Don’t Let One Bad Meal Ruin Your Weight Loss

Sticking to a new eating program is difficult, even in ideal situations.  If you are a person that has an active social life which involves eating out often, then you may find it impossible to stick to any ‘diet plan’.  The biggest problem people have is feeling guilty after they indulge.  Most times they eat a bad meal or two and this is enough for them to abandon their diet altogether.  I am obviously not perfect, and this has happened to me as well, but I have learned to keep progressing towards my goals even after I eat a poor meal.

Eating Out Healthy and Making the Best Choice

Making healthy choices is the key to maintaining a healthy body weight and achieving your weight loss goals.  Making a good choice at a restaurant isn’t always easy and is complicated by your new diet criteria.  I am not suggesting that the Paleo diet is a superior way of eating (although it makes the sense), but if you follow the principles of this diet when eating out then you will stay on track with your weight loss progress.

Paleo Principles

• No Grains (bread)
• No Sugar
• No Dairy
• No processed foods

If you can find food at a restaurant that follows these principles than making a good choice is simple.  What if you can not find a menu item that fits your diet plan perfectly?  Don’t sweat it.

This happens all the time, so get used to it.  If the perfect food does not exist than don’t just throw caution to the wind and order the worst thing possible by rationaling that nothing on the menu fit your diet principles.  This will cause you to question the diet they are on, and feel that it is too restrictive, which usually leads to the end of the diet entirely.

Remember, like many things in life, the best choice is not always be the perfect choice!

Here are 5 tips I use when ordering food at a restaurant

1. Order a regular meal (burger, steak etc) but pitch the bread
2. Consider breakfast options at dinner (omelets are interesting, and pack a strong nutritional punch)
3. Order a salad, with low sugar dressing with every dish (will aid in slower release of glucose in the body, keeps blood sugar level low)
4. Order an appetizer as your main course (shrimp is one of my favourites, remember it doesn’t have to be perfect, just the best option)
5. Avoid liquid calories (most important!!!!, Diet Soda and Water are your friends)

If you use these tips when dining out with you friends and family, you will stay on track with your weight loss progress.  I have used these tips to keep my weight in line while on vacation and when eating out.  While I did follow the Primal/Paleo diet for most of my weight loss success, choosing the right foods when eating out really gave me the confidence to keep going.  Good luck on your weight loss journey.