Healthy Guide for When You're

Eating Out at Your Favorite Restaurant

by Todd Scott, ISSA-CPT 

Training Advisor, Men's Fitness magazine

1. Stick to Lean Meats - When you order out, make sure you stick to lean cuts of meat, preferably chicken, lean steak, or fish. The chances are the chef in the restaurant will be adding oil, butter, or some sort of fattening cooking ingredient to your food. Since you'll already be getting additional calories from this, it's risky to order foods that aren't already lean, since you're unsure of the calorie content that will be added.

2. Be weary of the vegetables - Believe it or not, most restaurants add oils, fat, & butter to even the vegetables. Remember, they're in the business of selling tasty food, and what better way to add flavor to something normally thought of as bland than to add some sort of fattening oil. So, when your vegetables arrive, check 'em out, and make sure they aren't doused in vegetable oil or some sort of butter. Sometimes you may not be able to tell just by looking at the vegetable, so taste it and make sure it's up to par. Which leads to number 3.

3. Don't be shy about making special requests - Now that you have an idea about how the chefs make their food so tasty, don't be shy. Ask for your meat to be grilled without butter, ask for butter for your potato on the side, ask for your broccoli to be steamed without any additives. Most times they'll oblige, and you'll be able to shave a few hundred calories off your already calorie laden meal.

4 . Eat the Protein part of your meal first - It's important that you get enough protein during the day, so be sure you eat this portion first. Reason 1 is that protein will longer lasting satiation, Reason 2 is that it'll allow you to become full before gorging into the carbs (whatever they may be).

5. Ask for a "Go Box" some left-overs - Some people don't like doing this in public, but suck it up. Don't eat everything on your plate, and get a go box to finish your meal later. With restaurant meals packed with way more calories than you'd get if you cooked the food at home, it'll pay off in the long run

If you want to learn exactly how I lost 17 pounds of fat in 17.5 hours, then I suggest checking this out:

17 Pounds in 17.5 hours