A few of my friends think I don’t eat a lot, but I promise you I do. According to my mom, I eat like a 5-year-old (portion-wise not mess-wise). I love food and I enjoy the healthy relationship I have with it. If you spend long periods of time with me you’ll realize I eat a lot of small portions several times a day. Many healthy eaters will tell you this is a great application of eating healthy. To be honest, my bloating and tiny stomach mandate my eating habits.

I cook most of my meals to make sure I’m eating as healthy as possible, spending less money on food, and to make sure I don’t waste food. I used to be so wasteful. Now I make sure I create shopping lists, check my pantry, check the fridge, and plan the meals I’d like to eat for the next few days.

When I first started working out twice a day you couldn’t get me to go anywhere. I didn’t want to put myself in places where I knew I’d eat or drink things that would distract me from my goal of being a certain weight.  When I reached that goal I didn’t look like the image I projected in my mind. It was a bit of a disappointment and my healthy habits fell off and  I gained some of the weight back. When I decided to get back on track, I decided to ditch the weight goal and the scale and opted for an overall wellness lifestyle. I love it!  For the most part, I eat healthily, and when I do indulge I don’t feel guilty.

My friend Tammii had a birthday dinner on Saturday and it inspired me to share these tips so you can feel better about eating out when you’re out.

6 Tips for Eating out While Maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle

1. If you know your friends/family are going to be late, eat a healthy snack before you make your way to the restaurant. This will ensure you’re not hangry (hungry + angry) and make sure you don’t order more food than you need.
2. Go over the menu a few days or hours before you get to the restaurant. This gives you time to process what you really want without feeling overwhelmed about ordering more than what you’re hungry for.
3. Cross-examine your choice with Yelp. This is important because a lot of the food sounds and looks good in the pictures, but Yelp gives you that consumer realness that makes sure you’ll be satisfied with your choice.
4. Drink plenty of room temperature water throughout your meal. This will help pace you and keep you full longer.
5. This is a tip from one of my favorite bloggers, Lauryn Evarts, at The Skinny Confidential. Ask the server to bag up half your meal before they even bring your food out. This is helpful if you’re eating in a place where the food portions are large.
6. Lastly, just enjoy your company! Don’t hide from your friends. If they’re truly supportive of your lifestyle they won’t take it to heart if you have to make “strange” food requests, bring your chlorophyll water or choose not to drink. As much as you change and grow in your lifestyle you’re likely to inspire your friends and family.

Saved some space for a few bites of her strawberry cake!

These pictures are by my friend Essence. She recently wrote about the lonely side of healthy living. I think we’ve all been there at some point.

I realized that the summer is when I fall off because I want to be outside. This year I’ve been the most consistent with my eating so I’ll definitely be using these tips! Do you have your own tips for eating out while maintaining a healthy lifestyle?

Best,