3 Reasons to Avoid Eating Out

Even though I don't eat out often, I love a good Five Guys Burger, y'all! Honestly, any burger will do the job for me, but Five Guys is by far one of my favorites....with the seasoned fries. Oh mon Dieu, Oh my God in French! I actually want to get one at this very moment, but I won't. Although eating out is delicious (depending on the place) and convenient, there are some down sides to it that I want to point out. Here are three reasons to avoid eating out:

Loss of direct control

Eating out can be unhealthy. Some would argue that is unhealthy altogether, but I think it depends on the restaurant and the meal you choose. As a health coach, I would not recommend eating out while on a diet/meal plan. If you have extreme cravings, I would recommend only eating out one meal in the week. When you eat out, you lose direct control over the ingredients that are used in your meal. I am a firm believer that you should have direct control over the ingredients in which you consume. It's better that way! When you go out to eat, there are different sauces that may be included in your meal. Although those sauces are delicious, you do not know the amount of fat or salt that is included.

Increased Temptations

Let's say you decided to start your new diet/meal plan today, right? Evening time comes and you realize that you haven't prepared any food for dinner. While you are driving home from work, you decide to make a quick stop at the Chipotle down the street from your place. Its easy, its convenient so you make a stop even though you are right down the street from your place. You get your favorite meal and then you tell yourself that you'll start the new plan the next day. We all know that's not happening LOL. When you eat out, you will be exposed to greater temptation to eat tasty but unhealthy food. In addition, when you go out to eat especially with close friends, it's a lot harder to stick with your diet plan. So, my advice: just avoid eating out often and decide to prepare a meal at home. You are more likely to stay on track with reaching your health goals when you consistently eat home-cooked meals.

Minimal Leftovers

I'm not going to lie: eating out is very tasty, but it hurts my feelings when I don't have any leftovers or just a small amount left. I think to myself "Why did I just spend $25+ for this meal?" The truth is that when we go out to eat, we are mainly paying for the experience; the beautiful venue, the wonderful lighting, etc. Of course, we are paying for the chefs to hook up our food too. Eating out can disrupt your food plan for the week and may not allow for many leftovers.

There are many reasons to avoid eating out but I just wanted to share three of them that you should consider before going to, let's say, .... Chipotle. Many people will make the argument that you can go out to eat often and still reach your health goals. Here's my question: do you want to simply reach your goals or create a totally new lifestyle? Consider the reasons I listed above while you write out what you want your new dietary lifestyle to be. Will eating out frequently hinder you from creating your new lifestyle? If yes, then it's time to make some changes. I would love to coach you on creating healthy systems for a more full life. Click the box below to set up time for us to chat.