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Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Session 10 on What to Remember When Eating Out

A week has come and gone and now let's check where we are. Did we write down what we ate and drank especially the fat grams, the number of minutes of exercise we did? Did we do 150 minutes of exercise? How did we do weight-wise? By now we should have lost a few pounds especially if we are tipping the calorie balance.

So let's go ahead to session 10 where we will have four things to remember when eating out. The first is to plan ahead. What should these plans include? Well, things like what to order and where to eat. If we plan ahead where to eat, we will be less likely to eat where we will consume more calories.

As to planning ahead what to eat, we will have better chance at choosing what to eat that will be most beneficial to our effort to lose weight. We can even call the restaurant to see what they're offering. Or better still, let's go online and see if they have their menus where we can choose the best item for us.

The second thing to do ahead of time is to practice being assertive as to what foods to order. We can stress the fact that we want adjustment to the cooking method used. Ask fish to be broiled instead of fried, for instance. And then request for smaller portions. We usually ask for lunch portions.

When practicing assertiveness, it is good to do some role playing. Get a buddy to act as the waiter and place your order as to what you want to eat, the way it is cooked and the portion you want served. This way you are good and ready to face the waiter with your order.

The third key to eating out healthy is choosing the food items that are lower in fat and are healthy. For instance, between French fries and boiled potato, it is clear which one is healthy for us. I thought this is covered in the second one but I suppose Diabetes Prevention Program just wants to be sure we will have this covered.

The fourth is to take the initiative to be the first to order and to keep temptations out of reach. So we have all these four keys. To summarize, here they are:
1. Plan ahead what to eat and where to eat.
2. Practice being assertive when ordering what food, portion and how it’s cooked.
3. Select items in the menu that are low in fat and less in calories.
4. Be the first to order and keep temptations out of reach.

For homework, try following those guides and keep records of the weight, food and drink intake including fat grams, and physical activity. And please read this: Diabetes Diet.

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