 Hi friends, welcome back to my channel and a very special welcome if you're new here. My name is Jen. I'm a certified weight loss and nutrition coach. I'm on Weight Watchers and I track calories and macros. Happy Sunday. It is Sunday and today, today I am putting out a video that you have highly, highly requested. I get asked about this all the time, how I navigate eating out regularly and still losing weight. If you're new to my channel, I've lost almost 140 pounds and I eat out at least once a week. Sometimes two or three times per week. So today I wanted to share with you my top five tips on how I navigate eating out to still be successful with weight loss. So if you're excited, give this video a big, huge thumbs up. Make sure you're subscribed and your bell notification is turned on because I upload new videos five days a week. And Sunday, we always do something extra fun like talking about how to eat out and still lose weight. Check out the description box down below for nutrition coaching, where I offer personalized two U macros and calories. Highly recommend. This is how I lost 90 pounds in the year of 2022 and almost 140 pounds total. And for accountability, I have one-on-one coaching. If you would like to chat with me directly, links and discounts to my favorite things and come join our Facebook group, we would love to have you. So let's jump into my top five tips on how to eat out on a regular basis and still lose weight. Like you, I am super busy and sometimes picking up food on the go or eating out is not only a necessity, but something that's really enjoyable in life in general and eating out is sustainable living. We eat out, we go out to dinner every single Saturday and there's at least one to two other meals that I eat out, not only for convenience, but sometimes pizza, a good old burger, Mexican food, it just sounds really good and making sure that we allow ourselves to eat out and enjoy our favorite foods is what makes weight loss sustainable long-term. We never wanna restrict or eliminate any foods or food groups or eating out or parties or enjoying our life because we're on a weight loss journey. You can put all of this together, eat out regularly and still be successful. I could come up with lots of tips and tricks to share with you when it comes to eating out, but these top five are the ones that I do every single time I eat a meal out. I'm going to share with you my favorite game-changing tip for last, but tip number one is to do a little bit of research, whether that's looking up the menu of the restaurant you're going to online, seeing what the points are, what the calories are, what are good choices for you to choose at the restaurant and even more importantly, what sounds good to you? Are you going there to have a burger and fries? Do you wanna have a sandwich, a salad, a pizza? What sounds good to you on the menu? Now, a lot of mom and pop restaurants or non-chain restaurants, they're not going to necessarily be in your calorie tracking or at the Weight Watchers app. You can often find menus online and sometimes no information is available and you won't know what you're going to be ordering until you get there. But my number one tip for you is to do a little bit of planning, prepping and research ahead of time. If you can find the menu, take a good look at it and kind of plan ahead what you're going to order. You can even pre-track that if it's something that's in your app, whether it's on Luzit, MyFitnessPal or Weight Watchers. If you know that you're going to Pizza Hut for dinner, you should be able to find that in your app and you can pre-track that and have it already in your app and deduct it from your points or calories for the day. But doing a little bit of research and preparation ahead of time can make you much more successful when you actually get out to eat. If you can't find the item in your app, if you can't find any nutritional information, do your best guess. This is not an exact science. So just track it as accurately as you can, whether that be points or calories. Just do your best to track it accurately if the nutrition information isn't available to you. Tip number two kind of ties with tip number one and that's doing a little bit of preparation ahead of time and that is to pre-track your dinner. If you can find it in the app, if you know what you're going to be ordering, pre-track it. That way it deducts it from your bank of points or calories, protein facts, carbs for the day. So you know what's left over for you to eat the remainder of the day. You can also pre-track any other meals or snacks that you're having so you know kind of where you fall prior to going to dinner. You may be pleasantly surprised that after tracking your meals for the day, your snacks for the day and even what you're thinking about having for dinner, you may have extra points or calories left over that maybe you can have some dessert or some chips and salsa at your favorite Mexican restaurant. By pre-tracking, you know where you fall. It's kind of like a bank account. You have a set balance every day and then you deduct from that as you spend money or use your points or calories. And it's really important to know where is your balance at the end of the day or before going out for dinner. Bonus tip for you. So we could really say this video has six tips, but one thing that just entered my mind that I do all the time when I go out to dinner is I always make sure I'm the first one to order. Then I'm not tempted by what other people are ordering. So when the waitress or waiter comes to the table, I try to make sure that I order first. Generally they'll do ladies first. So if it's just me and my husband, they always ask me what I would like first, but it just takes a lot of the temptation out and going, ooh, that sounds really good. I'm gonna get that instead. A focusing on what you originally planned on having or what fits a little bit better into your day. So if at all possible, try to order first. Again, so you're not tempted by what everybody else at the table is ordering. Tip number three is huge. And this is to eat normal the rest of the day. Do not starve yourself all day long because you're going out for a meal. Don't restrict food. Save up all your calories and points for this meal. Eat normal throughout the day. Now, if you know that you're going to be having a heavier point or caloric meal out, then make sure that the other food that you're choosing during the day is less points and less calories. Maybe more of those high volume, low density foods, things like fruits and vegetables and lean protein, but don't starve yourself all day because what's going to happen is when you get to dinner, you're going to overindulge because you're going into dinner, ravenously hungry, ready to eat your arm. You're at a restaurant. There's a lot of excellent food choices. There's other people at your table with food that you can pick off of. And before you know it, you've overdone it in that one meal where if you would have just eaten normal throughout the day and not saved up all your points or calories and starved yourself for that meal out, you're a lot more successful when eating out. You stick to your meal. You stick to your serving. You stick to your portion. And you go into that meal hungry but not starving. That's a huge, there's a big difference between ravenously hungry and just hungry for your next meal. This is something I have really focused on with healing my relationship with food is not restricting or eliminating all day long because I have a treat or a special meal or a meal out planned for the day. I just eat normal the rest of the day and that has really helped me stay on track and not overindulge when I do go out for a meal. Now these last two tips are my favorites. These are absolute game changers for me when it comes to eating out. Tip number four, when you order your meal, immediately ask for a to-go box. This is something that I do every time I eat out. I order what I would like and when I finish ordering I say, can you go ahead and bring me a to-go box with my order? When my food arrives, I take half of it and I put it in the to-go box, seal it up, set it aside. That way I am focused on the remaining half of my meal on my plate. I don't feel bad if I eat it all. I'm not overindulging, overdoing it if I eat it all and I still have a plate full of food because let's be honest, portion sizes at restaurants are huge. So I can eat half of my meal and feel satisfied and get to indulge in my favorite foods while going out to dinner and I have the other half of it for another meal. This has really helped me from overeating. I have done this right out of the gate in my weight loss journey. From day one, every time I eat out I always ask for a to-go container and put half of my meal away for later. Honestly, most of the time my husband eats my leftover so I don't even get them but I know for sure what I've tracked in my tracker, I can enjoy every single bit of what's on my plate and not feel bad about it. And tip number five, my big tip, the big kahuna, the one that has saved me when it comes to eating out regularly and continuing to lose weight is to order what I want to eat, just make healthy swaps. And I've talked about this a little bit in previous videos. I do this when I travel, when I'm forced to eat out all the time. I do this whenever I go to a party, an event, or out for a meal is I make healthy swaps. One thing for me that's again, really been an integral part of healing my relationship with food and making this a lifestyle for me, not a diet. Tracking calories and macros is a lifestyle. I truly can eat whatever I want. I don't have to restrict or eliminate anything and that includes eating whatever I want when I go out for dinner. Anybody who knows me knows that I am a burger and fries girl. I love a good burger and fries. I love pizza. I love a lot of the unhealthy options when it comes to going out to eat and I still order those, I would say 90% of the time that I go out for a meal. I don't order the salad. I don't order the grilled chicken. I really truly order what I want off of the menu. And typically that's a burger and fries or pizza. We also have a lot of amazing Mexican food here in Arizona. And again, I just make healthy swaps when I order my meal. So I wanna share with you some examples of how you can do this and share with you some of my favorite foods that I like to order when I go out to eat and how I navigate that and make those healthy swaps for weight loss. So first let's chat about pizza. My husband loves pizza, I love pizza. We have an amazing pizza restaurant in our area that we go to frequently. Pizza can be really high in points, really high in calories and really high in fat. I mean, honestly one to two slices of pizza can use up all of my fat macros for the day. So I really have to be mindful with pizza but I still wanna be able to enjoy pizza and go have it regularly. So my tip for you when it comes to pizza and what I do every single time we go out is I have one full slice of pizza. This means the crust, the toppings, the cheese. I eat the entire slice of pizza. And then for my second slice, I scrape off the toppings and I leave the crust behind. Generally the crust is where the majority of the calories and points are and I don't really need all that bread. I still got a full slice of pizza, right? I still ate an entire slice of pizza and then I just scrape the toppings off of the second slice. And sometimes I just eat the toppings and sometimes I add those toppings to the first slice of pizza so that it's loaded up with all the meat and cheese and vegetables and I still get to enjoy pizza crust and all. I just make a healthy swap and I have one full slice of pizza and one slice of pizza with toppings. Now, if you want a third slice of pizza I would just scrape the toppings off of that as well and eat those and leave the crust behind. I didn't eliminate the crust. I didn't restrict the crust. I actually had a full slice of pizza crust included and then I just made a healthier, less pointed, less high calorie swap. And when I track just the toppings I track what was on it. So if there's mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, salami, mushrooms I just track that in my app as individual components and then I track the one full slice of pizza that I ate crust included. Now, moving on to burger and fries this is another one of my favorite things. I love a good burger. I have always loved a good juicy burger. So what I do every time I order a burger and fries is I order my burger without the bun unless I forget to ask without the bun then I just remove the bun when my burger comes and then I just have the hamburger patty with any of the toppings lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, cheese, bacon whatever was on my burger and then my side of French fries. I always, always eat the burger first because protein is king with weight loss and for me I focus on protein first. So I eat all of my hamburger first and then I eat my French fries. So for me it's a healthy swap. No bun so that I can save those carbohydrates those calories, that, that for those French fries. And honestly most of the time once I finish my entire burger whether it's wrapped in lettuce or without a bun I'm not hungry enough to eat all of my French fries. I still get French fries which are some of my favorite food but I'm generally not hungry enough to eat them all because I focused on protein first and I made that super healthy swap of taking the bun off the burger to leave room for carbohydrates, fats and calories for French fries and I would much, much, much rather have a French fry than a hamburger bun any day of the week. And lastly Mexican food again this is another thing we eat a lot. I always order a one item meal at a Mexican restaurant. You usually get to choose the item that you want on your plate whether it's a taco an enchilada, tamale, a tostada you pick the item and then it usually comes with rice and beans. I generally 99% of the time choose the enchilada. This is generally the lowest calorie lowest pointed Mexican food option with the exception of maybe like a hard or soft shell taco which I can have at home so I generally don't pick that. I try to choose foods when going out to eat especially Mexican that I can't have at home or maybe I'm not very good at making enchiladas and the ones at the Mexican restaurant are way better. That's generally what I choose. And then of course again you have the rice and the beans. So I focus on the enchilada first that is where I'm getting most of my protein from is the meat that I've chosen for my enchilada chicken, beef, shredded beef, pork whatever you choose I generally will either do shredded beef or chicken enchilada. So I focus on eating that first. I usually skip the rice I might take one or two bites of the rice and if I'm still hungry I will eat my refried beans because at least I'm getting in some added protein and some extra fiber. But to be honest with you once I finish the entire enchilada I usually only have room for a few bites of my beans and one or two bites of my rice take the rest home put it in that to-go box and again once my meal arrives I take all of my rice put it in the to-go box eat my enchilada put the rest of my beans in the to-go box and like I said usually my lovely husband finishes all of my leftovers. It is very, very rare that I eat the rice at a Mexican restaurant because I'm focused on again getting in my protein which is from the main portion of my entree which for me is generally an enchilada. Now you might be wondering what about all the chips and salsa that come to the table? I generally will have a couple of chips in salsa when the basket arrives but I would rather again focus on my meal getting in my protein and really eating what I came to the Mexican restaurant for which generally isn't the chips in salsa so I do allow myself to have a couple of chips a little bit of salsa but I save my room for my meal. I do these same swaps when I go out for fast food I do these same swaps when I go out for really any meal I make sure that I am making swaps and enjoying all of my favorite foods but just less of them similar to that burger and fries leave that bun behind so I can have the french fries or maybe you love the bun the burger is your favorite part of the meal then eat the bun instead of eating all of your french fries making these really healthy swaps allows you to still eat all of your favorite food and really order what you want off the menu not the diet food on the menu or you're not scarfing down a salad just because you think it's healthier for you spoiler alert salads generally have more calories and fat and points than a burger and fries eat what you want just eat less of it and make healthier swaps that's a big rule of thumb overall if something has more points or more calories has more fat, has more carbs you can still eat it you just eat a little bit less of it kind of like I do with the burger and fries the pizza and the Mexican food this talking about eating out is making me hungry I keep thinking about my favorite Mexican food a burger and fries we may have to eat out for a meal today but overall this is how I navigate eating out these top five tips have helped me lose almost 140 pounds and like I said eat out on a very very very regular basis I do wanna also briefly touch on going to events or parties you guys know that we have a girls night once a month with my boot camp group we hang out with my neighbor all the time go over to their house for barbecues and potlucks same approach when you're going to an event focus on protein first make sure you're filling your plate with protein vegetables and then a small amount of carbohydrates or sweets so that you can still eat everything at the party but again you're focusing on protein and vegetables first and then whatever room you have left you can add in some of your favorite carbs or sweet treats I built my plate the same way at parties and events as I do for holidays I actually shared a video over the holidays where I talked about how I navigate that and I spoke about how I built my plate I'll link that video in case you missed it because that is the same approach I take for parties and events so I hope that these five tips for eating out and still losing weight and eating the foods you love while eating out and picking your favorite foods off the menu definitely helps you out this is what is sustainable restricting, eliminating, stopping going out for dinner stop eating fast foods, stop going to parties none of this is sustainable you wanna live a sustainable lifestyle while reaching your weight loss and health goals that's exactly what I've done and for me this is how I know I'll keep the weight off because I can still eat out still go to parties and events and just learn to navigate them a little bit healthier let us also know down in the comments what are some of your tips and tricks that have been successful for you when it comes to eating out and going to parties and events and of course if you enjoyed today's video and you found it helpful give it a big thumbs up subscribe if you're not I would love, love, love to have you here and check out the description box for those videos, nutrition coaching links and discounts to my favorite things and of course we'd love to have you join our Facebook group as well next time you go out to dinner enjoy your favorite foods and still lose weight thank you so much for watching and I'll see you next time bye