How to Eat Out and Still Lose Weight - 9 Expert Tips

Eating out often shouldn’t always mean that you’ll pack on weight. Your social life and personal experience shouldn’t suffer just because you’re on a weight loss journey. There’s a way to enjoy good food, hang out with friends, and not worry about adding inches to your waist.

Taking steps towards making minute, but healthy, lifestyle changes can go a long way in helping you enjoy dining outside the comforts of your home without worrying about excess calories.

Below, we’ll teach you how to eat out and still lose weight.

Is It Possible to Lose Weight While Eating Out?

Yes, it absolutely is!

It all boils down to making better choices that help you avoid gaining weight amidst expanding portion sizes in restaurants, especially fast-food chains.

Common Challenges of Dining Out

The two biggest challenges most face when eating out is the lack of nutritional information and variety.

You can’t force locally-owned restaurants to spend time knowing how many calories are in the food they serve or cater to every patron’s needs. But you can make an educated guess and adjust accordingly.

For example, options like “grilled,” “baked,” “roasted,” and “blackened” are better for proteins as they’re cooked using methods that involve less added fats and oils compared to “fried,” “breaded,” “crusted,” “battered,” or “smothered.”

Vegetables and fruits are always good for you, especially if the entire spectrum is available.

But again, steer clear of sneaky additives that add unnecessary calories to restaurant meals. Salad dressings are a good example of this.

Benefits of Learning How to Eat Out Mindfully

The benefits of mindful eating practices extend to when you’re not eating at home.

You’d be surprised at how much more food you’ll order in restaurants compared to when you get to sit down, cook, and enjoy a meal at your house. Sitting down and taking your time to order the right foods—in the right amounts—is a good practice to learn if you want to cut down on your calorie intake, even when you can’t fully control what’s on your plate.

You may be surprised at how much less food you’ll order and still feel satisfied when you can make deliberate choices and savor the meal.

9 Tips for Eating Out and Losing Weight

You don’t have to give up socializing and enjoying the menu of the day to achieve and maintain a healthy weight.

You can still eat good food and lose weight. Here’s how.

1- Planning Ahead Before Going to a Restaurant

Assuming it isn’t a last-second invite, you can set yourself up for success by making plans—and we don’t mean choosing the restaurant.

Many fall into the trap of feeling like they must work out their core, do more exercises than usual, and/or starve themselves because they’ll let loose and eat out later in the same evening.

This isn’t sustainable. It’s also not healthy.

Instead, you can make room for more calories by eating lighter meals throughout the day. It’s up to you how you do this, but healthy snacks help you stay active and alert throughout the day without sacrificing your nutritional needs and spoiling your appetite.

We admit that there’s a fine line between feeling hangry ahead of your dinner reservation and feeling guilty about eating more than usual, but these tips will help you avoid feeling either.

2- Checking menus online:

One of the best things about the Internet is that most restaurants are on it, which means that their menus are available to look up online.

If the restaurant you’re going to doesn’t have a website or a menu on its official social media pages, you can use resources like MenuStat.

3- Choosing restaurants with healthy options:

Fast food is notoriously bad for your health. If you can, steer clear of these ready-to-eat and convenient restaurants.

More and more local chains are becoming increasingly aware of the public’s desire for health-conscious options. In fact, some restaurants plan around this. Choose a restaurant that offers healthy and balanced meals that don’t compromise the food experience.

Smart Ordering Strategies

4- Opting for grilled, steamed, or baked options:

Grilled, steamed, and baked options are healthier, with more nutritional value and fewer calories than fried foods.

5- Asking for sauces and dressings on the side:

Your restaurant experience isn’t complete without exploring the bold flavoring options available, but sauces, dressings, and vinaigrette come at a steep caloric cost.

If your order must include these condiments, ask them to be put on the side instead of on your meal. This lets you dip or dab your food instead of drenching it, which adds to its total caloric value while sacrificing nutrition.

6- Customizing your meal to reduce calories:

You’d be surprised at how much you can customize your meal to have fewer calories when eating out.

In addition to choosing grilled, steamed, or baked options, you can ask the restaurant to use lean meat for your meal, swap your side with vegetables or fruits, or avoid breading and heavy toppings.

These minute changes add up to a meal with nearly half the calories it normally has, a huge bump in nutritional value without the added cost.

Portion Control Techniques

Just because the restaurant serves you a larger plate than you’re usually used to, and you’re paying for it, you don’t have to eat all of it.

7- Sharing dishes with a friend:

For example, sharing the dish with your friend wouldn't hurt, especially in restaurants with generous food servings.

Better yet, ask. Most restaurants won’t mind showing you their portion sizes and how many people each meal is good for.

8- Packing half your meal to go:

If you’re eating alone and just want to satisfy your cravings by giving in to them occasionally but still want to stay within your daily calorie limits, you can still order that “unhealthy” food you’ve wanted to eat all week without feeling too guilty. How? By eating only a portion and packing what’s left to go.

Many restaurants don’t mind packing leftovers for you, although some will charge you for it.

9- Avoiding all-you-can-eat options:

Food buffets, or all-you-can-eat restaurants, are a great way to try out different meals for a lower price. They’re also bad for your health.

If you can, stay away from these types of restaurants.

Healthy Drink Choices When Eating Out

Did you know that a regular serving of alcoholic drinks contains roughly around 100 calories?

Your drink choices matter when eating out. You might have opted for a healthy salad with dressing on the side to avoid unnecessary calories, but your drink of choice might be costing you.

Limiting Alcohol Intake

Of course, while the added alcohol calories will sneak up on you, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t enjoy the occasional glass.

Alcohol is good for your health if you drink it moderately.

Low-Calorie Beverage Options

Water is the lowest-calorie beverage option, and the best part is that most restaurants provide clean and safe tap water for free.

Filling up with water during meals reduces the likelihood of overeating. It’s also good for digestion and weight loss.

If you must have added flavor, try plain tea and coffee or a fruit shake or smoothie prepared without added sugars.

Mindful Eating Techniques for Weight Loss

Eating Slowly and Savoring Your Food

Did you know that it can take 20 minutes for your brain to tell you that your stomach is full already and you should stop eating?

Your food tastes much better if you savor every bite and take time. If you’ve finished your plate and still feel like enjoying seconds, try to pause to see if it’s just taking a while for your brain to catch up to your stomach’s signals.

It’s shocking how much you’ll enjoy the food the same way without overeating with mindful eating practices.

Listening to Your Body’s Hunger Cues

Drinking water, eating slowly, pausing, and assessing if you’re still hungry are all part of listening to your body and its hunger cues.

Everyone’s body is different, so don’t feel pressured to eat as much as who you’re eating out with.

If you feel full, even if there’s more food on your plate, that’s okay.

Dessert Options: How to Indulge Wisely

Choosing Lighter Desserts

Fruit- and vegetable-based desserts are excellent food options for eating out. They’re lighter on calories and healthier for you.

If they’re not available or you really just want to have that one dessert you’ve been longing for all week, try to see if they have individual portions available.

Sharing Desserts

Now, giving in to temptation and eating an “unhealthy” dessert isn’t bad. In fact, part of having a healthy relationship with food is knowing something isn’t the healthiest option, enjoying it every now and then, and not feeling guilty afterward.

Unfortunately, most restaurants serve more dessert than most of us trying to eat healthy can handle.

When this happens to you, try sharing it with your company. Splitting desserts can make eating out even more fun and memorable. It can also give you an excuse to try what others have ordered—a win-win.

Conclusion

Here at Reverse Health, we believe you can still have fun, say “YES” when your friends and family ask you to join them for a night out, and STILL stick to your weight loss routine.

These simple but effective tips will help you eat out and lose weight.

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