One of the hardest things in the world to do is eat out at a restaurant when you are trying to lose weight. Losing weight is all about burning more calories than you consume and when you are not the one preparing the meal, you are often eating higher amounts of calories than you thought would be in a given serving. In order to stay strict with those calories, there are a few tricks to eating out and losing weight.
* Choosing a salad. The salad section of a menu can seem like the safest place to start. But, salads in a restaurant setting are not like the salads you prepare at home. These are often laden with extra calories from the bacon bits to the cheese, the tortilla strips to the dressing. Two tablespoons of blur cheese dressing alone contains 150 calories. If a salad is on your mind, choose the side salad with lemon juice and use this as a starter for the meal.
* Eating from the kids menu. The kids menu offers smaller versions of the adult menu. But, these choices are often larger than a traditional portion you would serve yourself at home. Kids menu options are also most often deep fried and full of the wrong kinds of fats. Staying away from the kids menu is a great choice whenever dining out and trying to lose weight.
* Choosing chicken. Chicken is a safe choice in many restaurants as long as two simple rules are followed. Do not choose the battered version and do not eat the entire serving. A serving of chicken should only be the size of a deck of cards. This can be added to the garden salad to make for a light and healthy salad while dining in a restaurant.
* Flavored tea. Many restaurants are now serving flavored teas as a part of their menus. These teas can be appealing and there are just tea, right? Wrong. Many of the mango, raspberry and strawberry teas are flavored with sugared syrups and can contain more calories than a can of sugared soda. Ask how the teas are flavored before ordering.
* Choosing low carb. Unless you are on a low carb diet, the low carb menu should be avoided at all costs. Losing weight by counting calories is about just that, counting calories. Low carb options will contain fewer carbs but more fat and calories than many other options on the menu.
* Soups. Soups are another no-no in many restaurants. This is especially true for creamed soups. If soup is a must, ask for the nutritional data on the soup before ordering. Then, choose the soup with the lowest calorie count. And, always remember, you do not have to finish the entire bowl.
Losing weight and eating in a restaurant can be accomplished easily and without starving for that burger next to you. If the meal out is a planned one, eating a snack high in fiber before heading off to the restaurant is the best choice. The fiber will keep you feeling full and you will be less likely to order that huge meal sure to bump you off the weight loss track.
For anyone attempting to lose weight, burning fat is the most important thing you can do. Without burning fat all your going to lose is muscle as well, and the more muscle you lose the more fat you'll actually put on. Muscle mass naturally has a higher metabolic rate during your body's resting state. If your body has a higher fat percentage the slower your metabolism will be.
Don't skip breakfast. never skip your breakfast. When you wake up in the morning, your body has just completed an 8 hour fast. After enduring such a time span with no nutrients, your body goes into a catabolic (muscle wasting) state and will begin to break down protein. This is a crucial time to get some much needed nutrition as soon as possible.
A healthy breakfast is a fundamental part of any successful fat-burning diet. You should be eating something within an hour of rising.
Eat every few hours during the day. This means that you will be consuming a meal 5 to 6 times a day. Not only does this type of eating regime stimulate muscle maintenance and fat loss, it is also an crucial technique for controlling food cravings.
You see, when people miss a meal, or haven't eaten in a while, their blood sugar drops too much, and their will power becomes weak. In other words, people who go a long time without enjoying a meal are much more likely to cheat on their diet. So in saying this, having small meals every two to three hours will help remove those cravings that may be the main reason that you have failed all attempts to lose weight in the past.
Even if you are one of the few who can fight off the cravings for food caused by missing meals, you must still be careful. If you go without eating on a regular basis, your body will actually activate enzymes that store fat. This will make losing weight much more difficult. Many dieters think that missing meals will help them lose weight, but missing meals has the reverse effect of this misconception.
It's a good idea to reduce your carbohydrate intake. Your body's fuel will be attained from a mixture of fat, protein and carbs. When you cut down on your carbohydrate intake, your body's stores of carbs get quickly depleted. This forces your body to utilize a higher amount of free fatty acids (fat) for fuel. Cutting down on your carbs will also have a hormonal fat-burning effect.
When you decrease the amount of carbs that you eat, insulin (a storage hormone) decreases and glucagon (a fuel mobilizing hormone) is raised. This causes a larger number free fatty acids to be released from fat cells and burned, assuming that you're working out properly.
These few tips give your more knowledge than over 90% of dieters. Almost everyone who attempts to lose weight will end up putting it back on and more because of the mistakes they make with their eating habits. Please don't make them.
Both Kazoone & Jennifer King are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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