Restaurant Survival Guide – Staying On Track While Dining Out

It’s one thing to stay on track when you’re cooking at home but what about when you go out to eat? Whether you’re out to lunch with coworkers, eating in an airport during a layover or on a hot date night with your spouse, I’m going to give you my tried and true tips for staying on track when eating out in a restaurant. Welcome to Liz’s Restaurant Survival Guide!

Before the Meal:

• Scope out the restaurant menu online. More and more restaurants offer complete nutritional information on their websites. In fact, that’s how I learned about Panera’s “secret” Power Menu offering higher protein, less processed items. The Hummus and Chicken Spinach Power Salad is delish.

• If you know you’ll be going out to dinner, eat a lighter breakfast and lunch. For me that usually means a Berry Spinach Protein Smoothie for breakfast and leftover soup for lunch.  Slow Cooker Lentil Soup with Bacon provides a good balance of protein and fiber to give you energy all day.

• Increase your water intake to compensate for the post-restaurant bloat due to higher sodium levels. My friends and family tease me because I’m never more than a few feet away from my CamelBak water bottle. PS: Lemon slices go a long way if you’re trying to boost water consumption!
• Sneak in a workout! And while you’re at it, add a few up-tempo songs to your workout. New studies show a good song goes a long way when it comes to the exercise intensity and duration.

During the Meal:

• ABCD: Appetizers, Bread, Cocktails or Dessert: Pick one, not four. It’s that simple.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for substitutions! As someone who has a background in the service/hospitality industry, I can tell you for a fact that servers want to please you. By making special requests, you are giving the serve an opportunity to go above and beyond which most likely results in a higher tip.
• Start the meal with a salad or broth-based soup. It will add a good dose of veggies and fill you up so that you don’t even want to consider ordering the Oreo ice cream sundae.

• Skip the salad dressing and ask for lemon wedges and olive oil instead.
• Instead of a side of vegetables and a starch, I ask for double vegetables and skip the rice or potato.
• When ordering vegetable sides such as broccoli or asparagus I ask for lemon juice and olive oil instead of butter.
• If ordering a steak or other grill item, I ask them to skip the finishing butter.
• Love dessert? Request extra forks and split it with others.
• Instead of dessert, order coffee.
• Alternate each cocktail with a glass of water.

After the Meal:

• Log the meal into a calorie tracking program. I love using MyFoodDiary but there are many other options including My Fitness Pal, Spark People and Weight Watchers. When you see it in writing, it will help you appreciate the value of each calorie so that you can make even smarter choices the next time.
• Hit the gym. The other day on The Chew, Bobby Deen (who with his mother Paula and brother Jamie have lost a combined 170 lbs this past year!) made a brilliant statement: “Everyone want to go to Heaven but no one wants to die.” He was making the point that we all love delicious food but we don’t all love the price we have to pay on the treadmill the next day.

• Guzzle water. No matter how many great choices you make when eating out, you will always end up consuming more sodium than if you cooked from scratch. Help eliminate the post-restaurant bloat by increasing your water consumption. And no, blood mary’s don’t count.
• Make another date to go out with friends and family. It’s good for the soul and balance is the key to long term healthy living!

Your friends are waiting.