Top 7 Tips for Eating Out

Let's be honest, eating out and socializing frequently can be a factor that is holding us back from making progress in our fitness goals, especially if our goal is to maintain or lose body weight and fat.

With year-end festivities coming up, here are some of the tips that I share with my clients who want to socialize with loved ones over scrumptious meals but still stick to their fitness and health goals;

1) Have lower-calorie meals throughout the day.

- This means you can have a larger amount of food allowing you to feel fuller whilst keeping your calories at bay.

- Prioritize leaner cuts of protein, more leafy and fibrous greens, and healthy fats before or after the event to help balance out your nutrient intake.

2) Stay active and don't skip your workout.

- If you're going to eat more for the day (input) make sure you balance out with your activity level (output), be it from working out at the gym, doing house chores, or better yet, both.

3) Research ahead.

- Google up the restaurant's menu or check with your friends or family members on the food list so you can have an idea of what food to pick and consume.

4) Opt for water instead of sugary or alcoholic beverages.

- Liquid calories have a low satiety effect and you can easily consume a high amount of them without realizing the total number of calories in them.

- Save your calories for solid food to feel full and satisfied.

5) Enjoy everything in moderation.

- Too much of everything is not good, even if it's "healthy" as calories are still calories, except vegetables, no one actually got fat because they had too much lettuce and broccoli.

- If you know you're going to have a carb-dense meal in the evening, then go lower carbs and fewer calories during the day. Balance is key.

6) Learn to say no.

- Saying "no" to your friends and family isn't commonly practiced, there's nothing wrong with refusing to do something that does not inspire you to be the person you want to be and the goal you want to achieve. You are responsible for your actions and outcome.

7) Get back on track the next day.

- Eat as how you would normally eat, maybe some minor tweaks of lowering the carbs and more whole food in general.

- The last thing you want to do is to start an elimination and restriction diet followed by a double workout as a form of "punishment" because it's not going to last and you might end up having a greater rebound.

Hope you've found this short-read useful and of interest. If you have any feedback or ideas on topics you'd like more info on, feel free to drop me an email or DM my Instagram and I'll share more fitness nuggets like these.