Eating Out on a Calorie Budget

 | Diet and Nutrition | HealthCosmos

Lauren: Do you find yourself eating out often? Back in the years gone by when people would eat out once a week, it would be a big grandiose event and people would splurge because they were eating out. If that's not your MO and you're eating out 3, 4, 5 nights a week, possibly also lunches, we really need to re-frame the way we view our eating out meals, and you need to think of building those meals more like you would do a home cooked meal. So we look at the plate and we need to make sure that we see a lean protein, a good size, at least one cup to two cups portion of non-starchy vegetables, and then a healthy, complex carbohydrate. Sure you still deserve a splurge, but maybe you save that for the Friday night special meal if you find yourself eating out more. Make the most of your splurges. Just like you pay attention to how you spend your money, pay more attention to how you spend your calories. If you're going to make a food choice that's going to cost you a thousand calories, that should require a little bit of forethought just like a big purchase with your money would require. So before you just mindless munch on a few bites of cheesecake, which will cost you 500 calories, decide whether you really want to eat that cheesecake and how much of it, or whether you'd rather wait and make that choice be something else you'd like at a different time.