Weight loss coach who dropped 9 kilos, shares 4 restaurant mistakes to avoid: Don’t start with a cocktail

Start your meal with a big glass of water and ask for your preferences at the restaurant. Also, never go to a restaurant starving.

Thinking of skipping a dinner date at a restaurant just because you’re on a weight loss journey? While dining out can feel challenging, it’s absolutely possible to make mindful choices and avoid overeating. Melissa, a weight loss coach who successfully dropped nine kilos, recently shared the lessons she learned from her own journey, along with practical tips to help others stay on track while eating out.

Avoid these restaurant mistakes when you are on your weight loss journey.(istockphoto)

On June 7, Melissa shared a post on the restaurant mistakes to avoid. “If you want to be able to go out to eat but stay on track for weight loss, don’t make these mistakes,” she wrote.

1. Saving up calories for dinner:

If you go to a restaurant starving because you didn’t eat much all day, you will make less healthy choices once the smells and sights of food cloud your starving mind.

What to do instead: Just eat normally, maybe a tad lighter on carbs or fat than usual but go to the restaurant with your usual pre-meal appetite to make better choices.

2. Starting with a cocktail:

If you start with a cocktail, you’ll likely drink more due to initial thirst and take in more liquid calories.

What to do instead: Always start with drinking at least 1 big glass of water, then you’ll be hydrated, and your thirst will be quenched first. If you still want a drink, you won’t drink as much and most of the time you’ll skip it.

Drink a glass of water before starting your meal.(Shutterstock)

3. Not sharing preferences with restaurants to alter the meal to make healthier choices:

If you just order right off the menu, restaurant food is much higher in calories due to things like added sauces, dressings, even butter added to the bun.

What to do instead: Explain what modifications you want, to reduce calories. Ask for dressings and sauces on the side, or no butter on your bun or even veggies steamed instead of sauted. You’ll keep all the flavour for less calories.

4. Thinking that you need to eat more because you paid for it:

If you have the ‘I can’t waste it’ mentality, remember you’re actually wasting it whether it goes in your body or the trash if you don’t need it.

What to do instead: Stop when 80% full and put your utensils down for a min or 2. Then, decide if you truly want more. If not, feel empowered that you ate what you needed, and your body is healthier for stopping there.

Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.