My husband is in the food business: restaurants and bars. Needless to say I eat out a lot. I eat out a lot more than ever before.This was the spread that was ordered last night (a Monday night) by 5 other people on the dinner table when I went out.

Indian meal

And this is what I ordered for myself…

Tandoori chicken

A whole Tandoori chicken – nothing more, nothing less. Juicy, lipsmackingly delicious, filling, and leaving me wanting for nothing.

I’ve been eating out a lot in the past year and a half, but at the same time I’ve managed to lose loads of fat and I’ve dropped 3 sizes.

A lot of people when trying to lose weight say : stop eating out.
But when trying to lose weight, it is important NOT to  deprive yourself of goodness and all things fun.
If by keeping yourself locked up at home, you’re resenting the whole weight loss journey, it’s not going to work.

But having fun means being out with friends and enjoying your social life yes? Yes.

But having an active social life means debauchery, getting drunk, and letting my hair down yes? Not entirely.

Looking good, feeling good, and having a healthy body comprise of basic requirements if you want to enjoy life to the fullest and have fun.

So while keeping this in mind, here are ways to go out, have a good time, enjoy good company, good food, and still keep that weight in check:

1) Remember, eating the right things count, not whether you’re eating home of not. So if you’re eating 3 chapatis, a small serving of veggies, rice and dal at home, and you go out and eat a large main course of chicken, your meal out will probably be far less indulgent than the so called ‘simple’ home food. By avoiding the grains completely you’re doing your body a great service and the big chicken, or a delicious salad maybe much more of a healthy meal than your meal at home cooked in vegetable oils.

2) Choose right : If you pick pizza or pasta over roast vegetables, salad or kebabs, eating out will set you back big time. Pick sensibly, if you know that you eat out a reasonable amount of days. If you really go out only once a month, then the same rules do not apply, but if you eat out even once a week, it is often enough. At an Indian restaurant, you can have an entire meal just consisting of tandoori kebabs and be satiated, full, and very happy. When eating out at a European style restaurant, there’s salads or the delicious main courses of fish, chicken, or lamb to pick from. Thai or Asian food also always has steamed appetizers that can comprise of your main meal, without feeling like you are compromising anywhere.
Once you start enjoying the taste of healthy food, you can eat out, or stay home, as long as you pick right.

3) Do you really need that? I’m talking about the sugary mocktails, pepsi or that stuff that you just order for the sake of it. I mean if you didn’t order it, you would not really miss it would you? Instead just absolutely dig in to your meal and enjoy it instead of the unnecessary sugar overdose. And lets face it, you can’t really enjoy all that food if you’re drinking a creamy sweet drink on the side.
The food deserves more love and attention than that, surely.

4) Alcohol : Are you going out for a meal or for a night out? If you’re like me, you will have your priorities set. Today I’m going all out with the alcohol and I’m going to have a good time. If that’s the case, then do it in style. I’m not saying go crazy on the high carb beers or the sugary cocktails. What I’m saying is, order your drinks straight or with soda, or order red wine. So even if you over do the drinking and wake up with a hangover, you’re not overtly guilt ridden since you’ve lost count.
On the other hand, if you’re going out for a meal, point # 3 applies here too. Do you really really need that drink? If you really really do, then do you need the 2nd one?

5) Desserts, the meal after the meal. Why on earth would you want to eat two meals? What is dessert anyway? it’s nothing but another entire meal, after your main meal has been consumed. Think about it, it’s really two meals one after the other if you love counting calories. And even if you are not a calorie counter, dessert is still an entire meal after the meal If you’ve eaten an awesomely satiating rack of lamb, you will more often than not, decline the dessert.

Eating out can be a great fun way to hang with friends and cherish conversations.

When on a weight loss journey, don’t massacre your social life. Just love yourself and love your food. Real food, not fake substitutes posing as food. (I’m looking at you pasta!)