You can lose weight while still eating out but you need to be aware of this one caveat
Eating out is a huge aspect of our culture. Whether we’re meeting up with friends to enjoy lunch, going out on a date with our spouse, or even grabbing pizza for the family, eating out is something we do frequently. In fact, on average Americans eat outside of the home four to five times a week. We all know that eating out isn’t the healthiest option, but it doesn’t have to stop us from losing weight! I can teach you how to eat out and still reach your weight loss goals.
As a busy mama who spends weeknights and weekends traveling to soccer, baseball and football practices, I’m not going to be able to give up the occasional drive-thru meal any time soon. I also know that I like eating out! It’s fun to get out and eat something that I didn’t make!
Eating out can absolutely be a part of your life, and learning how to eat out healthily is going to save you so much guilt, shame and regret. That’s why I teach my Macros Made Easy Mamas how to incorporate eating out as a part of their lifestyle!
In Macros Made Easy I teach my clients how to track their meals, even when they go out to make sure that they can enjoy a meal out and still hit their goals. But there is one little caveat: it’s not a perfect system. Restaurants - even those that provide nutritional information - can’t guarantee that what ends up on your plate matches the nutritional information they gave you.
Restaurant nutritional facts aren’t 100% accurate
Restaurants are getting better about providing the macros and nutritional information on food, but it’s not possible for it to be 100% accurate. I love using Chipotle as an example because they’re a fairly health-conscious company.
If you’ve been into Chipotle, you know that they give you a big spoonful of each ingredient. While that spoon does help you get a big delicious burrito, it’s not the best measuring system. How much food you get really comes down to each employee’s preference. Some employees might barely fill the spoon while other employees give you a heaping spoonful.
Restaurants simply can’t be 100% consistent or accurate with their food and nutrition facts. If you aren’t the one preparing and measuring your food, then you can’t be completely sure how much food you’re getting.
I call this“haphazard eating.” Haphazard eating is ok to do occasionally, but if you’re doing it more than 2-3 times a week it can start to throw off your progress.
If your goal is to eat out occasionally and still lose weight then the following tips can help you do that.
Best practices for a healthy eating out experience
Like I said before, I teach my clients how to eat out because I know that we can’t avoid fast food forever! I don’t want you to change how you eat for 12 weeks and then go right back to your old ways once you’ve finished my program. I want to help you change your habits so that you can live a healthy life long after we’ve stopped working together.
These two tips are the biggest game-changers for my clients when they’re learning how to make healthy decisions when eating out.
Make a plan
I always, always, always have my clients come up with a plan of what they’re going to eat when they go out. This is the best way to prepare yourself for success! If you go out and don’t think about what you want to eat ahead of time, you’re more likely to overeat or choose food that doesn’t fit into your goals.
When you’re creating your plan, you should look at more than just the meal you’re eating out. You want to make sure your choices fit into your whole day. Look at the other foods you have planned, do you have a good balance of carbs, fats and proteins or is one category heavier than the others? It’s always best to stay within your nutritional boundaries, even when you eat out!
I like to save the most macros for my meal out and then fill in the rest of my meals after choosing what I’m going to eat out. I call this backward planning and you can learn more about it in my 3-part meal planning series.
Be aware of how food is prepared
Another important point to keep in mind when you’re eating out is that restaurants prepare food differently than you do at home.
Ordering a chicken breast and veggies from a restaurant sounds extremely healthy, but you may not realize that they’re cooking the chicken and veggies in oil. It’s very normal for restaurants to use more butter or oil than you are used to. It’s going to make things taste amazing, but it can also throw off your progress.
You can always ask how your food is prepared and request for it to be prepared differently. Instead of roasting your veggies in oil, ask for them to be steamed. It’s a simple swap that will help you make empowered decisions about your food!
How to track food when you eat out
I have all of my clients use the MyFitnessPal app to track their food because it has a huge database of foods to choose from. It also has a great tool for eating out!
The restaurant search feature can help you find a restaurant in your area and lets you see the nutritional information for each of their dishes.
When you’re entering the meal into MyFitnessPal you can do a local search for restaurants and enter food straight from the menu.
In the search bar select the pin icon (it looks like a teardrop.) It will search for restaurants near you.
Select the restaurant you are at.
Look through the menu and pick the meal you want to have. You can look at the nutritional information for each item by tapping on it.
Select your choice and it will add it to your diary.
This feature works best for national restaurants and may not have local places, so be aware of that when you’re going out.
If you’re eating at a local place, you can always search MyFitnessPal for similar restaurants and choose something similar to whatever you’ve chosen.
You don’t have you give up eating out to be healthy or hit your weight loss goals. If you follow these tips you’ll be able to have your Chipotle and eat it too! If you want more guidance on eating out and how to create a balanced diet for yourself, then let’s chat! I can give you one-on-one advice in my Macro Made Easy Program!
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