Enjoying meals at restaurants, breakfast with the family, brunch with friends and being social with food is an incredibly important part of living a healthy, balanced lifestyle. Flexible dieting, learning how to track your intake and understanding the energy value of food helps with making the right choices for your goals, without restrictions.

Here are my tips for eating out:

 

1. Plan Ahead of Time

 

Try to factor in your meal out first and work backwards to hit your targets for that day:

• Look up the menu.

• Do some research and check photos on their social media to estimate portion sizes.

• If another restaurant has a similar menu item, see if the macros are listed — you can base your meal off that.

 

2. Choose Wisely

If you have the option, select a restaurant that has nutrition information available for easy MyFitnessPal entry. Chains like Grill’d, Nandos, Salsa’s, Burger Urge, and most takeaway chains do this. Otherwise, aim for:

• A source of protein

• Plenty of vegetables

• A side salad

Tips:

• It’s always better to estimate or overestimate serving sizes than underestimate from a calorie perspective.

• With time, measuring portions at home will help you become more accurate at estimating restaurant servings.

• You can ask for sauces on the side, no oil, or smaller portions — restaurants are usually accommodating.

• You can also relate a meal from a restaurant to a similar meal from a place that lists its nutrients (e.g., a chicken breast burger from a pub can be entered using the macros of a similar burger from Grill’d).

 

3. Planning for the Unknown

If you don’t know where or what you’ll be eating ahead of time, try these strategies:

• Reduce your calorie intake earlier in the day by having small servings of lean protein with low-calorie salads or vegetables. This keeps you full and saves carbs and fat for your meal out.

• Consider a fasted period and start your first meal later in the day.

• Don’t stress — take a break from tracking if needed, make smart choices at dinner, and resume tracking the next day.

 

4. You Do Not Need an All-or-Nothing Approach

Even if things don’t go exactly to plan, you can still make wise choices. You are 100% in control of your intake and what you consume.

 

5. Serving Size

If your meal comes in a large serving and you feel full, listen to your hunger cues!

• Food will always be there; no one is making you clean your plate.

• Your food doesn’t have feelings and won’t be upset if you don’t finish it.

 

Life is too short to be antisocial or miss out on fun and memories with loved ones due to restrictive eating.