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How to have a social life and still be healthy!


Have you ever been trying to lose weight and eat healthy, only to have your friends and family inviting you out for food and/or drinks? And seemingly sabotaging all your hard work??? Well, the good news is you don’t have to be a home body in order to eat well, and you also don’t have to binge every time you leave your house! Here are a few tips for how to eat out at restaurants and still have a social life while staying on your journey to being fit!


1.)    Do your research!



In the age of Google and smart phones, you have NO REASON not to investigate where you will be eating and what their food consists of! 99% of restaurants (both sit down and fast food) have their nutrition information posted on their web sites. In addition, there are multiple apps such as My Fitness Pal and Fooducate that can be used in order to pull up nutrition facts even when you’re not at home. Compare what the various entrees and appetizers consist of and have a game plan for before you go out.  
A sample of a My Fitness Pal entry, you can search for ANYTHING!

2.)    Use a checks and balances system


If you want to drink a glass of wine, skip the pasta or bread. If you want to eat a little dessert, skip the wine. If you want to get an appetizer, keep your entrĂ©e small. Decide what your goal is for that night. For example, if it’s a celebration of some kind and you want to have some drinks, keep your meal very low in carbs and sugar (as you will be getting a lot of carbohydrates and sugar from alcohol).

 

3.)    Ask for alterations to your meal if necessary


It is generally not a problem for a restaurant to adjust your meal. Feel free to ask for changes such as: steaming your veggies in water as opposed to butter, grilling chicken that’s normally served as fried, ask for no seasoning on your steak or meat, have your sandwich or burger to be served with no bun, or ask for your toppings and dressings to be placed on the side so that you can control the portion amount. If your entrĂ©e comes with rice, mashed potatoes or a starch, ask to substitute it for another vegetable. Or if you’re eating at a place that serves chips and salsa or bread before the meal, simply ask for it not to be served. JUST BECAUSE IT’S FREE DOESN’T MEAN YOU HAVE TO EAT IT!!!! It’s not free calories too so skip it altogether!
Texas Roadhouse bread basket... AKA 1000 calories!

4.)    Drinks/ Alcohol


 If you make poor decisions in what drinks you have, you can add HUNDREDS or even THOUSANDS of calories to a meal. For non-alcoholic drinks, skip the sweet tea, lemonades, and sodas. These drinks will add TONS of sugar and calories to your meal. If you opt for more adult beverages, the calories add up even more! Some margaritas can be over 800 calories! Mudslides, Pina Coladas and Daiquiris aren’t much better. Any drink mixed with juice is also a no-no. These drinks are sugar mixed with sugar mixed with sugar! If you are going to drink, go for these options: Light rum with diet soda, vodka with soda water, red wines, or low-calorie/low-carb beers. These drinks are, on average, around 50-200 calories each. 
Some acceptable alcoholic beverages= light beer, wine and liquor (with no juices or sweet and sour added)
 

5.)    General tips:


·         Share a meal with a friend. This immediately cuts your calories in half!

·         Skip dessert. By the end of most restaurant meals, you’re usually stuffed anyway!

·         Watch your portions. Box up half your meal or even order a kid’s meal. (*Bonus tip* box up your food IMMEDIATELY, not after you get full. You’ll likely overeat otherwise and only end up taking home your scraps!)

·         Don’t however, order an appetizer. Most of these are meant to be shared and are very high in calories.

·         Skip the bread and pasta. Stick with high protein and lots of veggies.

·         Don’t eat creamy dressings like ranch or Caesar. Opt for vinaigrettes and light dressings.

·         Ask for white cheeses like jack and mozzarella instead of yellow cheeses like American.

 It's very easy to make eating out fit into your diet plan, just simply make the adjustments necessary to your meal and make it fit into your daily calorie allowance!
And as always follow me on Facebook @ House of Glutes and on Instagram @ anniemc1101.

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