How Restaurant Eating Can Sabotage Your Permanent Weight Loss Efforts

If you are desperate to lose weight you should consider giving restaurants a wide berth. According to recent studies approximately two-thirds of Americans are overweight. Including fast-food outlets, a large number of us consume at least one meal a day in a restaurant. We might stop by the drive-in for a quick egg and cheese muffin and coffee on the way to work or dine out with colleagues at lunch time. It is common for families to hit the drive-through on route to after school events. Although this is great for the sake of convenience, the downside is that eating in restaurants not only hampers weight loss, it can in many cases add to the problem.

Not very many people realize that the average serving size in a restaurant tends to be three or four times greater than we would normally have at home. It is common for restaurants to serve large quantities of bread with meals. This can really pack on the pounds and sabotage your hard won dieting achievements. Healthy weight loss is never going to be achieved by eating too many large restaurant meals .

Restaurant food is also generally higher in fat because it tastes great and keeps customers coming back time and time again. In restaurants there are multiple traps that can catch would be dieters unaware. One such trap is the habit of a lot of fast food chains to offer free refills on soda. The problem is that soda is generally either very sugary, or contains artificial sweeteners, which are largely even more unhealthy. Drink sizes also reflect the sizes of the meals. In fact what was once a large sized dink at a fast food outlet is now the small size and the current large (some even offer extra large) are literally massive!

The knock on effect of this trend is that we will often increase our portion sizes at home so that we are eating the equivalent of what we have become accustomed to eating in the restaurants. The truth is that eating out is now such a big part of our lives we are affected even when we are not aware of it.

One problem faced by people who want to lose weight is when their job forces then to eat out several times a week, which is often the case with sales people and executives. If this is you, than how do you resist the diet busting food items that are constantly there to tempt you?

One solution is to go for just an entree that includes vegetables, is not fried and is low in fat content. Do not be afraid to ask your waitress how the food is prepared even ask them to suggest healthy options from the menu. You will be surprised how helpful restaurant staff can be with requests such as these.

Another great technique is to only eat half of your entree and request a box to take the balance home. Be careful not to starve yourself before you eat out, because that will only lead to you eating more than you would have eaten otherwise.

If you can use these great tricks and eat sensibly, no matter if you are eating out or at home, you will be on the dieting fast track to permanent weight loss and will soon reach your ideal weight.