10 Top Hacks for Eating Out AND Losing Weight
Do you love eating out often but find it’s a battle to keep the extra weight off?
Are you declining invitations because you’re trying to lose weight?
Do you order grilled fish and salad because you’re on a diet?
Would you love to be able to eat out often AND lose weight?
Then you will love the freedom you can get from using these easy hacks. You will never need to miss out again.
It is harder to lose weight eating out!
Eating out often can be a real challenge for anyone wanting a healthy weight. Foods really are higher in kilojoules. Dishes use more oils, dressings and sauces. Serving sizes are bigger than what we’d have at home. They are yummy and very moorish. Add a relaxed mood, alcohol and good company and it’s easy to forget how full you’re getting. If you like to eat out often (and who doesn’t if they can) you can find you are gaining a few extra kilos each year.
It gets even trickier if you are trying to actually lose weight, because to do that, you need to eat fewer kilojoules than what you use (which is not really so many kilojoules these days).
The answer is to eat mindfully, slowly and just the right amount for eating pleasure.
It’s all about sharing, ordering the right amount, eating smaller and more mindfully
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Share the love!
Choose a cuisine that is made for sharing!
Asian, Middle-Eastern and some European dishes are traditionally put in the centre of the table. This style of eating works well for groups eating out.
Many modern and fusion restaurant menus are now also planned around tapas and shared plates.
Staff can help pick dishes with smaller pieces or larger pieces that can easily be divided. They can also tell you how many individual pieces are in a dish like prawns, spring rolls, duck pancakes). Then you know how many plates to order. The set banquet menu can be a good source of ideas but is usually much better to design your own (see tip No. 4).
Often it’s good to checkout the menu and reviews before you arrive and have a plan in mind to suggest.
Avoid single pieces (like poultry legs, shanks or whole seafood like crabs) unless there’s just a couple or a few of you (and you know each other well).
Having said all that, I’ve never met a dish that I couldn’t share if I have a knife. I know it can get messy, and it doesn’t always work, but tasting platters for two, can become tasting platters for four with just a quick skilled knife manoeuvre. Often it’s better to have lots of smaller tastes even if it means having 1/2 pieces.
This might surprise you – but breakfast is made for sharing! Breakfast dishes are usually twice the size of what you’d normally eat at home – so be bold – ask for an extra plate and share with a friend!
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Ask for what you need!
Restaurant staff are usually more than happy to try to accommodate your needs, if they can. And if you don’t ask they miss out on the opportunity to help and you don’t get what you need.
Often dishes like pizza or Indian breads can be cut into small serves in the kitchen. Sometimes it’s possible to order 1&1/2 serves of a dish if you don’t need 2.
Bread or salad on the side is often possible if you just need a little more to make a meal work for a group.
Do ask for extra plates and serving spoons so you can have everything in the middle of the table for everyone to help themselves to their perfect portion.
My top tip!
Ask for dressings and spreads on the side so you can add them yourself!
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Aim small, taste big!
It can be much more rewarding to try a number of different foods in smaller amounts than to be just limited to one or two dishes, that may or may not be so good. By savouring slowly and eating each mouthful gives maximum pleasure and you leave feeling light and comfortable.
Sharing dishes is great but sharing tasting plates takes it to a whole other level!
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Skip the Banquet
You might be thinking ‘Why not just get the banquet?’ But it’s usually not the best choice.
For a start, you don’t have control over the dishes you get and they can often be fairly ordinary ‘safe bet’ foods that aren’t that special.
But perhaps more importantly, it’s always way too much food and you end up eating more than you really enjoy, and paying for more than you otherwise would need to.
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You don’t have to order vegetables!
There are no rules! No ‘shoulds’! You don’t have order salad or vegetables nor do you have to get the breads or rices!
Only order foods because they are interesting options or compliment other dishes well, otherwise you end up eating them on top of what you really want to eat.
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Order less than what you think!
Unless you eat out rarely, there are plenty of opportunities to enjoy meals away from home in amounts that give you pleasure but leave you feeling light.
It’s so easy to order more than the amount we will really enjoy and to get extra ‘just in case’. And if it’s there and we’ve paid for it, we tend to eat it.
Often we don’t need to order one main per person. Often 3 mains between four is plenty with one rice and bread per two people. It’s easy to get more if you need it.
Usually main dishes are better value than entrees and easier to share. And dessert can feeling you feeling overfull.
However, if there is a really good entree or dessert that’s worth including, considering sharing and cutting back to one main dish per two people.
Having said that, this way of ordering only works if everyone is ‘on the same page.’ If people eat out rarely, are used to eating large amounts or feeling full at the end of meals, it can be too tricky. Sometimes people will prefer just to order and eat their own, especially if they have intolerances, allergies or strong food preferences.
Good to also think about how much different people need. Men and younger people often need larger amounts. The beauty of sharing though, is that everyone can choose!
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Eat mindfully
Slow down and stay aware of how satisfied and comfortable you are feeling
The first mouthful is always the best, but only if you enjoy it with all your senses. Notice the presentation, textures and flavours as you eat.
Best not to talk and savour at the same time. It’s hard to do both well.
But chatting between mouthfuls is a great way to eat more slowly and so is taking a sip of water between mouthfuls or putting down your cutlery. That way, you give your stomach time to give you catch up – there’s always a lag.
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Dishes in the middle – let everyone serve themselves
This way, everyone can take just the right amount for them. Ask for extra plates and serving spoons.
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You don’t need to finish it all
If dishes are left in the middle of the table, once everyone’s taken what they will enjoy, you can often take anything you loved with you to enjoy again later. This also helps reduce food waste – a win for waistlines and the world!
Indian curries make great Kathi rolls. You don’t need much of these tasty sauces. A couple of tablespoons with salad, a little cooked rice and yogurt, rolled up in a wrap the next day is delicious!
And if you prefer to just leave what you don’t need, it can help to know that most of what you pay for covers the costs of being there and the food creation rather than the amount of food itself.
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Don’t head out hungry – take the edge off your appetite
It is much easier to order well and eat the amount you will enjoy, when you don’t let yourself get too hungry before you go out. In petrol tank terms it’s like staying between 1/4 and 3/4 full. Sometimes it even helps to have something small to eat, to tide you over. A piece of fruit or a low fat, no added sugar yogurt is ideal. Both are highly portable, quick, easy and low in kilojoules.
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