TheDailyWeight.info

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by Alan Turnberry

Eating out is one of America’s most popular pasttimes. When you are on a diet, eating out can be such a challenge. It seems like these restaurant portions are way out of control — and the calorie counts on these foods are simply sky high. So how can you stick to your diet? Fortunately, there are some easy tips to help you successfully stick to your diet.

Never enter a restaurant without a plan. When you are on a diet, you always need to have a plan of what you are going to eat. When you enter a restaurant without a plan — you are simply at the mercy of your desires and appetite. You could wind up with a thousand calorie lasagna, simply because “that sounds good.” Now this doesn’t mean your meals need to be planned out to the letter — but some idea of what you are going to eat could literally make the difference between you losing weight and you gaining even more this year. We certainly know which one you want to do this year!

Dress up when you go out to dinner and make it a celebration. So often, we eat out and we make it a casual thing. Have a nice time and make it special. Get dressed up and make yourself look the best you know you can. The better you know you look, the less tempted you’ll be to overeat. It is a funny trick — but it actually works! If you are female, try doing your nails in an attractive color. Every time you see your nails you’ll be reminded just how great you look.

When in doubt: cut it in half. Restaurant portions are over generous. It can be easy to be tempted to eat everything in front of you. Research has shown that quite often people do just that — they eat exactly what is in front of them! So get smarter than the restaurant. Put less of that in front of you. Cut the portion in half and ask the server to take half of it away. More than likely now you’ll be looking at a normal sized portion for a dieter. Sometimes these portions can even be simply too big anyway. But cutting it in half can be a great place to start.

Avoid appetizers. Appetizers are a great way for restaurants to make money, and to add to your waistline. Many of these are fried and are loaded with calories. If you are tempted to have a shrimp cocktail — this is a low calorie appetizer, but it also a large serving and you’ll want to take away some of what you might eat for your main meal as you are eating the shrimp cocktail. Breadbaskets are also ways that restaurants fill you up with calories, so it is a smart idea to ask the server to remove yours.

To have dessert, think of sharing it. Part of the fun of eating out is eating dessert. Well, there is no reason you can’t have some fun. An excellent idea is to share your dessert with someone else at the dinner table. This way you are not eating the entire dessert. If no one will share the dessert with you, simply cut it in half and pour salt and pepper over it. This will keep you from eating the rest of it.