4/13... Restaurant Survival Kit

Total Daily Calories:  1572

Day 91 …                                                 Days till Weigh-In:   24

4 Strategies for Avoiding Excess Calories

 

Step 1: Call ahead.

Watching everyone else eat while standing up front waiting 45 minutes for a table isn't just annoying; it can also make us eat more. "The sight and smell of food stimulates the body to begin the digestive process," says Susan Roberts, PhD, author of The Instinct Diet. "Our stomach muscles relax and insulin is secreted, lowering blood-sugar levels to make us feel hungry." Here’s the simple fix: Make a reservation, and arrive on time to reduce the wait and the amount of food we see and smell before sitting down, suggests Joanne Lichten, PhD, RD. author of Dining Lean. Also, we should request a quiet table away from TVs and the bar – people who sit in distracting locations can consume more calories, because they have trouble focusing on their food, Lichten says. If we’re dining alone we shouldn’t bring a book because its a distraction from our meal and will lead to overeating. Instead, we should pick a task that won't require our full attention (like jotting down a to-do list, for example). I like that idea…

Step 2: Take a bathroom break.

Meeting a friend for dinner after a crazy day at the office and in a few minutes we can be  downing margaritas and mozzarella sticks. "When anxious, our instincts tell us to reach for high-fat comfort foods to soothe ourselves," says Marc David, founder of the Institute for the Psychology of Eating in Boulder, Colorado. So if we're faced with this situation here’s the solution:  make a beeline for the ladies' room and take five to 10 deep breaths. Deep breathing tricks our brain into thinking we're relaxed, and when we're calm we're more likely to make informed, rational decisions.

Step 3: Advertising…

Succulent herb-crusted pork chops. Velvety ricotta cheesecake. Is your mouth watering yet? Descriptive adjectives like luscious and juicy are all over restaurant menus and can actually make us order more, says Brian Wansink, PhD, author of Mindless Eating. In one study, diners were 27 percent more likely to get dessert when it was called German Black Forest double-chocolate cake instead of plain old chocolate cake. Solution: ignore adjectives on the menu (sizzling, creamy, and rich are a few of the most popular). The more easily we ignore them, the less they'll sway us.
 

Step 4: Pay with cold, hard cash.

In a review of 100,000 restaurant purchases conducted by Visa, people who paid for their food with a credit card spent up to 30 percent more than those who used cash. "When we pay on credit, we can lose sight of the cost of the meal, so we're more likely to order more.

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Personal Thought

I had a great time last night with friends. The show was very entertaining, the food wasn’t bad, and I didn’t overdo it at all, not even having a small dessert. My problem: Grapefruit Juice! If I had my drinks in diet ginger ale instead of juice I would have saved myself 600+ calories. So going forward, I will modify my drinks and cut out all the excess calories (totally unnecessary sugar)!

 

 

Daily Calorie Tracker
[42]	Sunday  4/13/14                   1800 Calories
Time	Qty	Food Item	Calories	Sub
	Breakfast
	1c	Steel Cut Oatmeal	300
	2tbsp	PB2	50
	1	Bowl Organic Mixed Greens	0
		Breakfast Calories:	350
	Snack
	1C	Sliced Fresh Strawberries	30
		Snack Calories:	30
	Lunch
	2	Sunnyside Eggs	160
	7	slices of thin crispy turkey bacon	220
	1	English muffin w/butter	200
		Lunch Calories:	580	960
	Snack
	1	Hazelnut Crème Coffee	60
	1oz	Mixed Nuts	160
		Snack Calories:	220	1180
	Dinner
	1c	Brown Rice	170
	1/2c	Pink Beans	80
	1/2c	chopped grilled honey hamsteak	172
	Lg	Organic Mixed Greens	0
		Dinner Calories:	422	1602
	Snack
	1	Hazelnut Crème Coffee	60	1662
		Snack Calories:
		Total Calories Burned:	<90>
		Total:	1572
		***Daily Caloric Goal:	1800
Water (1 cup per circle)
O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O   O  O  O			14
1 cup = 8 fluid oz = 0.24 liters
Time	Activity		Burned
45 min	Walking		<90>
			<90>
*Calorie/Activity calculation:  10  Calories for every 5 minutes (depending on exertion)