My friend Elizabeth and I watch the Biggest Loser each week. While we live in different cities, we typically text during the show, so it feels like we are sitting in the same room watching!
This week Elizabeth commented on the part of the show in which they had to eat out every meal of every day for a week. She wished Bob and Jillian had focused more on eating out and tips for living your life in a world that thrives on fast food and convenience.
I don't eat out a lot anymore. Elizabeth and I used to eat out all the time! Eating out is still a big part of her life and knowing that she is on this journey too, she knows she needs to make wise decisions. The simple things include no cheese, sauce, limited to no alcohol, no dessert, no oil, etc. On the Biggest Loser this week they went to a Mexican restaurant and asked that the chips and salsa be removed from the table. There is NO WAY I could do that. I would much rather have a smaller meal than give up chips and salsa! Even if I only have 5 chips (which I've done before!).
Bob and Jillian suggested to order things baked, broiled, poached, grilled, steamed, seared, and raw (veggies). Once you read a few menus you begin to pick up on buzz words; pan-fried, crusted, fried, etc. Elizabeth and I would eat at Applebees a lot. We knew they had a WW menu so it made our options much easier; so long as we stuck to that menu! We could have an appetizer, meal and dessert and not feel guilty at all. We made the decision to eat at a safer restaurant and limit our temptation elsewhere.
Other tricks: dressing on the side, subbing veggies and/or fruit for fries or baked potato, look the restaurant up online and make wise choices, eat smaller meals during the day and then you may indulge a little more in the evening, exercise before your meal out, no bread/chips at the table, season with lemon as opposed to oils, have something small at home before you eat out. I've tried and done all these things. The key is just doing them. You have to make the change and the decision to do it.
You can! Change today! Get the dressing on the side, don't have the appetizer, order your chicken grilled, not fried! Baby steps. . . !
