Making healthier choices when eating out

We have all been there, your dieting, your doing really well and BOOM a social occasion comes up and not only do you fall off the wagon but you fall completely off it, one cheat meal, turns into a cheat week that turns into a cheat month.

Or the classic holiday diet, your incredibly good for a month beforehand but as soon as you hit air-side it all goes out the window, you see McDonald’s and run towards it!

Fear not, you are not alone! Even us personal trainers have a wobble with our food, just forgive yourself and move on. I enjoy all the food at social occasions and on holidays, I just try and make healthier choices along the way. For example exchanging McDonald’s for a Nando’s, a packet of crisps for a bag of popcorn, a packet of biscuits for a rice cake covered in chocolate, we all know what we are supposed to do, it is just doing it sometimes!

We don’t always have to go for the big cheese burger and fries, we could have steak and sweet potato fries? A healthy salad or a low calorie option perhaps?

More and more restaurants are offering menus with 500 or 600 calories or under options. Thus making it easier for us to stay on track and enjoy a nice meal out, even have a drink with it without a huge increase on the scales the following day! Just see if your friends mind trying Zizi’s, Prezzo or Pizza Express where these menus are readily available.

Zizi’s have a great under 600 calories menu: https://www.zizzi.co.uk/food

When drinking, I can honestly say, I have been a binge drinker in the past, I don’t regret it, me and my friends have had so many happy memories along the way however now I opt for the healthier option, less is actually more and the less you drink the less it takes you to get drunk…. I now have two glasses of wine and feel tipsy! #winning

Personally, I would always opt for a gin and slim, a small white wine or a glass prosecco… I am not preaching to give up alcohol, far from it, but what I have learnt over the last few months of becoming qualified is, I enjoy drinking 1-2 units of alcohol (which is the recommended allowance per day for a women as long as you have two nights off per week) instead of drinking 10 units plus and waking up the following day deciding life is not worth living…

Let’s all just enjoy a few glasses, not take it to extremes and our bodies will thank us in the end!