Lose Weight by Cutting Down on Restaurant Outings
Most people love going out to eat. It's exciting to try new items without having to lift a finger in your own kitchen. The problem is that you often don't know any of the nutritional information of what you are eating. This doesn't mean that you should never go out to eat again, but if you want to lose weight you may want to start by cutting your restaurant adventures to a few times a month.
Even well done restaurants that use the freshest ingredients tend to use a lot of salt and fats. The salt makes you retain water, which keeps you in permanent bloat mode. The fat adds calories, which keeps the scale numbers moving up, instead of down. The portions are also much larger than what one serves at home on a normal day. Going out to eat should really just be a treat, not a way of life. When you go less often, it's not such a big deal to get the fried shrimp, instead of the grilled. Just keep in mind that going more than once a week makes it that much harder for your body to lose weight.
Now that you managed to cut down on going out to eat, you may be wondering what you will eat instead. For those that hate cooking, try setting aside one day to make up a couple dishes, like stews or casseroles, which you can eat throughout the week. Pasta, rice and potatoes keep well, so try cooking up a batch of these for effortless meals. Try to buy food that has the fewest number of ingredients, in other words, simple, but delicious food. For example, cook salmon in the microwave with a little lemon and pepper, steam a frozen or fresh vegetable, and for a side, use one of your pre-cooked starches. You will have all the control, because you will know exactly how much salt and butter you are putting on your food. Don't worry about buying everything low-fat or no-fat. You have to try really hard to match the calories of your favorite restaurant. Let yourself use a little sour cream on your baked potato, and cheese on your pasta. The point is to keep your ingredients simple, fresh as possible, and to eat them in decent portions.
If restaurants are an integrated part of your life because of work or convenience, then think about eating the simplest menu items for most of the week. Salads with grilled chicken can be filling. Steamed vegetables without any dressing or seasoning can keep these meals low calorie. Be sure to designate which day you can have a little more indulgence, and make the rest as smart as you can. Having limits for most of the week should also help you lose some of those extra pounds.
If you have managed to scale down how often you go out to eat, then let yourself enjoy it when you do go. Make this a real treat by ordering dessert. Just remember to keep the outing from sidetracking your body by trying to keep at least half of your meal for the take home bag. This will let you enjoy some of your indulgences the next day, but won't leave you feeling like you've undone all your hard work from throughout the week.
No one wants to put restaurants out of business, but face it, with the money you save from going out to eat three or four times a month, instead of nine or ten, you could save a lot of money for clothes in a new size. You'll probably need them, too! Just plan out some meals throughout the week from your kitchen, and you will enjoy your more slender shape. You'll also get to look forward to going out to eat that much more.