I gained a lot of weight after losing two stillborn babies. Since 2012, I lost 100 pounds. Left is August 2014 and right photo is December 2012 (when I had already started to lose).As you might imagine, I get asked a lot how I lost weight. So, I write diet tips and recipes to answer that question. Today's topic is eating in restaurants. Now restaurant food can spell diet disaster. Restaurant food is higher in salt, fat and sugar. Portions are bigger than recommended. But eating out is so common. Ironically (or not) overweight/obese people tend to eat out more. Don't get me wrong. I love going out to eat. But it's important, if you want (need) to lose weight, to learn how to eat in restaurants and stick to the diet.
Order water with your meal. Even if you drink other beverages, water will fill you up faster and make
you feel less hungry.
Ask for lemon with your water. Lemon is good system flush. It will help your food digest better.
Skip the alcohol, or if you do, order wine with dinner. Don't order alcohol before dinner. Many kinds of
alcohol are appetite stimulants.
Do not order coffee, diet soda or tea before dinner; coffee and caffeine are appetite stimulants. Do
drink coffee or tea after meals because they also boost metabolism.
Eat out at restaurants where meals are served in courses. Soup and salad make you feel full and help
you lose weight. If you eat buffet restaurants, start with a huge salad.
Ask for your salad dressing served on the side. Most restaurants bathe salad in dressing.
Choose vinegar and oil dressing instead of creamy dressings to lose weight.
Order grilled, baked or broiled entrees instead of sauteed, fried or deep-fried options.
Order vegetables or baked potato instead of french fries, mashed potatoes, scalloped or hash
browns.
If bread or rolls are served with the meal, skip it. This is one of the biggest diet tips and weight loss
don't go together.
Try vegetarian or tofu options. Eggplant Parmesan is just as good, if not better than Veal Parmesan.
If there is a salad bar, skip the mayonnaise based salads and load up on the veggies.
If you like cheese on your salad, choose feta; it's much lower in fat than regular cheese.
Go easy on the sauces, condiments and spreads to lose weight.
Skip the sour cream on a baked potato.
Use lemon or malt vinegar for fish instead of tartar sauce. Choose broiled instead of deep-fried fish.
These two diet tips can cut calories by 80 percent.
Skip the ranch and BBQ sauce dips; choose mustard or marinara sauce if you need a dipping sauce.
Ask for lemon instead of salt. Lemon is an excellent salt substitute.
Ask for Splenda for iced tea or coffee after your meal, instead of sugar.
Switch to garlic toast instead of garlic bread.
Eat slowly. Do not rush through the meal. This is on the top 10 diet tips anywhere you eat.
Order from the ala carte menu instead of the full dinner menu; portions tend to be very large in
restaurants.
Fish and seafood are sometimes healthier, but not often as filling. Good weight loss fish choices are:
marlin, swordfish, grilled yellow-fin tuna and baked salmon.
Choose broth soup or consomme over heavy creamy soups and chowders for weight loss.
Ask for vegetable options instead of potato or bread choices. I love a baked sweet potato with my
meals.
Order sorbet, sherbet or fruit with non-dairy topping for dessert.
All the best to you in the weight loss quest. Remember, no one is perfect and even with the best diet
tips, you'll fall off the wagon.. Don't torment yourself if you indulge, now and then, just get back on!
