5 Tips for Ordering at a Restaurant

November 12, 2019

7:00 AM

Today is the first snow day here in Pittsburgh. Meh. To be honest, I’m not sure how I even feel about it. Normally, I’m super upset because snow means winter and winter means gloom and gloom means winter coats and being cold ALL THE TIME. This year, though, I’m actually ok with it. I’m focusing more on the fact that with the gloom and doom of winter comes the holidays, which means more time to be with my friends and family. Funny how things can change!

Anyways, today I wanted to provide my top 5 tips for eating out at a restaurant without saying the word "no". During the 8 months I was prepping for my bikini bodybuilding competition, I did not pack every single meal, every single day. Granted, I packed about 98.5% of my meals, but there were days I would meet friends out and actually order off the menu.

"There is no need to be a hermit to reach your fitness goals!"

Now, these five tips are not just for those who are prepping for a show, but can (and maybe should) be utilized by anyone who’d like to be somewhat healthy while eating out.

Tips and Tricks

1. Choose your priority “splurge”. What I mean by this is, is to pick one or two things you know you absolutely want to let loose on, or to spend the most calories on. I almost always want dessert so to balance out having dessert, I’ll go healthy with my entree and skip the appetizer. My example meal could be:

Grilled Salmon Salad, dressing on the side.

One glass of wine

One slice of pie

For some people, they may choose to skip dessert and enjoy their entree. Some may want to splurge on their appetizer or decide to spend the majority of their calories on mixed drinks. This is completely up to you!

2. Always have one healthy side. Every restaurant, nowadays, offer healthy alternative sides with entrees.

I will always recommend doing a side salad with the dressing on the side and hold the croutons and cheese. You may want to order a side of vegetables, but I’d say 9 times out of 10, these vegetables will be coated in cooking oil or butter.

If you’d still prefer the vegetables, I would suggest saying “no oil or butter” even if the menu says otherwise. These restaurants can be sneaky little buggers.

Note: Vegetables to avoid are white potatoes, carrots, and peas. These are extremely high in carbohydrates.

"These restaurants can be sneaky little buggers."

3. Always ask for a to-go box. At the same time you order your food, ask for your server to bring a box when they bring your food. Restaurants (especially in the US) have insanely large portion sizes so when you receive your food and your to-go box, immediately put half of your entree away. This could be half of your sandwich, burger, pasta, whatever. This could also be putting away one or all of your sides. Put the food in the box and put the box out of sight. Putting it out of sight is KEY. You will most-likely forget it’s there while you’re enjoying the rest of your meal and socializing and won’t be tempted to eat the rest. This is also an excellent way to save room for that dessert or extra drink you want.

Note: if you find yourself genuinely still hungry after you finish eating what’s on your plate, feel free to eat what you put in the box! It’s your meal after all, but don’t be surprised if you find you’re already full.

4. Always get dressing/sauce on the side. And I don’t mean for just salad. If you order a burger or a sandwich that has sauce, mayo, whatever, ask for it on the side. Most places will put way too much on the meal and these dressings/sauces add up calories REAL fast. Did you know that 1 tablespoon of mayo is 10 grams of fat alone? One tablespoon of ranch dressing has 8! And we all know that restaurants LOVE to drown their salads in dressings. By asking for the dressing/sauce on the side, you can put on a practical amount yourself, if you even use it at all.

One tip when eating salad and dressing, is to dip your fork in the dressing before you grab a bite of salad. This way you are still getting the taste of the dressing but barely consuming a measurable amount.

You may even ask for the sauce on your pasta dish to be on the side. The same applies where it allows you to have control over how much sauce you consume (a serving size of a ¼ cup of Alfredo sauce is about 25 grams of fat).

"One tip when eating salad and dressing, is to dip your fork in the dressing before you grab a bite of salad."

5. Drink water in-between bites. If you consciously drink water after every few bites, it will force yourself to eat slower. Eating slower will give your body time to digest and send the accurate signal when you’re full. This can be utilized for every meal; not just at a restaurant, but it is more so important when you’re eating out to help flush out the salt you are consuming. Restaurants looooove to cook with salt and it’s most-likely your body isn’t used to it. Drinking water in-between bites will also just fill you up quicker so you won’t be liable to eat as much.

Note: By drinking more water, you may need to use the restroom during your meal. I bring this up only because you will have to stand up and move your body. Standing up will allow you to properly gauge how full you truly are. How many times have we stood up after eating a meal and went “oof, I am fullllll” because we couldn’t tell how full when we were sitting? Yup.

As Ludacris so eloquently put it, stand up.

Bonus Tip

Order first. By ordering your meal before the rest of your table, you will be less-likely to be influenced by what others order. It all goes back to elementary school peer pressure; if everyone at the table is ordering a burger, you may feel pressured to get one as well instead of the chicken you were originally going to eat. Order your meal first and think of it as being a trendsetter. Lock in your order before you change your mind!

Extra Bonus Tip

Look at the menu ahead of time. This comes with a grain of salt, though, because I don’t know about you, but I’ll change my mind of what I want to eat 8 times on the way to the restaurant so looking ahead may not be too helpful...but even if you don’t pick out your exact meal, it will give you an idea of your healthier options.

Before you go...

Should the server give you a hard time about your modified order, you can always say you’re allergic to XYZ...and if the people you are eating with are throwing shade for your order, just politely tell them that your fitness goals are a priority right now but maybe next time!

So raise your dressing-covered forks, friends…

...Here’s to Health. Cheers.