Eating Out Can Be Hazardous To Your Waistline

Going out to eat can really put the brakes on your weight loss
program unless you have exceptional control over what you eat.
Although many restaurants now offer choices for many types of
diets, it’s whats on the rest of the menu that might tempt you
to stray. Often high in salt, sugar and oil most restaurant food
tends to be higher in calories that what you might prepare for
yourself.

And Americans are eating out more and more. According to Dr.
Caroline Cederquist, a physician who specializes in weight
management, less than 20 percent of the calories Americans
consumed were eaten outside the home in 1978 but in 2003, that
number had climbed to 50 percent. Combine that with the fact
that obesity in Americans is growing each year with as many as
two thirds of Americans being overweight and you might come to
the conclusion that eating out can be hazardous to your
waistline.

One problem is that restaurants often serve huge portions. That
combined with the fact that we have been conditioned to clean
our plates can result in a huge weight problem. You may feel
morally obligated to eat everything on your plate –even if your
health and your weight might suffer as a result. If you eat out
a lot, you may become accustomed to these large portions and
start to eat like that at home as well.

Another problem with restaurant eating is that they often serve
bread or rolls – and usually not the healthy whole wheat kind
either. Now, when you know you are going out to eat, you
probably eat less throughout the day or delay or skip eating and
by the time you get to the restaurant you are starving. So what
do you do when they bring the rolls? Of course, you dig in
eating way to many rolls.

You might be dining with a group that likes to savor the
experience and order appetizers before the meal but did you know
that restaurant appetizers tend to be extremely high in
calories? For example, a basket of fried onions can have a
whopping 2,000 calories. Eat a few appetizers to be polite and
you’ll have to run the treadmill for hours to work it off!

Many restaurants now offer free soda refills. Plus the soda
glasses tend to be large to begin with so you are receiving
greater servings of this sugary beverage. The tendency may be to
order seconds because it’s free and you want to take advantage
of that but remember, just the soda alone can put you far over
your daily recommended allowance of calories for weight loss.

Perhaps the greatest restaurant challenge to any dieter is the
buffet. With so many choices you may be tempted to get one of
everything! Since you can go back as many times as you want you
might overindulge. You want to make sure you get your moneys
worth, right?

So what can you do if you must eat out several times a week?
First of all, make sure you stick to your diet plan. Don’t give
in to eating wrong foods “just this once.” Choose entrees that
have lots of vegetables and avoid dessert entirely. When your
meal comes, set half aside immediately and even ask for a doggy
bag right away so you won’t be tempted to eat the second half
when the first is done. Don’t starve yourself before going out
to eat and you will be better able to avoid eating those rolls
as well as overeating when the meal comes. If you are not
starving when you order, it will be easier to order a healthy
meal an stay away from fatty, high calorie entrees.

Generally, if you stick to sensible and healthy eating patterns
both at home and when eating out you will be developing good
eating habits that will help you lose weight and keep it off for
life.

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