Eating Out Without Overeating

During the holiday season, dining out can be extremely challenging; especially if you are salt sensitive like myself.  Here are some of the traps and pitfalls you might want to be conscious of when planning to attend all those holiday dinners and parties within the next 6 weeks:

Over-sized portions can really do you in.  Most restaurants' idea of an individual portion is actually enough food for three adults!  So, be smart and eat most of the green stuff on the plate and only 1/3 of the protein and white stuff.  Take a doggie bag home.  You can have a hot lunch for two days.  This will allow you to eat well and cheap!
Restaurant food seems to be tastier than what most folks cook at home. So, why not do what me and my companion do (for those fabulous places that do cook better than I can!)...split 2 appetizers between you and order one entree and share it.  You'd be surprised how full you are walking away from the table and you've tried 3 dishes to boot!
Being starving-hungry when you arrive to a restaurant is like the kiss of death. You'll order far more than you really need, you'll devour the bread basket and in my case, go for what is on the 'no no' salt list and suffer for it later on in the evening.  Even if you have to grab a quick piece of fruit or a smudge of peanutbutter on a cracker or rice cake, or a handful of nuts in your pocket for the cab ride before you go out for the evening...do it!  You won't be starved by the time you arrive to the restaurant and you will most likely make better food choices.
Once in a while, I'll just order a nice salad and stave off the entree order until I'm finished with my salad.  At times, I'll just order a lite appetizer instead of a main course.
Last but not least....the overweight people who love 'safety in numbers'.  These are the folks that pick and poke at their food during the first two courses and tell everyone at the table about their diets.  Then, when the dessert menu arrives, they try to talk everyone else at the table into ordering 'desserts to share', so they can have their extra 900 calories in sugar and fat.  Beware of these eaters...there's a reason why they never lose weight and cajoling you into group participation at dessert time only makes them fatter and kills all the planning and hard work you've done up to this point.

Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  Hey...GIVE ME A TIP FOR ONCE!  What works for you?  Please share with all of us your own healthy tips when dining out!

What works for you?

A Fun Story For Thanksgiving: The Parrot a Repost

A friend sent this to me yesterday and I thought it would be fun to pass it on:

A young man named John received a parrot as a gift. The parrot had a bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every word out of the bird's mouth was rude, obnoxious and laced with profanity. John tried and tried to change the bird's attitude by consistently saying only polite words, playing soft music and anything else he could think of to "clean up" the bird's vocabulary.

Finally, John was fed up and he yelled at the parrot. The parrot yelled back. John shook the parrot and the parrot got angrier and even ruder. John, in desperation, threw up his hands, grabbed the bird and put him in the freezer. For a few minutes the parrot squawked and kicked and screamed. Then suddenly there was total quiet. Not a peep was heard for over a minute.
Fearing that he'd hurt the parrot, John quickly opened the door to the freezer. The parrot calmly stepped out onto John's outstretched arms and said "I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I'm sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions and I fully intend to do everything I can to correct my rude and unforgivable behavior."
John was stunned at the change in the bird's attitude. As he was about to ask the parrot what had made such a dramatic change in his behavior, the bird continued, "May I ask what the turkey did?"

Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  Wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving!!! Don't eat too much...it's not healthy for you!

Eating Disorders Part 2 - Bulimia Nervosa

Now that you are aware of what Anorexia Nervosa (AN) is, read on and learn about Bulimia Nervosa (BN):

Reaching Out Against Eating Disorders (ROAED) defines Bulimia Nervosa as: "a disorder in which individuals eat excessive amounts of food in a short period of time and afterwards eliminate this food from their body through some type of purging behavior."

Here are some criteria for diagnosis of bulimia nervosa:
• Recurring episodes of binge eating, characterized as an uncontrollable consumption of food in a short period of time
• Episodes of purging behavior following binging episode in which the individual tries to prevent weight gain through self-induced vomiting, laxatives, diuretics, enemas, fasting, or excessive exercise
• Self-evaluation is influenced by weight and body shape.

Bulimia nervosa is specified into two types:
• Purging Type: In this type of bulimia, purging behavior is in the form of self-induced vomiting or through the use of laxatives, diuretics, or enemas.
• Nonpurging Type: In this type of bulimia, fasting or excessive exercise is the compensatory behavior that is used to prevent weight gain. There is no self-induced vomiting.

Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  BN affects men, women and children.  Did you know that constant self-induced vomiting can cause the stomach acids to erode the esophageal tract?  This can lead to ulcers and cancer and life long health problems.  If you or someone you know suffers from BN, get help!  Contact the nice people at ROAED today via the link below.


Courtesy:  http://www.roaed.org/index.php?nav=4&subnav=7