How to Eat Healthily when Dining Out!

OK, so you’ve been exercising, drinking smoothies and trying to cut down on chocolate. You’ve been doing all the right things, gotten yourself into a routine and you feel great. After all, sticking to a routine is one of the most important aspects of a healthy lifestyle. 

One night your friends invite you out for dinner, you sit down and start scanning the menu. Burgers. Risotto. Pizza. You see all the carby meals and what was supposed to be a fun night suddenly starts to feel a bit glum. The last thing you want to do is eat something full of starchy carbohydrates and then feel awful afterwards but how to eat healthily when dining out?

Don’t get me wrong, there are times when you’ll fancy a treat meal and that’s fine, but in this moment you don’t feel ready to indulge because you want to feel amazing afterwards knowing that you made a healthy choice. Aside from a salad what else can you opt for?

Well the awesome thing about living in the 21st century is that we have so many other options available and more and more restaurants are serving up healthy alternatives like the infamous (and delicious) sweet potato fries. Some restaurants do ‘No-bun Burgers’, wholegrain noodles or rice and provide vegetables as a side option.

Here’s a rule of thumb – if you’ve done some intense exercise that day you can afford to have some carbs but if you haven’t then go for protein with salad or veg. If you want to play it safe you can’t go much wrong with a steak (or if you’re vegetarian, a tofu based dish) with either sweet potato fries or some salad. This is such a nutritious meal, it’ll curb your sweet cravings and keep you feeling full for hours thanks to the high dose of protein.

If you want to eat really clean, then ask for no dressing on your salad because it’s likely that the dressing would be high in salt and fat. If you’re going to have some carbs, sweet potato fries are the healthiest ones you’ll find and are full of skin loving vitamins too. Why not go for a light version of a meal such as a light pizza, which some restaurants offer, because they normally give you a smaller portion with some salad. Speaking of portions don’t be afraid to tell the waiter or waitress exactly that you want. Chefs in all good restaurants are happy to tailor meals for you because they want you to enjoy the food. So if you want a smaller portion of rice, a double helping of salad or extra prawns with your noodles, just ask.

Take control of what you put in your body because at the end of the day it’s what you put in your body that will affect all aspects of your life. It’s simple; eat awesome food to feel awesome!

Safia Yallaoui

Safia is a lifestyle blogger and coach at the fitness membership company MoveGB. She also has an MA in journalism and has done a variety of freelance work in print, radio and online. After losing 14lbs a few years ago Safia got into health and fitness realising the most important thing about clean eating is nourishing your body. She loves to keep in shape with weight training and going to fitness classes. Whilst training to be a Nutritional Therapist she is learning how to alleviate health problems by including or omitting certain foods and has a keen interest in the affects of sugar on a person's physical and mental health.

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