The Social Eating Resource Guide For Eating Out

Don’t be afraid to eat out at a restaurant.

Here are some easy to follow suggestions to allow you to feel empowered when you are out dining with friends and family and still wanting to meet your goals:

1.Decide that you own your healthy lifestyle. You are not just “pretending to be living a healthy lifestyle.”

2. Let the “diet mentality” go! Diets don’t work.

3. Eating healthy is not just Monday to Friday.

4. It is about being a human/social being and enjoying the social part of eating food.

5. Eating  food is connection with “self” and others. It serves a primal need.

6. If you have a specific goal (ie) you are competing: stick to total calories for the day, as a general rule.

7. Preview menu and decide on meal prior to outing.

8. Research/ Google the approximate macros for the meal and input into your macro app. Or build out it separately in your app.

9. Don’t be afraid to ask the server for substitution and sauces on the side.

10. Always modify your order to serve your goals.

11. Example: A burger without a bun, extra veggies and a side of sweet potatoes.

12. A general rule, if you want wine, avoid complex carbs and dessert. If you want dessert, avoid wine and complex carbs- Ideally pick one favourite!

13. Never go to a restaurant starving, always have a small shake and greens prior to night out.

14 . Eat slowly, enjoy conversation.

15. Put utensils down between bite to chat, and chew food well.

16. Take (2) digestive enzymes with heavy meal to help with digestion and nutrient partitioning.  

In the big scheme of things, you can always find something to eat on a menu salads and proteins with sauces on the side are always fine… But if the meal doesn’t go as you had planned… so be it. The caloric fluctuations may be exactly what your body needed that day to combat the stress of eating out. Just go with it and get back to your macro tracking tomorrow. 

Ideally, it is important to allow yourself some “space” to have times where you are not macro-ing food and you can just go out to eat, using your nutritional skillset. Food freedom is important for physical progress because it allows your body and mind to “trust each other” therefore, allowing you to continue growth and development without disordered behaviour patterns.