Why do you go out to eat?
I don’t think eating out is a bad thing to do every now and then, but I do think we should be conscious of how often and what types of foods we’re eating.
To celebrate.
When you are celebrating a special event, most likely it’s special because it doesn’t happen that often. This means your eating out isn’t a habit, it’s a one time celebration which I wouldn’t think twice about. We all deserve to treat ourselves every now and then so if you have a special occasion, go out and enjoy!
By enjoy, I mean be aware of what you are eating, you don’t need the heavy cream sauces or a refill of bread at the table. You can most likely share if not skip dessert and I suggest boxing up half your meal for leftovers the next day. These shouldn’t be huge sacrifices, just part of your lifestyle choices.
Eating out socially.
Although we need food to fuel our bodies and keep our energy up, a huge part of eating is social. I actually prefer to make eating a social event and almost rarely eat alone. Whether it is with my husband, family or friends I always opt to sit down at a meal with others. Social eating can be detrimental to our diets or a positive pick me up. A lot of it determines who you are eating with and where you are eating. Also, if you have conquered your own self control and temptation buttons when you order and portion control.
Especially women are known for using phrases such as “that’s all you’re eating”. This is a tactic from their own guilt when they see you controlling yourself and want you to indulge with them, making themselves feel better about overeating. Have you ever been in that situation? Don’t give in! Kindly smile and say, “Yes, this is all I am hungry for at this time” and change the subject.
Short on time.
You are leaving work, running to your kids soccer practice and have a 20 minute window to get your entire family dinner – what do you do? Stop at Chick Fil A and get a few chicken sandwiches. Well, at least you stopped and got a grilled chicken sandwich – I was afraid you were going to say something like burger and fries at the McDonalds.
I get it. I really do. Sometimes we don’t have a choice and we have to stop by and serve dinner at the local fast food joint down the street. The key is not making this a routine. If you have an appointment every Thursday after work and you know your kids are going to be hungry… PLAN AHEAD! Prepare sandwiches, fresh fruit and veggies and eat them on the go. If you have a park nearby sit outside on a bench together and enjoy!
Lazy.
You have all the food in your kitchen to throw together a semi-healthy edible meal, but if we are being honest you are just too darn lazy. This is where my easy go to meals come in! Have 5 – 6 options of foods that you can literally throw together in a pinch when you don’t feel like cooking. It won’t be your healthiest meal, but i guarantee it will be healthier than anything you will get out at a restaurant.
Why we all need to cook at home more
Less Salt & Sugar in your food
Salt and Sugar make foods taste better (big surprise). Restaurants will always add more salt, sugar and fats to your foods to enhance the flavor of your food. Until you are use to it, healthy food doesn’t naturally taste as good because our taste buds are use to getting the extra sugar/salt.
You need to start taking the sugar and salt out of your diet and train your tastebuds to find healthy foods delicious. It sounds ridiculous to you maybe now, but the more salt you take out of your diet, the less you crave salty foods and the less satisfying salty foods are. The same goes for sugar! It’s not going to happen overnight, but don’t give up!
Smaller Portions
It’s not a surprise that restaurants serve us enough in one entree for 2 – 3 people. As much as we all would like to believe we are strong enough to portion control ourselves, we almost always end up eating too many calories in one sitting.
When you cook at home, I always suggest filling a smaller dinner plate with food instead of eating off of a big dinner plate. This will help you control your portions and trick your mind into thinking you are eating more food.
We can control what goes in our food
This means we can eat more real foods and less processed foods. When you purchase your food you can pick local healthy options instead of trusting a restaurant to make those choices for you.
Save Money
The excuse healthy food is too expensive is full of crap. First, put your money to what you deem important and a priority, I would say our health should be on the top of that list! Second, yes whole foods is expensive but if you are simply buying fresh veggies and fruits to eat on throughout the week you will be surprised at how inexpensive your weekly grocery trips can be. I always say you should try to shop on the outside aisles of the grocery store, the middle aisles are more processed options.
Set a goal for yourself of only eating out 1 – 2x a week, that includes all of your breakfasts, lunches and dinners so pick wisely!
I want to hear from you. Why do you eat out? Is it often or every now and then? Are you able to control what you eat or do you feel like you are constantly battling finding healthy options?