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episode #55

Healthy Tips when Eating Out

September 3, 2021 in Podcast

Intro

Sometimes it's nice to treat yourself and go out to dinner but eating in is healthier than eating out because we have control over what is going in our foods. We all love to dine out at our favorite restaurants and you can still enjoy a nice meal while making smart choices. Here are some ways to make eating out a healthier way to go: Ask the server to refrain from bringing bread to the table Start your meal with a side salad or healthy soup so you will be less likely to overeat when your meal comes Drink water before the meal Be the 1st person to order so you are not tempted by other less healthy dishes that may be ordered Avoid fried foods Eat slowly (chew your foods) Order items that are grilled, braised, steamed or pan seared When in doubt, look for something on the menu that’s rich in protein. Most of us are undereating protein and as you age this is the most important macronutrient. Ask for sauces/dressings on the side (most of the sugar and unwanted oils are in them) Don't be afraid to ask for healthy substitutions (i.e. broccoli instead of potato) Eat until satisfied and bring the rest home (most serving sizes at restaurants are 2-3 times too big) Go for a walk when you get home Two big “eating out” questions I get asked - How should I handle desert? Avoid if possible Order a hot beverage (coffee or tea) to distract the urge to order a sugary dessert. If you do indulge, stick to the two bite rule and move on. Can I drink alcohol? - Everything in moderation - Red wine over beer - If you are going to mix liquor with anything, opt for seltzer/club soda or water instead of fruit juice or soda - Alcohol ingestion detracts from fat loss goals by contributing empty calories (that you will burn before tapping into stored body fat), interfering with other ingested calories (promoting the conversion of ingested carbs into fat), and increasing appetite. So there you have it! Don't let dining out ruin your weight loss goals and follow these tips to stay on track! If you love the Get Lean Eat Clean Podcast, we’d love for you to subscribe, rate, and give a review on iTunes. Until next time!

0 (1s): Hello, and welcome to the get lean and eat clean podcast. My name is Brian grin. I'm a certified health coach, trainer and author. And this podcast is for middle-aged men and women looking to optimize their health and get their bodies back to what it once was 10 to 15 years ago. I will give you simple, actionable items to get long-term sustainable results. Thanks for listening and enjoy the show. 1 (33s): All right, welcome to the get lean weekly podcast. My name is Brian grin, and I hope you had a great weekend happy Tuesday and had a great Memorial day. This was obviously to honor all the men and women who have died while on duty and you know, everyone who has fought for our freedom and every day should be an memory or an honor of, of you guys. You guys are the true guys and girls are the true heroes. So hope everyone had a safe and healthy Memorial day, spent time with some family and friends. And it's nice to see. I actually had a wedding this weekend in Chicago and people are getting out. 1 (1m 13s): Restaurants are opening, small businesses are opening up. So this is nice to see. And the big question that comes with that is, you know, first of all, how much are you going to start eating out? And then what do you do to stay healthy when eating out? Because when you're cooking at home, obviously you can control what you're putting in your food for the most part. And when you're eating out, it's not really the, you know, it's not the same, although I'm going to go and give you some tips that you can do when you're eating out to stay healthy and to make sure that, you know, you're eating the right things. So let me go through some of those tips for you. And the first one is sort of might be an obvious one, but I would just ask the server to reframe from bringing bread to the table. 1 (2m 1s): Simple, easy, just don't bring it. You won't have to avoid, try to avoid it. And that's it. So we all know that, you know, if you're going to consume something right away before your meal bread is not what you want, it's going to spike blood sugar. You'll, you'll pretty much store everything after that as fat. So that would be rule. Number one is just, you know, let them know, say, Nope, no bread for the table. Next. I would say, what should you start your meal with? This is so important. Start your meal with maybe like a side salad or a healthy soup. This will sort of help you in as far as overeating Gabby, see got some fiber in there and yeah, rather than just have, you know, like I said, a piece of bread or white potato or whatever, healthy soup or a salad right away is not so bad. 1 (2m 54s): Also drink some water. This is another big thing. Obviously, you know, I do a lot of fasting. Water's huge in that mineral water would be best, but you know, any type of water just to start the meal, you know, it'll fill you up a lot of times you think you're hungry and you're really not. You're just dehydrated and you need a little bit of mineral water. So next is this one, if you could be the first person to order. So you're not tempted by what other people are ordering and, you know, they order unhealthy dishes that might make it might spur you on as well. So maybe be first to go. And, and as far as healthy meals is concerned, I would just focus on protein, focus on protein, avoid fried foods. 1 (3m 41s): And with that protein, how are they going to prepare it? I would recommend either grilled braised, steamed or pan seared. So, you know, this goes back to anything that I do to avoid them frying that food. And also when you get it, you want to make sure you eat slowly. One of the things I do sometimes at home when I'm eating is just get up and walk around and come back. I think I have a tendency to eat fast. So if this is your tendency and you're at a restaurant, maybe get up and just go to the bathroom. Even if you really don't have to go to the bathroom and this will sort of slow you down and you want to also make sure that you chew your food slowly as well. 1 (4m 23s): So focus on protein for the most part, I would say for most of my clients, and in general, as you age, most people are under eating protein. They're not getting enough. And as you age, we have to, you want to make sure that is the staple of your meals. Awesome. As far as sauces and dressings and what they cook your food. And I, to imagine that 98% of the restaurants are cooking their food and some type of vegetable oil. And as we all know, we want to avoid vegetable oils as much as possible with omega sixes and polyunsaturated fat. Those are the things that we want to avoid. And so how can we do that? I would just simply ask, ask them what they're cooking in. 1 (5m 3s): And if they could, if they, if they have like any type, you know, butter would be great, you know, or G instead of cooking it in those unwanted oils also, don't be afraid to ask for healthy substitutions. Yeah, this is a big one. I mean, obviously if you're having a big, you know, just having a steak, a ribeye, which I love, you know, instead of maybe having that, let's just say a potato or fries or things like that with it. No, I asked for some asparagus or onion or mushroom, or I don't know, something along those lines, as opposed to maybe having a big potato or every once in a while, you know? 1 (5m 48s): Yeah. I would say that I would say mashed potatoes, you know that a lot of times that comes with steak, if you can maybe ask for a healthy, a healthy vegetable, that would be great. If you can, if you can tolerate it. Some people can't tolerate vegetables as if you've listened to any of my podcasts. So I would go with that mate. Don't be afraid to ask for help substitutions next, eat till satisfied and bring the rest home. This can be tough for some people. And I think what will help with this? If you eat slowly, chew your food, right? Walk around every once in a while, maybe go to the bathroom. This will help you be in tune with when you get full, it's really fast, then you're just gonna scarf it down and not even realize you won't be in tune with your hunger hormones as well. 1 (6m 34s): So yeah, a lot of times in these restaurants, the servings are way too big and yeah, just bring it home and maybe have it another night. And then this one is more so after the meal, but very important. I talk about this a lot is when you get home, go for a walk, if you can make it a goal of yours to just go for a walk after every meal, it'll make such a nice difference in not only your digestion, but blood sugar maintenance, and just getting out, getting some fresh air, and then it will help you from avoiding snacks and desserts, which is a big question that I get. What should I do as far as dessert? 1 (7m 15s): Well, obviously if you can avoid it, that would be great. And one way to do that is to go for a walk and to get out of either your kitchen or get out of the restaurant eventually. So if you really want something, obviously I don't, I eat dessert sometimes, but I don't go overboard. You know, you can have a little something if you want to totally avoid it. Maybe just order something like a warm beverage, maybe a decaffeinated coffee or some type of tea, this will sort of distract you and, and, you know, replaced whatever you were having before, which if it's an unhealthy dessert, that would be a good replacement to have just a warm beverage. So lastly, the one big question I get when eating out is alcohol. 1 (7m 58s): I think a lot of people have been drinking quite a bit over the whole quarantine time, but when you go out, obviously if you could avoid it altogether, oh, that would be great. But you know, everything in moderation, as far as alcohol red wine, I'd say over beer. And if you're going to mix drinks, I don't recommend mixing them. But mix with water club, soda, you know, seltzer maybe instead of like a fruit juice or a soda, you definitely don't want to be mixing drinks like that. As you know, alcohol ingesting alcohol, you know, obviously is not going to help with your face loss goals. And they're always first to burn. It's just empty calories. So it's just going to interfere with any type of, of, of fat burning process. 1 (8m 42s): And it's also going to increase your appetite because you tend to drink, you're going to want to, you're going to have the munchies. You're gonna want to have dessert. So if you could avoid it, that'd be great. Excuse me. I'm like losing my voice for, I don't know no reason at all, but that's pretty much what I wanted to touch on today. You know, the main thing is don't let dining out ruin your weight loss goals. So hopefully these are some great tips that you can do to stay on track. So maybe listen to this episode every night, not every night, but before you go to go to dinner and it'll help, you know, sort of keep you on your health goals and avoid some of the traps that happen when we go out to dinner. 1 (9m 24s): So that's that as I'm losing my voice, have a great rest of the week. And I will talk to you later. Thanks so much for listening and have a great day. Hey, get lean equally nation. Are you a man between the ages of 40 and 60 years old looking to lose inches around your waist have significantly more energy throughout the day and gain muscle all while minimizing the risk of injuries? Well, I'm looking for three to five people to work one-on-one with in my fat burner blueprint signature program, which I've developed by utilizing my 15 years experience in the health and fitness space. This program is designed specifically for those committed, to making serious progress towards our health goals. 1 (10m 8s): Over the next six months, we will focus on sleep, stress, nutrition, meal, timing, and building lean muscle. If this sounds like a fit for you, email me@brianatbriangrin.com with the subject line blueprint. That's brian@briangrin.com with the subject line blueprint. 0 (10m 32s): Thanks for listening to the get lean eat clean podcast. I understand there are millions of other podcasts out there and you've chosen to listen to mine. And I appreciate that. Check out the show notes@briangrin.com for everything that was mentioned in this episode, feel free to subscribe to the podcast and share it with a friend or family member who is looking to get their body back to what it once was. Thanks again, and have a great day.

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