Don't Let Eating Out Derail Your health
In the culture we live in now, it is becoming more and more common to dine out, lunches at cafes, dinner at a restaurant. In Adelaide we are completely spoilt for choice, value for money and food styles and I know this is becoming more and more the norm world-wide. When you travel you also tend to eat out, well, all the time really, don’t you? Unless you make a large effort to go to a supermarket and bring food back to your room.
So how do we do this and still maintain a level of health?
There is no doubt that eating out will put on the pounds and not in a good way. Most restaurants will use vegetable oils, cheap butter and even if they advertise olive oil…most are low grade. None of these fats are good for your body. They contribute higher levels of triglycerides leading to clogged arteries, diabetes and heart disease amongst other things….yet, damn it…we want to eat out!
Like all healthy lifestyle factors, it comes down to choice.
Your choice.
You have the power to eat out, enjoy the company and not gain the pounds. You just need a little bit of knowledge, a little bit of guidance and all the pressure is off.
In a perfect world …..
……… we would all be able to go to a restaurant, order one glass of quality red wine. Ignore the bread. Order a large serve of vegetables or salad and get a serving of protein to join that. All with only quality extra virgin olive oil as a sauce. OR as apparently the French do, go out and order, but eat only a tiny portion of the meal.
BUT… it’s not ALWAYS that easy …
If you can do the above…wonderful, you are fantastic and you don’t need to read further. However, if like me, you are a little less self controlled…well, come this way …. lets real world this …..
Being able to comfortably and easily order healthily when out can’t be forced and rushed…else you are plunged in denial and a binge will come sooner or later….thats a for sure win bet.
Lets make it all painless. Its just like adjusting to a new diet, which really shouldn’t be a diet but a way of eating for life. A new way of eating is best done in stages else you really will rebound straight back and probably past your previous weight.
First - we take this is stages.
This is how I would coach you to do the dinning out (contact me if you would like help with this. Being accountable to someone is really useful)
Play imagine if …
At first, just read the menu and pick out exactly what you would order, if you were picking a meal that looked like the suggested one above. Don’t order it, order what you want, just make sure you have picked what you would if you were right into this. You’ll be surprised that this is actually fine and doesn’t make you feel guilty or anything.
Do this each dining out visit till you are ready to move forward. NO RUSH.
Pretend …
… do exactly as before but this time imagine the plate in front of you and imagine you eating it and jump your mind ahead to how you will feel when you get home tonight. How you feel mentally and physically from having a vegetable based meal that doesn’t require some supersonic digestion. Remember too, that because you did what you set out to do you will get a serotonin dump of happiness because you achieved what you set out to do. (Make sure it only takes a minute of your time at the most)
Then order as you normally would like to. Do this for at least 5-10 dining out visits. Make a list and tick off the times you do this.
Get Veged up!
Now this time you will order as normal BUT with an extra large bowl of vegetables. Eat as many or little as you can. All are ticks on your list….. again 5 -10 visits
Next Habit …
Order as last time but try to just eat the meat and vegetables and skip the white starches. Bread, rice white potatoes and pasta.
Now try to do the above without the sugary or calorific sauces. If you feel brave, order yours without any sauce or oil and bring your own organic olive oil. Organic, unheated olive oil has so many health benefits.
TIPS
Definitely go through each stage at least 5 times each or more if you don’t feel its really easy to do. Take your time to go through each stage (days, weeks, months)…it doesn’t matter, it only matters that you do it most of the time (ie, 95% of the time you eat out, else you are not forming a permanent habit). Move on ONLY when you are positive you actually WANT to and not that you feel you MUST or SHOULD move forward. This is about your HEALTH, not aesthetics (always remember you look your best, your glowing best, when you are healthy)
IMPORTANT:
One of the biggest stumbling blocks to this is the embarrassment or peer pressure of ordering a little differently around friends/ family, even to the waiter/ess. So just say you’ve been having some stomach issues/ pain/ allergies when you eat certain foods, and you are avoiding it for now. Everyone understands that. Friends and family want whats best for you but they generally don’t realise that ‘just this once’ isn’t the most supportive phrase to a healthy body. If they think it will cause you pain or discomfort, no one will press you further.
Finally -
Make the commitment now
Choose a better meal. There are so many temptations…sooo many…and they taste wonderful….however, is that really worth the aches, pains, inflammation, chronic disease? I sound alarmist, but thats exactly what is being invited in. Its easy to ignore because the change is so gradual and we can all get away with it for a while till suddenly we can’t.
So commit to yourself out of respect for your body. Choose healthier, start small. Your healthy body will thank you for it as you will FEEL fantastic ….
…… and enjoy many fun times out with friends for years to come.