I was just skimming over some of the food journals that we give out at our bootcamp to help our campers realize what they are doing right and wrong as far as their eating habits.
And one thing that consistently trips people up is eating out too often!
Here are some things that you should be aware of….
-It appears most people eat out one out of every 4 meals and snacks. That’s an average of once a day.
-Restaurant food is designed to do one thing: to taste good. In order to increase eating pleasure, each item is loaded
with fat, salt and sugar. This causes you to eat way more calories than you actually need and can also set you up for an addictive cycle of craving even more fat, salt, and sugar.
-Also, the portions of the average restaurant meal are WAY too big. But most of us still clean our plates anyway.
-Even when you order ‘healthy’ items, you’re still taking in more calories and fat grams than you would if you had prepared the item at home (for example, think about the last salad you ordered out…didn’t it come with cream dressing, croutons, cheese sprinkles and a piece of butter laden bread on the side?)
The main reason people eat out is for convenience, so with a little organization you’ll find that preparing your own meals
takes less time than you thought it would. Here are a few useful tips for avoiding the restaurant trap:
-On the weekend sit down and plan out your meals for the week. Then go to the grocery store and stock up on everything you’ll need for those meals.
-Be sure to stock up on snacks and foods that require little extra in the way of prep. Buy bags of pre-washed/pre-cut veggies, baby carrots, easy to transport fruits (apples/oranges), and pre-washed salad mixes. You can even buy grab bag sized almond packs.
-Wash and prep any other veggies immediately when you get home from the store. Cut them, place in separate tupperware containers, and all you need to do is reach into the fridge when you’re ready to stir fry or steam.
-If you’re allergic to veggie prep, keep bags of frozen spinach, green beans, and brussel sprouts on hand and then all you have to do is steam and go.
-Hard boil a dozen eggs and keep canned tuna on hand to have a quick and easy protein sources available.
-Once you’ve got your food prepped for the week, pack your lunch and snacks each night before bed, then grab them on your way out the door in the morning. When you prepare dinner at home, make enough for at least the next day as well to bring for lunch.
Your efforts will pay off both in terms of weight loss and in money saved…and if you set aside 1-2 hours a week to focus exclusively on food prep, you’ll find that it takes way less time than you think!
