Wellness Tuesday: 5 Ways to Cut Calories When Eating Out

Last week, I shared how we cut half of our calories by cooking instead of ordering out.

However, there are still plenty of times when we eat out.  A meat and three, Mexican and Chinese are some of our favorite meals.

If you eat out on a regular basis, you know how large the portions most restaurants provide.  Our society has become accustomed to eating this much food and our girth is a telling sign of this.  This has definitely been the case for me.

I have discovered a few tricks when eating out that helps:no chips

  1. Share a meal with someone—often I will share a plate with Mama.  We discover that we are both pleasantly satisfied without feeling stuffed.
  2. Eat half the meal and take the other half home—this is a great way to make two meals, in addition to saving calories
  3. Ask the waiter or waitress to box up half of the meal before bringing the meal out
  4. Ask the waiter or waitress not to bring chips and/or bread to the table
  5. Drink a glass {or two} of water while waiting for your meal to be delivered
  6. A bonus trick: Stop to listen or speak with your companion between bites.  By eating slowly, I give my stomach the necessary time to realize it’s full.

Of course, the most important thing is to make healthy choices when ordering.   There are days I do really good with this and other days when I fail terribly.

Join the Conversation: How do you cut calories when eating out?

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