You’re blessed with a wealth of great restaurants and eateries where you live, so there are ample chances to go out for a bite to eat. It’s one of your favourite things to do – either alone or with friends – yet you’re worried about eating out too much and being a tad unhealthy.
The obvious solution is to cut down on eating out, but what if you can have the best of both worlds? You can definitely go out to eat and remain healthy while doing so – and this post will explain how!
Opt for water as your drink
Did you know that a lot of fizzy drinks and alcohol contain loads of additional calories that can turn a healthy meal into an unhealthy one? A lot of the time, it’s not so much the food that makes eating out bad, but your drink choices. So, opt for water as your drink when you go out, and you immediately remove hundreds of calories from the meal. It’s a simple solution – and it helps you get more glasses of water per day.
Side note: this will also make your bill so much cheaper. If everyone gets the free table water, you’re saving like well over 20 dollars a meal with ease.
Adjust your eating habits for the rest of the day
If you know you’re eating out in the evening, then plan the rest of your eating habits around the meal. You’re heading out for pizza with your mates, so avoid having a big lunch. Cut out the snacks and focus on that delicious pizza at the end of the day.
Adjusting your eating habits means you won’t go overboard on calories when you eat out. Sure, the pizza could contain over 1000 calories – but that’s not a big deal because you had a small lunch without any snacks between meals. When you plan your day around eating out, you can even turn fast food into healthy food! Suddenly, that burger and chips doesn’t seem too bad because you only had a salad or some yoghurt and granola for lunch.
Walk or cycle to the restaurants
Use the travel time to and from restaurants as an excuse to burn more calories and make the overall eating-out experience a lot healthier. Loads of people are buying electric bikes for commuting to do this – cycling lets you travel long distances while effectively getting in a quick workout. An e-bike means you can easily manage a 30-minute cycle without getting too hot and bothered yet still taxing yourself enough to see health benefits.
The same goes for walking; walk 30 minutes to the restaurant, and you’ll burn a few hundred calories. That’s the equivalent of a starter or dessert; you’re basically making more room for nice food because you’re more active.
As you can see, it is possible to stay healthy when going out to eat. Make smarter drink choices, alter your eating habits for the rest of the day and make an effort to physically exert yourself before and after eating. This lets you enjoy the lovely restaurants in your local area without feeling guilty about eating out a couple of times per week.
Photo by Alex Haney on Unsplash
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