Top 10 Tips for Dining Out

Determine how much you're willing to eat before looking at the menu. Give yourself some flexibility:

• Schedule some exercise on or near days you plan to eat out - putting in some workout time or going for a brisk walk will help offset a little extra eating
• Don't be too inflexible in your weight loss plan. Let yourself have a treat on special occasions (don't let every day become a special occasion!)

Decide on some guidelines before you go to a restaurant, and stick to them! For instance:

• Skip the all-inclusive menu and opt for à la carte selections. Doing so might not be as economical, but you may eat less. And won't losing weight be worth it?
• Take one small bread roll, then either move the breadbasket out of reach or have it taken away completely

You're paying good money for that meal, so don't be afraid to make special requests or slight modifications. Why not say:

• "Can I have that without butter? Grilled? With the sauce on the side?"
• "I'd like a salad instead of fries with my burger, please."

Some restaurant portions can be two, three, even four times the normal size - especially supersized fast food meals. Keep your portions in check by:

• Ordering a salad as a starter and then splitting a main course with a friend
• Creating your own scaled-down meal from a couple of starters and/or side dishes

If you don't know what a preparation term means, ask. In general, though, the following words translate into high fat dishes:

• Au gratin, scalloped, hollandaise
• En croute, parmigiana, milanese

Supersized fast food meal options can be loaded calories. Either:

• Order yourself a children's meal
• Order something small, like a basic burger

Skip the:

• Bacon, cheese and mayonnaise
• Double burgers and extra pieces of bread

Salad bars and gourmet salads grace menus across the country. But those extra toppings can sabotage your seemingly health conscious choices:

• Go easy on the croutons, grated cheese and bacon
• Opt for small amounts of low fat or fat free dressings on the side

A glass of wine with dinner is fine, but too many may wreak havoc on your weight loss resolve. Stay in control by:

• Alternating alcoholic beverages with diet drinks or sparkling water
• Not drinking alcoholic beverages on an empty stomach

You paid for it so you have to eat it, right? Wrong. Just think of the health and emotional costs of those extra calories. Downsize by:

• Eating half of larger meals, sharing or leaving the rest. If leaving food is difficult for you, ask for a second plate and move part of your large portion onto it as if you were sharing, then focus on the scaled down portion in front of you and enjoy!
• Pushing your plate away when you're full. And remember to eat slowly. It takes around 20 minutes for your body to recognise that it's full!