruits instead. The best option is not to have anything at all after the main course. All in all try as much to avoid butter, cheese, oil, sugar rich delicacies; they all pack high calorie content.

WHEN ORDERING
When ordering your meal, ask them to adapt a dish to suit your personal needs – after all, it’s what your calories that count. This might be as simple as requesting them to put very less oil in the food dish you order or if possible make it oil free. Avoid ghee (clarified butter). Asking them to grill it without oil or butter, rather than frying it. Give your health a voice and you will stay in shape.

REMEMBER THE WAITER IS A SALESPERSON
Understand what you want to eat, take help from the waiter in deciding your menu but never forget he is being paid by whom and indeed is just a salesperson. Trusting him to get you what you asked is fine. But don’t choose menu without understanding the latent calories.

JUST TASTE IT
Remember the last time, when you were dining out with your friend and he ordered a cheese dripping, irresistible, pizza with amazing smell.... aah...! Your friend told you, just taste it, and you gulped more than half of the pizza. Wait wait wait...

Taste everything in very small quantity if you want to. No harm in trying new delicacies but be aware of the calories and do 'just taste it'. Watch your portion size, watch your calories.

GO FOR THE LEAST DAMAGE
Don’t feel obliged to go for all the courses, either – if you can get away with just a main course, so much the better. Alternatively, ask for two starters and have one of these as a main course. You can go for a soup or some salad.

CHEW CHEW CHEW
Eat slowly to avoid being in everyone’s attention. Also, chewing properly, for more time and eating slowly gives the added advantage of a good digestion. The physical process of chewing food in your mouth helps to break down larger particles of food into smaller particles. This helps to reduce stress on the esophagus and helps the stomach further break down the food at a faster rate. When you chew each mouthful properly, you also release a lot of saliva which contains digestive enzymes. As you release these enzymes into the throat and stomach, you further improve the digestive process. If the food you eat contains any fats, you’ll also start to absorb some of the nutrients with the help of enzymes located under your tongue.

SMART EATING TIPS
Don’t feel obliged to eat everything served since your friend or you have to pay for it.
Leave it no matter what.
Pack away extra food if the host feels you didn’t eat enough, don’t try to finish everything. But that packed away food shouldn’t be eaten by you, give it to some one needy.
If the food you ordered comes in large portion sizes, you can share a portion with a friend.
Enjoy the taste not the bulk (quantity).



WHAT TO DO AFTER EATING OUT?
After you have enjoyed now lets see what can we do to undo the damage.

Burn it before you sleep
Don't set to burn the calories the next day. Instead try walking the same night, that you dined out. It will stop food from turning into fat. Just wear your walking shoes and go for it. 30 minutes to an hour is good.

Go for a Detox Diet
This doesn’t mean you eat as much as you want for a day and then just relax since you can always go for a detox diet to loose weight quickly. I wont recommend it. Detox diets are good once in a blue moon, not as an aid to your frequent indulgence.


Get back to healthy eating immediately
Don't severely restrict calories to make up for heavy eating. That will set you up for deprivation and overeating again. Eat six small, nutritious meals the next day to prevent hunger, keep your blood sugar steady and give you the energy to resist overeating again. Let those meals be of fruits or juices as far as possible.


Add Fiber
Have a small bowl of bran cereal with raisins to help move waste through your body. Because whole fruit has more fiber than juice, have orange, watermelon. Make sure your cereal doesn't have added sugar. Eating sugary foods makes you crave more sugar, which is the last thing you want when you're trying to lose weight.


Drink lots of water
Water will counteract all the toxins in the food you ate, flush out your system and get your diet back on track. Water will work wonders. Avoid drinking water or beverages while eating. Too much liquid in the stomach will slow down digestion. However, you can drink up 20-30 minutes before or after your meal to avoid dehydration the rest of the day.

Munch on anti-bloating foods
Cucumbers, celery, melons and asparagus are low-calorie diuretics that help reduce bloating after heavy eating. Bananas and avocados are also good anti-bloaters because they are high in potassium, which helps counteract sodium.

Exercise
To lose weight you will need to burn calories more than you have consumed. Do a little more exercise than normal the week after heavy eating. Exercise boosts your metabolism, which means you will burn more calories, (good news) even when you're not exercising.


Make sure not to enjoy food the cost of your fitness goals and avoid future feelings of regret. The people who own, operate, work or took you for dinner at a restaurant aren't responsible for your weight. Only you are. Make sure that you're in charge when you eat out.

Think twice, be wise and then ask, Khane mein kya hai?
Let the dream You saw on the dinner table not turn into nightmare on the weighing scale....

Out of Track:
It makes me really happy that my feelings are successfully reaching You. One of the posts got comment with the word Buddy and then the sweet female went on to say that, ' Sapna thats what you want us to be.' It made me smile. Yes! yes! yes! we are buddies.
Whenever you are stuck in your goal or want a little push, you can count on me. Am there with you. Right, Buddy?


Your buddy,
Sapna Vyas Patel