His and Her Health

Defensive Dining! 7 No-Fail Tactics You Can Deploy
to Dine Out In Style While Staying On Your “Diet”
JJ Virgin, CNS, CHFS
I put “diet” in italics because I want you to stop thinking diet and get used to choosing to
eat healthy FOR LIFE. It is far easier than you think, especially when you’ve made the
commitment, and guess what, it’s actually easier to dine out and stick with your program
than it is to eat at home. You can’t go back into the kitchen for seconds or thirds, the
non starchy veggies always taste better and you spend time with friends and family and
take time to eat and make it an event. Follow these simple strategies and you can dine
out daily and lose weight doing it!
1. Get ideas from the menu. I peruse the menu to see the different types of
vegetable and side dish offerings and then I mix and match to create what I want.
2. Ignorance is not bliss. No excuses here, ask questions so that you ensure that
you aren’t surprised when your meal is served.
3. Beware of the danger words….crispy, flakey, glazed, creamy, crunchy.
Descriptions can often clue you into food preparation so that you can avoid
hidden sugars and damaged fats but ultimately be sure to abide by tactic #3 to
get the full story.
4. Order your entrée with double veggies and no starch. Unless you luck up
and the chef is serving legumes, sweet potatoes or a brown & wild rice medley it
is safest to skip the starch and use the opportunity to load up on the non starchy
veggies.
5. Take half home for tomorrow. Most dinner servings of protein are twice what
you should` actually eat so have your waiter package up half of your chicken, fish
or meat BEFORE you start eating and use it as the protein in your salad the next
day for lunch.
6. Don’t invite the enemy to your table. Here he comes, the waiter with the warm
bread basket, irresistible aromas seductively wafting under your nose. Don’t
even think you can resist it, don’t let him put it on the table! If your table mates
insist on going into a gluten carb coma then tell them to keep it out of arms’ reach
of you.
7. Employ the 3 Bite Rule. It’s dessert time and as luck would have it, the chef is
offering your all time favorite dessert. It would be a crime to resist! SHARE it with
the table and have 3 POLITE bites of it guilt free.
www.jjvirgin.com