Once in awhile you probably don't have time to prepare a good home cooked meal or better yet, don't feel like cooking it. If you are not aware of what you are doing, going out to a restaurant is probably not the best idea if you are trying to lose weight.
A good rule of thumb:
If a particular food tastes too good, chances are it probably means it has been richly fried, deep fat fried, etc. As a result, it is not very good for your health. Not surprising, the raw vegetables and fruits, which in most peoples' minds, does not taste as good, are the best for your weight loss goals.
1. Be aware of how much you are planning on eating before you dive in! Keep in mind your proper proportions; eat only your proportioned limit. Most restaurants allow you to take home the extras, so you can have another meal at home.
2. Stay away from buffets like it is a plague. Restaurant buffet lines are filled with a lot of high calorie foods. These foods, as you may be aware of, are prepared in bulks and masses in some type of high fat content cooking oil.
This alone makes it nearly impossible for those looking to shed a few extra pounds. If you decide to eat at a buffet, look at the salads and other alternatives and stay away from the fatty foods, so you do not build up excessive fat!
3. Leave the salad dressing alone. I know you have heard that salads are an excellent way to have quick weight loss. This is true. Salads are nothing more than chopped up raw vegetables. Raw vegetables boost your metabolic rate, thus helps your body to burn off fat. The salad dressing, on the other hand in most restaurants, is very high in calories, counteracting your weight loss efforts.
4. Try visiting a vegetarian restaurant versus a conventional restaurant. With conventional restaurants, you must be extremely careful to make choices that are not high in fat or high in calories.
For example, chicken meat is served in most restaurants; however it is smothered with huge amounts of fat (gravy, glazed, etc). On the other hand, if you can find it, lean chicken meat is good for you. The trouble is that most restaurants do not offer this on their menus.
Now, there is nothing wrong with eating out at restaurants as long as you use discretion and keep your weight loss goals in mind. I'm sure all of us eat out at least once in a while. Remember the big picture to a healthier and better you!
