Here are some things you can do to ensure you stay on your low-calorie diet plan whilst at a restaurant.
Ask for the toppings on the high-calorie dishes to be put on the side
You don't have to forgo the restaurant's richest, tastiest dishes because you're on a low-calorie diet. Instead, you can ask the waiter or waitress to have the restaurant chef deconstruct the high-calorie dishes you feel like having.
For example, if you're ordering a high-calorie salad that, in addition to vegetables and meat, also comes with a very creamy or oily dressing, as well as croutons, cheese and nuts, you should ask the wait staff for the base of the salad (i.e. the salad leaves and other vegetables) and the protein (such as the chicken) to be served on the main dinner plate and for the aforementioned high-calorie toppings to be served in small ramekins beside it.
This will give you greater control over the amount of each topping that you consume, as you'll get to decide, for example, to add a tablespoon of dressing to the main salad, rather than having to eat lettuce leaves that are saturated with six tablespoons, and can add a tablespoon of grated parmesan, instead of eating the two tablespoons that the chef normally adds to this dish. It will also mean you won't have to try to avoid taking too many bites of the calorific toppings whilst you eat by, for example, pushing the nuts to the side of the plate or brushing the excess cheese off your fork before taking each bite.
If you do this, you should be able to indulge in this meal and get a little taste of every delicious, high-calorie topping, without consuming thousands of calories during your main course.
Consider sharing the starter or the dessert
If you're taking someone who you're close with to the restaurant and you know they're happy to split certain dishes, you might also want to suggest sharing either the starter or the dessert. The reason for this is that whilst the portion sizes of starters and desserts in most restaurants are not particularly large, they can be quite calorically dense and you can end up adding, for example, an extra 1,000 calories to your main meal just by having these courses in addition to the main.
By splitting your starter of nachos and dip or your dessert of cheesecake and whipped cream with your dining companion, you will probably consume about half the calories during that course than you would have, had you eaten it by yourself. Furthermore, if you're sharing a dish with someone else, you'll be less likely to eat the dish quickly in a way that might not give your stomach enough time to send you the signal that your body has eaten enough.
Share8 April 2022
Eating out should be a fun experience. If you are tired of spending evenings out with your friends and family which you don't quite enjoy, you have come to the right place. Here, we aim to bring you all of our top tips which will help you to have a great evening of food, drink, and laughter. While we don't work in the restaurant industry, we do have a passion for eating out. This passion has driven us on to research and write the articles you see here. Read on to find out about different cuisines, interesting dishes, and much more!