If I could give you one piece of advice about your lifestyle habits to make it drastically easier to make healthier food choices, it would be this: Eat Out Less.
I understand – life is busy and cooking takes time and know-how. Eating out is simple. Eating out tastes good!
I’m not telling you never to eat out because that is simply unrealistic. I am suggesting you reduce the frequency of eating at restaurants, fast food joints and ordering takeout/delivery. For instance, if you eat out five times per week right now, reduce it to three. If you eat three meals out, reduce it to one. If you eat out once or twice a month – high five!
3 Reasons to Eat Out Less
There are three main reasons why eating or ordering out is a problem when it comes to reaching your health and weight goals.
- The healthy choice is hard – it’s not easy to make healthy choices at a restaurant. Who wants to order grilled chicken and steamed veggies when there’s pizza, pad Thai, a loaded burrito or steak and fries on the menu? Especially if you’re eating with friends or family who are enjoying delicious food around you. It’s not that it can’t be done – I’ve certainly found healthy options at most restaurants. But the temptation for high-calorie, decadent foods is so strong that you’re far less likely to make a healthy choice.
- Oversized Portions – If you can actually find healthier options on the menu, portions are far too big at most restaurants. Your plate might seem healthy until you realize you’ve eaten 300-400 calories in noodles or avocado and bacon alone without counting everything else on the plate. Most restaurants will serve at least twice the amount of food that you need. For example, at home you might have one cup of rice and three ounces of meat, whereas at a restaurant you could be served cups two of rice and four or five ounces of meat, plus high amounts of fat like oil, butter or cheese. Common chain restaurants have menu items that are at least 800-1200 calories in one dish. Unless you are training for the Olympics, this amount of food is way more than you need and will quickly contribute to an expanding waistline.
- Hidden calories – Some restaurants these days do include calorie counts on their menus, but many still don’t. This means you have no idea how many calories, fat, protein, carbohydrates, sugar, etc., that you’re eating at a restaurant. For instance, a salad sounds innocent, right? Did you know that some salads with dressing can be 600-1000 calories?! You also won’t know how much oil was used to cook your meat, or how much sugar went into a sauce. You can safely assume that if you think a meal is in the right calorie range for you, it’s probably at least 200-400 calories more than you’d expect. You can also assume you’re consuming far more sodium, sugar and fat that you would expect which not only lead to weight gain and bloating, but long-term health issues like high blood pressure and diabetes.
On the contrary, when you cook at home, you know exactly what you’re consuming and will have an easier time losing weight.
Why you should cook your own meals more often
Eating out less was a game changer for me. When I started indulging less in the catered food during office meetings, going out less for meals with friends, and started bringing my lunch to work each day, my weight dropped faster. Plus, I felt less bloated and tired and had more energy. I still notice this every time I go out to eat. I feel extremely full and often weigh more for a day or two after eating out due to high sodium and calories.
I see this all the time with clients as well. When a client goes out frequently or goes on vacation and doesn’t cook their own meals, they take several days to lose the added weight and don’t feel well. My clients who go out for lunch on a regular basis drop weight far quicker when they start packing a lunch and cooking dinner at home.
Cooking at home allows you to control your portion size, your ingredients, and will likely eat less than you would eating out. As a bonus, you’ll also save a ton of money!
Don’t panic. Eating at home doesn’t have to be boring. One of my favorite things to do and tips to give clients is to make a copycat version of food at home that you love eating out.
Here are a few healthier food choices you could cook at home:
- Instead of Chinese food, cook some plain rice at home and make your own chicken stir fry with coconut aminos as your sauce.
- Instead of a massive pizza, get a whole wheat or cauliflower crust pizza from the store, then add your own low-sugar sauce, cheese and toppings like veggies and chicken sausage.
- Instead of a burger and fries, cook some turkey burger patties at home with lots of flavorful spices, wrap in lettuce and serve with baked sweet potato fries.
- Make a more nutrient dense sandwich at home with low-calorie whole grain bread or sprouted grain bread, lots of veggies, plenty of protein and lots of mustard for flavor.
There are many more ideas that I could give, but you get the idea. Just make your own version of your favorites at home. Then, if you love a certain restaurant dish because you don’t know how to make it at home, save that meal for when you eat do go out.
Have you tried this? Do you notice a difference when you cook at home versus eating out? Share your experiences in the comments!
If you still need more help with making healthier food choices and getting your nutrition on track, contact me for a nutrition assessment!
