Don’t be scared of eating outside during your weight loss journey

Almost everyone is eating outside as it’s a way to relax and socialize. But if you are concerned about your body weight or healthy eating, dining out can be a challenge. There are so many outsider outlets or restaurants, convenience and grocery stores, offer a variety of options when eating out. These options makes a larger portion of fast foods and drink in which you get too many calories. It can also increase your intake of saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars. But the best thing is that there are so many healthier options are always available at every food restaurant chain. By following some simple guidelines, you can enjoy your meal outside and still have a healthy diet. You just need to think about the ways to make healthier choices when eating the meal away from home. These are the tricks given below which helps in encouraging healthy eating habits as well as weight maintenance.

Pre-planning

You should think before eating outside about where you will have your meal and what you will select. It will be much easier to make healthy choices if you have already decided your order. Choosing your food before you arrive makes it easier to avoid snap decisions you might regret later and helps in focusing towards your weight loss goal.

Do not go outside overly hungry

You should eat something before going outside for dinner or lunch, just try not to arrive at the restaurant overly hungry otherwise you crave for more unhealthy food as it gives psychological satisfaction. So it actually becomes more difficult to make healthy food choices when you get too hungry.

Say no to the carbonated and sweetened beverages

Generally we take too much sugar in our diets, and it can be quite bad for us. One source of sugar that we really don't need is sugar-sweetened drinks. Drinking sugar-sweetened beverages is strongly linked with an increased risk of weight gain or obesity and type 2 diabetes. If you want to make a healthy drink choice while dining out, stick to water or unsweetened ice tea, buttermilk, coconut water or Jaljeera.

Order a soup or salad to start

You must have soup or a plate of salad before your main course which can stop you from eating too much. The effects of eating soup before a meal have shown that it can reduce your total calorie intake by 20%.

Set your portions

It is necessary to think about your healthy eating portion that what you should actually have in your healthy plate. Restaurants often serve portions that are enough to feed two or three people. Order smaller portion or split a meal with someone else helps you to avoid overeating.

Select your dish with healthy cooking method

Cooking method makes your meal healthy or unhealthy and can have a significant impact on the amount of calories it contains. So you have to concern about the cooking style whenever you go outside. In that case order foods that are steamed, broiled, grilled, stir-fried, or roasted. During the selection of salad plate, avoid items like grated cheese, potato salads, cream dressings, bacon bits, and croutons. Use a squeeze of lemon instead of dressing on salads. You can also enjoy desserts, for that order sorbet or fresh, fruit custard or seasonal fruit without whipped cream or a topping.

Slow down and chew thoroughly

Chewing your food thoroughly and eating slower could help you eat less, atleast give 20 minutes for eating your meals. It can also make you feel full more quickly and try counting a minimum number of chews per mouthful to stop yourself from eating too quickly.