Eating out

I absolutely love to eat out. There is just something about going out for a meal and not having to do a darn thing.  Don't get me wrong, as you can see from my blog I love to cook but once in awhile it is nice to have someone else do the cooking.  That way I even get out of doing the dishes!

What we all fail to remember is that it is okay to eat out! Now, am I saying that we should all eat out every day? No.  More than once a week? Probably not the best idea.  However, what I am saying is that as long as you plan it out ahead of time eating out can be less of a bad thing and more of a fun thing.

Now, it's time to get planning so you can go out!

Step 1: Find nutritional values for the place you want to go.  Most restaurants now readily provide nutritional information for there food.  If you cannot find any nutritional information online for where you want to go you can always call them and ask if they have it available at the restaurant.

Step 2: Plan it out! Figure out what you want to eat before you leave the house.  Are you going to have a dessert? If so which one? How is that going to affect what you choose as your main course?

Step 3: Plan out what you are going to eat through out the day before you go out to eat.  This way you are sure to stay around your caloric goal for the day!  If you plan on using a lot of your calories allotted when you are out to eat, try eating a bit lighter earlier in the day.

Step 4: Don't just think you have to get a salad.  A lot of the times you will be surprised to see that the 'healthy' salad you thought you were getting ends up having more calories than the food you were really craving.

Step 5: Enjoy your food, just because you are living a healthy lifestyle it doesn't mean that you can't enjoy your food.  If you want the high calorie eggplant parm that comes with spaghetti and sauce, get it!  Just remember to use portion control.  Ask for a box right away and put half of your meal in it.  That way you aren't tempted to eat more than you allotted your calories for!

Once you have a plan eating out will become less stressful.  It will become fun again and you will be able to enjoy yourself instead of constantly worrying about how this meal is going to affect your day.