2631: Dining Out? Stay on Track with These Tips by Tara Ballard with JillFit on Eating for A Healthy Lifestyle

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[00:01:39] Stay on track with these tips by Tara Ballard with jillfit.com and I'm your host, Dr. Neil. Welcome back to Optimal Health Daily where I simply read to you from the best health and fitness blogs for free. This is kind of like an audiobook but with articles instead

[00:01:55] and articles from a bunch of different authors and always with their permission, of course. And on Fridays, I answer your questions. You can send one in at oldpodcast.com slash ask or email your question directly to health at oldpodcast.com.

[00:02:13] All right and with that, let's hear today's post as we optimize your life. Dining out? Stay on track with these tips by Tara Ballard with jillfit.com. Tell me if this sounds familiar. You're going along being a good little fat loss lifestyle follower,

[00:02:34] prepping meals, eating lean protein and veggies, making sure you eat every three hours or so, always keeping a protein bar or something similar on hand for emergencies and so on when the unthinkable happens. You are, gasp, invited out to eat. And on a non-cheat meal day no less.

[00:02:55] You start freaking out a bit because you don't want to sabotage your fat loss efforts. But you've already turned down several invitations and you don't want your friends to think you've become a hermit. I say all this somewhat in jest but I remember feeling this way

[00:03:09] when I first started living the fat loss lifestyle. I used to think there was no way I could stick to my normal way of eating if I ventured outside my safe bubble, a place where I controlled exactly what my meals consisted of.

[00:03:24] At some point, I realized, however, that I couldn't live in my bubble forever, especially if I wanted to have any kind of social life. Enter one of the mantras from Metabolic Effect. Quote, Fat loss happens anywhere. End quote. Meaning, you can eat for fat loss virtually anywhere.

[00:03:44] It's all about making the right choices. I will admit, it took me a while to embrace this because it required giving up a little bit of control. Did I mention I'm very much a type A personality? But once I put the following things into practice,

[00:03:59] I began to look forward to dining out. Before getting into the nitty gritty of how and what to order for fat loss in a restaurant, I first want to explain some preliminary steps I take when I know I'm going to be dining out. First,

[00:04:13] I make a clear and conscious choice to stick to my fat loss lifestyle, no matter what my friends order or what the menu would presumably dictate that I order. For example, if I'm at a Mexican place, then I should eat chips, order a big burrito with beans,

[00:04:28] and so on. This is probably the most important point, and it begins before you even get to the restaurant. Anticipate that your friends are not going to be eating for fat loss, but that doesn't mean you have to do that as well.

[00:04:42] If I know which restaurant I will be dining at, I'll look at their menu online and see what the options are. If I know ahead of time what's on the menu, it helps solidify my choice to stick to my plan.

[00:04:54] I visualize how good I will feel after having stuck to my plan. Visualization is such an important part of this lifestyle. Another tenet of metabolic effect is the concept of Be-Do-Have. If you want to be a lean person, then you need to be like a lean person now

[00:05:14] and do the things a lean person would do so that you can have the lean physique you desire. When I feel tempted to stray from my choices, I remember the Be-Do-Have. So, now that you have the mental aspects in check,

[00:05:28] how do you stick to the fat loss lifestyle while dining out? It's pretty simple actually. Here are a few fat loss rules to remember. Lean protein and green veggies first, starches last, a few bites if you're going to have starch. Fat outdoes carbs every time,

[00:05:45] so if you have the choice between a fattier protein or a pasta dish, go with the fattier protein. And, alcohol combined with fat and starchy carbs is a fat loss nightmare. If you're going to have alcohol, then stick to lean protein and green veggies as your meal

[00:06:01] and limit the alcohol to one glass of wine. Here are options for ordering at various types of restaurants. A steakhouse. This is probably one of the easiest places to eat for fat loss. Most places will offer lean cuts of beef, chicken or fish.

[00:06:18] Many of those are a great choice along with steamed green veggies and a side salad. I will usually ask the server to hold the croutons on the salad and get a vinaigrette dressing on the side. Mexican food. Fajitas without the tortilla. I like to ask for double protein.

[00:06:34] Or, a taco salad without the shell. Ask for no sour cream and go light on the cheese. Italian food. Obviously, pasta is not going to be your best option here, so stick to salads and whatever grilled protein options are available. Most places will have fish, chicken and beef.

[00:06:53] American food. These places usually all have a decent salad selection, so a good option would be a grilled chicken salad. Again, I ask for double protein with dressing on the side. The key to these types of salads is watch the toppings.

[00:07:08] Croutons, crunchy noodles and so on are things that I like to nix. These places usually have steak, chicken and fish as well. Don't be afraid to ask for a plain grilled option if it isn't on the menu. Most places are happy to accommodate. Asian food.

[00:07:25] Opt for protein and veggie intensive meals and several bites of brown rice or skip the rice altogether. Most places will steam entrees and place any sauces on the side if you ask. A burger joint. Yes, you can eat for fat loss here.

[00:07:41] Order your burger with extra lettuce and tomato, remove the bun and eat your makeshift salad. And fast food in general. Again, remove the bun from burgers, same for grilled chicken sandwiches and eat them with extra lettuce and tomato. Most fast food places offer salad options

[00:07:59] so that's always a good choice too. A note about sodium. If you've been leading the fat loss lifestyle for any length of time, then your typical meals are probably low in sodium. Restaurants typically go way overboard with salt

[00:08:14] so I usually ask them to hold the seasonings if possible. I sometimes forget so I make sure that I drink a ton of water during and after dinner to negate the sodium bloat. Hopefully, these tips will help you. And remember, the fat loss lifestyle is about balance.

[00:08:30] It's not all or nothing. There is nothing wrong with not sticking to your plan. Be gentle with yourself if that happens. And get right back on the wagon the next meal. You just listened to the post titled Dining Out? Stay on track with these tips

[00:08:49] by Tara Ballard with jillfit.com and I'll be right back with my commentary. Dr. Neil here for my commentary. The author of today's article, Tara, mentioned that one trick to help us get closer toward the lifestyle goals we may have set for ourselves is

[00:09:06] when dining out, think about eating non-starchy vegetables and protein-rich foods first. Then, carbohydrate-rich foods last. What I love about this advice is that it can be used anywhere and at any time. For example, let's think about the holiday season, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, New Year's.

[00:09:26] For those that want to maintain their weight and health goals over these holidays, it can be really difficult because of all the delicious foods we're surrounded by all the time and most of those are starchy foods. It's so tempting and so easy to over-consume

[00:09:42] those foods around the holidays. So every year, my advice is the same as Tara's. Whether we're sitting down at a meal or just having a snack, think about consuming the non-starchy vegetables and protein-rich foods first. Non-starchy vegetables would be your dark green

[00:10:00] leafy veggies like spinach, kale, romaine lettuce, collard greens, mustard greens and broccoli as well as red or orange vegetables like tomatoes, pumpkin and bell peppers and other vegetables like asparagus, cabbage, celery and green beans. Protein-rich foods would be your animal products like beef, chicken, turkey and fish

[00:10:21] as well as plant-based protein sources like beans, lentils and tofu. Again, these are the foods we want to consume first for each meal and snack. Then treat the starchy vegetables and starchy foods like potatoes, peas and corn like a dessert. By eating foods in this order,

[00:10:39] it will hopefully help us to feel more satisfied at the end of the meal. Oh, and you know how I mentioned that this is the advice I give during the holidays? Well, I lied a little bit. Actually, this is the exact same advice

[00:10:50] I give to those with diabetes or prediabetes too regardless of the time of year. This pattern of eating works really well for managing blood sugar too. So again, feel free to use it year-round if you'd like. Alright, that'll do it for another edition of Optimal Health Daily.

[00:11:07] I hope you have a great rest of your day. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you for sharing this show with someone and I'll be back here tomorrow so I'll see you there where your optimal life awaits.