I love eating out… but unfortunately I am not one of those who can eat and drink whatever they want without gaining weight! Nope… I constantly have to take care of my weight and I continually have to watch out what I put into my mouth.

Good thing is, that I know my theory VERY well… and I am happy to share with you plenty of tips on how to take in less calories when eating out… now to put in into practice (sigh!!)…

Apéro-time

• Drink cava, prosecco or champagne instead of beer and cocktails. Make sure you have a glass of water at the ready… you DRINK water, you SIP alcohol!!
• Try to stay away from the nibbles… I know… it’s always so tempting!!
• Sometimes there are raw vegetables with a dip sauce… try to stick with the vegetables 🙂
• Whatever you do… stay clear from fried snacks!

Lunch & diner

• Again: make sure to drink plenty of water! Your glass of water should be on the right hand side of your glass of wine. That way you’re more likely to drink your water first.
• Fill your glass of water whenever it’s empty.
• When they bring bread, try not to eat too much of it… it’ll ruin your appetite ànd it contains calories you’d rather spend on your main dish!
• When you can choose what you have as a starter, go for carpaccio, smoked salmon, shrimps or soup… no not those heavy cream soups, but a fine consommé instead!
• Ask if they can put the sauce/dressing on the side. That way you can choose if and how much sauce/dressing you take with your meal.
• Go for lean meat (steak, veal, poultry) or fish (codfish, shellfish).
• When you can choose the potato dish, opt for plain potatoes (and leave those fries for what they are…).
• Or why not ask for a double portion of vegetables instead of the potato dish?
• When we go out to eat with our kids, we usually go to a local Italian restaurant as our children love pizza. I often take the grilled gambas…  a very tasty alternative which has far less calories than a cheese-dripping pizza!

Dessert

• Do you need dessert? If you’re full, why not settle for a tea or a coffee? Most of the time a little chocolate or cookie is served with your tea or coffee… let that be your dessert 🙂
• If you take dessert, settle for a fruit salad (with one scoop of ice cream/sorbet or a dollop of chantilly if necessary!).
• If you can choose between icecream or sorbet, take the latter!! Very tasty and so much lower in calories than icecream.

Extra tips

• When going out to a restaurant, why not suggest to be the driver? That way you can’t drink very much.
• It might help if you give yourself a choice, for instance: “I won’t drink wine but I’ll have a dessert instead…”, or “I really want to have an apéro and a couple of drinks, so I’ll take a double portion of vegetables instead of the fries”. You will probably find it easier to leave the wine for what it is if you know you can have a dessert at the end of your diner!
• No matter what… enjoy your lunch or diner!

Do you  have any more tips? Feel free to share them to help us all out 😀

Love, Kathleen

Here you can read a post on how to survive the festive season when on a diet!