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:
- Share a meal with someone—often I will share a plate with Mama. We discover that we are both pleasantly satisfied without feeling stuffed.
- Eat half the meal and take the other half home—this is a great way to make two meals, in addition to saving calories
- Ask the waiter or waitress to box up half of the meal before bringing the meal out
- Ask the waiter or waitress not to bring chips and/or bread to the table
- Drink a glass {or two} of water while waiting for your meal to be delivered
- 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?