3 Challenges You Face Eating Out

Eating out. A favorite pastime. Specifically Friday and Saturday nights. A norm in most every household that I know. Either they are empty nesters and free from carpooling kids around every weekend, or they take full advantage of babysitters so that they can enjoy some adult time out. And I get it, I am part of the empty nester group wanting to fully utilize my weekend time. Dinner seems to be the only time when we can sit down, take a deep breath, and have meaningful conversation. To hopefully turn our devices off, and actually pay attention to the people we are with. This is a good thing!

For myself, I love going out to dinner on the weekends. And anyone that has dined out with my boyfriend and I knows that he likes to make it an event, like a three hour event. And it’s fun! But I am also a fitness enthusiast, and very conscious of the food I eat. I stick to a pretty clean diet, eating much of the same foods during the week, and other than water, coffee is my go to beverage (and just black, I don’t prefer cream, and/or sugar).

When I go out to dinner though, I like to enjoy my night and perhaps indulge in something I don’t normally eat at home. That being said, I generally still make healthy choices when ordering my entree out. The exception is if I’m out for an Italian dinner. Then its hands down the gnocchi and anyone that attempts to taste my gnocchi just might find a fork smacking their hands.

Furthermore, If I don’t like what is on the menu, I just make up my own dinner. You can do that you know. You would be amazed at the simple dishes I have had restaurants make me when there is absolutely nothing on the menu I will eat. My theory is if they are skilled at assembling a chicken dish covered in stuff I don’t want, they are capable of just grilling me a piece of chicken and steaming some veggies. And they do. Only three eye rolls, a sigh and a smirk later. But in the end, I have the dinner I want (hint, if you really want to avoid a sauce, tell them you are allergic to one of the ingredients, I guarantee you that they won’t mess that up).

However, even though I am good at ordering a reasonably healthy entree, there consistently seems to be three big challenges I find at just about every restaurant I go to. But I have a strategy to enjoy my dinner and still keep it within an acceptable healthy range.

PICK YOUR POISON

Challenge 1, The Bread: Oh my goodness, the never ending bread bowls. Will this ever go away? I mean is the bread reused? It looks like it is half of the time. And the other half of the time, it’s hard. Is it even worth the calories? In my opinion, usually not. But sometimes, just sometimes, the perfect bread basket comes out and then it’s so very tempting. So for me, the best way to avoid eating too much of it, is to not eat any of it. Bread to me is one of those things that if you start with the bread and butter business, you just keep going. My strategy? It’s simple. I eat a small apple (or other piece of fruit), a handful of nuts or a little non-fat Greek yogurt before I head out the door for dinner. That way I am not starving when I get to the restaurant and I don’t feel the need to inhale the bread just for my hunger pains to go away.

Challenge 2, Alcohol: I got to hand it to the mixologists out there, they are impressive people. Long gone are the days when you order a Gin and ginger or a Vodka tonic, that’s amateur night now. Mixologists have this art of creating their craft cocktails which sound incredibly delicious and tempting. What it really boils down to is a cocktail with one or two spirits and a bunch of other snazzy ingredients, most of which I have no idea of what they are.

But they are fun, festive, and who wouldn’t want to try one on a fun night out. So whether it is cocktails or wine, it is part of the experience, right? But does it have to be? Absolutely not. Can you enjoy a nice meal without alcohol, of course. And you should try it sometime. It’s actually not as weird or taboo as you are thinking.

However, if you are going to indulge, be smart about it. There is nothing that will pack on the calories, and the headache quicker than overdoing your alcohol. Give yourself a limit before you go out and stick with it. Keep your water glass full and as I tell my clients when they are going to have wine or cocktails, “let it register.” Meaning let your first drink actually register in your body and brain before you even think about ordering a second one. Sometimes we go so fast that we don’t even let the alcohol register before we are ordering and drinking more. That generally never ends well. But let’s be fair. No good story every started with “so one night when I was drinking water…”.

Challenge 3, Dessert: I have to say, restaurants have picked up their game with desserts. They used to not be that enticing to me but now there is so much competition that these chefs aren’t playing. But what is more amazing to me is the size of the dessert. I mean how big does one person need their slice of chocolate cake to be?

Saturday night for example my boyfriend and I went out to dinner. He ordered the chocolate chip skillet cookie for dessert. I mean seriously? Look at the size of this thing. And the picture truly doesn’t justify how big it was. And, oh btw, I didn’t touch it. He ate almost the entire thing on his own.

Chocolate chip skillet cookie. Absolutely ridiculous for one person to eat this. But he did!!

My suggestion, if you are ordering dessert, order one for the table, with several forks to share with the other people you are with (in his defense he did ask for two forks, I just chose not to participate).You can always order more but chances are after your dinner and a couple bites of your sweet treat, you will generally not need anything else. And having a dessert and coffee after a big dinner, just seems to complete the experience for a lot of people.

Pay Attention Single Gentlemen

Bonus tip and completely off topic; single gentlemen out there, if you are looking to impress a lady and you are at the bar, instead of sending her a cocktail, send her over a piece of dessert. Much more flattering than a drink and you might actually get a phone number. But don’t hover over her while she eats it, no one wants to be breathed on.

So dinner out, it can be a doozy. Especially if you are trying to get on a healthy path. But it doesn’t have to be. Just use common sense and balance. And as I tell myself, pick your poison. One poison. Choose either the bread, or a cocktail, or the dessert. But not two, and certainly not all three. You will be amazed at the amount of calories you can cut back on by simply taking one of those three staples away from your dinners out.

Just like everything in life, we have choices. And judging by the packed restaurants every weekend, people are continuing to eat out more often. So instead of stressing every time you go out, change your thinking. Eating out is supposed to be relaxing, letting someone else do the work, and letting you enjoy your down time. So do just that. Enjoy it, but do it in moderation. Everyone is different, and everyone has a different idea of what a fun dinner out should be. For me, if I’m out to indulge on Saturday date night, the restaurant can keep their hard bread, I will take a glass of wine instead.

.