So you’ve been invited to a meal out, you’ve said yes and now you’re starting to worry. How can you stay on track? What about your progress? You actually consider cancelling plans because you’re so anxious about ruining any progress. Fear not. I want to share a few suggestions (used individually or together) I find helpful when I know there is going to be a meal out, with a few indulgences*!
There are three stages of a meal out I want to discuss. Though the meal itself may seem like the scariest and biggest, it’s actually the before and after that I really want to dive in to.
Before
Do a little research. You’ll be surprised how many restaurants have their nutritional content online, easily accessible with a little Google search. If possible, by picking what you’ll be having later and adjusting your calories the rest of the day to fit it in can take a heap of pressure off.
Food plan. Not all restaurants share the nutritional content but that doesn’t mean you can’t be smart with your choices. If you know the restaurant you can take a look at the menu to get an idea of what you might have. Most foods will either be high fat, high carb (eg burger and chips) or high fat (eg fish and salad with dressing )and carb (eg creamy pasta). The latter is the one to avoid if possible as it’s going to be packed full of calories.
Drink plan. It’s easily done but one thing not to forget about is drinks, yes drinks have calories and some can be pretty high! A real quick run down: a pint of beer is 180kcal, 250ml wine is 200kcal, gin and light tonic is 59kcl, a pint of cider is 210kcal. You can see how a few drinks before, during and after can massively affect your calories for the day. The best way is to plan ahead, to set yourself a limit and stick to it. If you find it hard to just have one, pick the lower calorie options where you can!
Think bigger picture. Say you aim to eat 2000 calories a day, in the week that equates to 14,000 calories. If one day you eat 3200 calories because of that one big evening meal yes you’ve eaten an extra 1200 calories. This however doesn’t have to be the case if you plan a little. By simply having a little less each of the days leading up to the meal, you can stick to that overall 14,000 target. In this case simply taking 200kcal from each of the other days gives you those extra calories to enjoy (guilt free). (200kcal could be from having one less snack, swapping some pasta for veggies or not having that morning Starbucks).
Intermittent fasting. There’s still a lot of debate about intermittent fasting but I’ve found it can be very helpful if I’m eating out later. Skipping breakfast, along with adjusting a few meals the rest of the week will give you a whole lot more calories to play around with come the meal out.
*Important: It’s ok to go over your calories on occasion, indulging in food isn’t the end of the world I promise! I just hope these tips will help if you do have a bit of time to plan ahead or if you feel very uneasy about having a meal out.
During
There are only two things that are important during that evening meal out
Stick to the plan. There is no point in planning your week around that pasta dish, cheesecake and 2 glasses of wine if you end up having a half the complimentary breadsticks and a bottle of wine
Enjoy yourself! Simple as.
The aftermath
You wake up feeling and looking pretty bloated; maybe you weigh yourself, stepping off in shame as you see an extra kg appear… all that guilt starts flooding in. Maybe you still feel super full, your belly still digesting all the food that now feels like a huge mistake. Or maybe you’re a bit like me will always wake up hungry, no matter what or how much was eaten the night before.
Don’t fall into the trap of starving yourself as punishment. I want too emphasise this point so listen up. You don’t need to be punished for enjoying a meal with family, friends or your partner. You don’t have to skip breakfast and lunch to make up for the food. You don’t need to eat only salads and green tea to try to ‘detox’ your body. You don’t need to run for hours on a treadmill to try to burn it all off.
There are lots of reasons you may feel bigger in the morning. You’re body has had an increase in sodium resulting in water retention, you’ve also restored your glycogen levels which interestingly per gram can store 3-4 grams of water. You may simply not have been to the toilet yet. Plan for this and expect it.
You planned for the meal; you’re still on track and will be back to yourself over the next few days.
If you always fear eating out how can you enjoy yourself? How can you say yes to plans and truly feel excited about it? I hope this shows you that you don’t always have to pick the under 500 kcal options (though these are good for unplanned meals out). You can have a whole pizza, your favourite dessert and a few drinks without a side of guilt.
