Essential Tips for Eating Out and Staying Healthy

My friends know I am a ((former)) health and fitness coach and they know I am always (usually) cooking healthy, working out and prepping my meals.  It's always funny to see their face when I order fries or something super unhealthy when we go out to eat.

For me, healthy eating (and healthy living!) is all about balance, not deprivation. I am sure you have heard--and experts have confirmed--80% of weight loss is diet and 20% is exercise. ((So that explains my inability to lose ONE POUND of baby weight by just going to the gym for years! HA!))
Here are my tips for eating out while still sticking to your nutrition plan:

• EAT OUT AS A TREAT: When you are trying to lose weight and stay healthy, eating out should be looked upon as a TREAT, not a regular occurrence. When you only eat out a few days a month, you can afford to splurge a little! Order the fries! Have the bread! When you are on track most days of the month, a few days of eating out won't spoil your weight loss progress.
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• GET YOUR WORKOUT IN: If you’re going out for a nice dinner, workout that morning and stick to healthy eating for breakfast and lunch. Enjoy your dinner and get back on track the next day.  Just because you eat ONE meal out, doesn't mean the entire day has to be unhealthy.
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• STICK TO SMALLER PORTIONS: Stick to smaller portions, take leftovers, and share dessert (if you have it at all). No matter how great it might taste at the moment, the bad post-meal feelings of eating too much just aren’t worth it. Sometimes just a bite or two of dessert is enough to give me my post-meal sweet fix.Need help with portion control?? Read about my Health and Fitness groups HERE! In my groups we learn ALLLL about portion control--it literally CHANGED the way I ate!
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• ASK FOR MODIFICATIONS: Don’t be afraid to ask the waiter for modifications to keep it healthy. Baked, grilled and broiled proteins are usually always an option.
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• LIMIT STARCHES: Instead of getting chips, rice AND beans...choose one or two and skip the other! Double up on protein if you can as it will keep you full longer.
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• DRINK UP: Unless you prefer to drink your calories (sometimes I do!! #wine), choose food calories over drink calories. Water is the best thing you can order....drinking water will help with digestion and help to fill you up--with NO extra calories :)
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• ORDER FIRST: You'll be less tempted to change and be swayed by what others are getting.
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• USE COMMON SENSE (but be honest with yourself!!): Life (and food!) is meant to be enjoyed, so don't stress out about eating out or having a treat meal once in awhile. But also--BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF about your eating out habits. Are you eating out once in awhile as a treat or is it a more regular occurrence?  If it's more of a regular thing, maybe try your hand at having one or two more meals per month at home. I