Helping Men to Eat Out Wisely
Make a healthy choice
We have entered the crunch-time season as the holidays are upon us. We have added Christmas shopping, parties, and other festive occasion to an already packed schedule. Many of us will eat out a little more than usual. Let’s be honest and acknowledge that some of us like me love eating out at different cafes and restaurants. Some of us love trying out new places almost as much as we love returning to our old favorite places. Some of us love trying new menu items and discovering new ways to eat the foods we enjoy the most. Eating out can be both a wonderful and very dangerous thing.
Since we live in the United States, especially in urban areas, we are blessed to have restaurants dotting the streets of many streets in towns and cities of all sizes. We are rarely at a loss for places to eat out. One of the greatest things about eating out is that it saves time that many busy people do not have to waste. After spending long hours at our workplaces, few people have the time or energy to return home and cook a gourmet meal. Eating out seems to be a great solution at the end of a long, tiring day.
Eating out can also be great because we can try a wide variety of foods and drinks that we don’t have the ability to make ourselves. Sometimes we get in a food rut eating the same basic foods over and over again, so eating out can be a good way to give our taste buds something new.
However, if we are not careful, eating out can also be dangerous for a couple of big reasons. 1. The first reason is eating out can be hazardous to our health especially if we eat out often. Many restaurants and cafes offer huge portions of items that are unhealthy to eat and drink, like sodas and buffets. Eating out often means filling up on appetizers, a main course, a few high calorie beverages, and a dessert to finish off the evening. Think about how many calories you can consume during a meal like this. Dessert alone can be 500 or more calories. Women should consume no more than 1200 -1800 calories a day and men 1800–2300 calories a day depending on your activity level. I am not, of course, saying that we should never enjoy eating out. I am, however, saying that we need to be careful, for our health’s sake, about eating out too frequently. We must be careful to watch our choices when we are eating out. Choose healthier items or commit to only eating half of the meal you choose. Frequently I eat half of my lunch and take out a doggy box home for dinner. There are ways of eating out healthily, it just takes conscious effort.
- Eat a vegetable plate
- Select heart-conscious menu items
- Drink water instead of soda or tea.
- Skip the dessert and bread too.
- Choose a salad with a low calorie dressing for an appetizer.
Another huge reason to be careful about eating out too often is your pocketbook and budget. It is no secret that eating out costs more, on average, than cooking meals in your own home. It is easy to accumulate large bills, especially at nicer places. So be careful that you stick to a budget when you make plans for eating out.
Beware. Eating out can be one of the greatest pleasures or one of the most dangerous things. Enjoy it but do it with caution.
