3 Rules for Safely Eating Out
Hi, I am Dr. Craig Primack from Scottsdale Weight Loss.
Today’s medical minute is about eating out in restaurants, specifically the 3 rules for safely eating out in restaurants. As the pandemic is hopefully coming to an end or towards the time where we can get out and be a little social again, many of us are starting to eat in restaurants. Especially here in Arizona. I have three tips that will help you make the best choices for eating out.
Consider Staying Home for Safe Eating
First things first, it is always going to be better, I will tell you, to eat at home and food that you cook, which is bought from a grocery store, which is natural, which is fresh and is made by your hands on the stove. But that being said, it’s not always the most practical because socially we tend to eat out a lot more than we did 20, 30, and 40 years ago. It really becomes an activity as well as a meal itself.
Safe Eating Tip #1: Look at the Menu First
So tip number one for eating out is to look at the menu before you get to the restaurant. You look at all the columns, all the different types of foods the restaurant has, and you pick what I call the better choice. There is always going to be at every restaurant I can name, a better choice and of course, the worst choice. There isn’t always a perfect choice depending on where you’re going.
If you have control over the restaurant and you know the menu, you can then ask for a restaurant that fits the lean and green or plants and protein lifestyle that most of us are trying to follow, but that isn’t always the case, or you may not be in control of where you’re eating. So picking the better choice even before you sit down and have all the pressure of what other people are ordering or the specials that you see going by you as you go sit at the table.
Safe Eating Tip #2: Don’t Go In Extra Hungry
The number two most important thing when eating out in a restaurant is don’t go in extra hungry. Don’t skip a meal in the afternoon so that you know you’re going to have a little bit more food so that you sit down hungry. If you sit down hungry at the table, then unfortunately when something comes to the table, if you’re in a Mexican style restaurant and there’s chips on the table, if you go someplace where they put bread or breadsticks on the table, as soon as you sit down, your signals for hunger will be firing. And it is very easy at that point, especially if other people are doing it, to eat.
Safe Eating Tip#3: Work on Your Portion
And the third most important tip is to work on your portion. So restaurant portions are almost always bigger than what you’re going to serve to yourself at home. we do not have to be part of the clean your plate club. Much like many people were taught when they were kids. It is very common now when the meal comes that you can ask for a container or what we’ll call a doggy bag.
At that time you’re going to take and bring down your portion so that it is just a reasonable portion on your plate. So you can take, if it’s a large piece of protein, you can take and use the palm-sized hand for a good piece of protein. And if there’s extra vegetables or other things, put those away, even in the beginning, seal it up as best you can if there’s a bag, tie it off and then slowly eat and enjoy the food that’s sitting in front of you.
So although eating out is not the absolute best way to diet. Many people do eat out successfully and safely all the time in the world we live in it. You just need to follow the three tips that I talked about today.
“Many people eat out successfully and safely all the time”
Thanks for being here with me and I hope to see you next week for my next medical minute
To Schedule a Consult with Doctor Primack–
Please call 480366-4400
or
email info@scottsdaleweightloss.com
