Dining out is a big part of our lives. Maybe you are eating out frequently because you entertain clients. Perhaps you don't like eating out. Regardless, if you want to keep a nice fit body, restaurant meals will give you a huge obstacle to overcome. In fact, eating out at restaurants is one of the biggest reasons why so many people fatten up while traveling.

If you're interested in staying lean while dining out by using a few healthy tricks you're in luck because I'm going to share some below.

The 3 most important things to avoid that are everywhere at restaurants are:

*** any sodas, juices and other sugary foods (except fresh fruits, which are great) *** deep fried foods (anything dropped in a scorching bath of trans fats) *** refined starchy foods

Skip these 3 culprits and you'll eliminate most of the major food sources that do the worst damage to our food supply - trans fats, refined vegetable oils, processed starchy carbohydrates, and processed sugars.

What you should try to do is to, skip the bread, skip the french fries that come with every single sandwich on every menu known to man, and reduce all of the heaping portions of pasta and rice that are often loaded on your plate as well.

Instead, just try to order meat and side vegetables, and a salad, asking for the vegetables or salad as a substitute for the typical french fries, pasta, or rice, that most restaurant meals come with.

Almost all restaurants that I have been to will always let me substitute vegetables or a side salad for the french fries or chips that come with all burgers or sandwiches.

It always amazes me how many people scrutinize me because I substitute veggies for fries by telling me that I am 'not living' because I refuse to eat french fries... are you kidding me! If that's your idea of 'living it up', you need to get a better hobby!

Ironically, these same people are the first to complain that they are fat, overweight and have tried 'everything', yet can not lose their big guts. I am not sure why so many people think eating deep fried foods equals 'living it up'... I am for moderation with many things, but there are 2 things that should be totally removed from every diet because these foods are simply dangerous... it is sodas and fries!

Take a look at the difference a simple substitution makes between choosing smart and doing what most people do...

Most people will eat a meal out such as this:

* soda or other sweetened drink (and no, diet sodas are NOT healthy!) * Burger or sandwich or burger * chips or french fries

A MUCH smarter alternative if you care about your body and health is this simple change:

* Salad or fresh raw veggies * Burger or other delicious sandwich * unsweetened iced tea or water (no diet pop -- unless you like to drink poison!)

These 2 simple substitutions every time you eat out can save you around 400 - 900 calories... AND you are cutting out the poison's to your body as well, by avoiding the trans fats and fructose corn syrup from the fries and soft drinks.

Here's a side note: a little-known way to eat full portions of pasta, rice, and breads and actually get away with it without packing on the body fat is to make sure to schedule a high intensity full body resistance training workout (can be free weights or body weight training) BEFORE your scheduled meal time.

It may be hard to fit the workout into your schedule right before a meal, if you can, the meal can be your 'post-exercise meal'. After this high intensity resistance training workout, your body will handle a higher amount of carbs than it normally can to help replenish the muscle glycogen depletion it had during the intense workout.

Your typical moderate cardio exercise will NOT cut it for this... it must be high intensity resistance training workout to deplete enough muscle glycogen to handle restaurant portions of carbs.

I hope these restaurant tips help you choose smarter and healthier eating options for a leaner body next time you dine out.