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In this narrated PowerPoint, we’ll discuss strategies for eating out in the workplace and in restaurants. The objective for this lesson is that learners will identify three strategies for choosing the best menu options when eating in restaurants or cafeterias. When it comes to eating outside your home, you might be one of the many people who eat in a workplace cafeteria. If you work five days a week and eat in the cafeteria every day, this gives you plenty of opportunity to practice choosing healthier and lower calorie menu items, so that you can get to your weight loss goal. Here are some strategies you can try. Instead of eating in the cafeteria, try packing your lunch at least two days a week. Five days a week would be ideal, but when you pack your own lunch, you will save calories and you’ll save money. Eating vegetables in a salad, as your entree, or as a side dish every day, is a very important strategy. Vegetables really fill you up without giving you lots of calories. Speaking of salads, you might not have a good low-calorie salad dressing option in your cafeteria. You can bring your own low-calorie salad dressings. When you’re looking at different kinds of soup in the cafeteria, in general, broth-based soups like chicken noodle, beef barley, vegetarian vegetable. Those are usually lower in calories than the cream based soups like cream of mushroom, cream of tomato, or New England clam chowder. As far as beverages that you choose when you’re in the cafeteria, stick with water or another low-calorie beverage. And read the menu board before you go into the cafeteria. Many times a lower-calorie entree might be featured. Even if your workplace doesn’t have a cafeteria, it probably has vending machines. These can be very tempting, especially in the late afternoon when you might just be starting to feel a little hungry. The good news is that new regulations require vending machine companies to include healthier options in their machines. But those unhealthy options will still be there, possibly tempting you. Fellow workers who bring baked goods or pastries to work and leave them in the break room have good intentions. They don’t intend to distract you from your healthy food choices, but they do. Here are some strategies that can help you control your calorie intake when faced with vending machines or break room treats. The very best defense is to keep a stash of your own snacks at work. 100 calorie bags of pretzels or nuts, instant oatmeal packets, low-calorie granola bars, and if you have access to a refrigerator, fat free yogurt, or low-fat string cheese, fresh fruit, these are all good options. It’s a great idea to just stay out of the break room when you know someone has brought in sweet treats or pastries. Take a brisk walk around the building or around the parking lot instead. Ask yourself if you are really hungry when you’re standing in front of a vending machine or about to open the door of the break room. Use that hunger scale that we talked about. If you’re between a level 4 and a level 6, you’re not hungry and you don’t need a snack at all. Sometimes cravings for sweet treats are actually signs of thirst. So drown your cravings with lots of water. You may actually be thirsty and not hungry at all. But what about restaurants? Do you go to fancy places like the one pictured here? Or is it mostly burger or pizza joints? When you’re trying to lose weight, the best plan is to avoid restaurants of all types. There’s just too much temptation as soon as you walk in the door. The smell and the sight of restaurant foods are both powerful triggers that can get you off track. Now, I’m not suggesting that you become a recluse. Sharing a meal that you don’t have to cook with friends and family is one of life’s most enjoyable pleasures. Just try to limit the number of times you eat out per week to once per week when you start your weight loss program. Planning to limit this in advance is a powerful tool in your weight loss toolbox. Remember how important making a grocery list, going to the grocery store is? We’ve talked about this before and the very reason is, when you have food available in your home that you know you can prepare for yourself, this will help you limit your restaurant visits. There are some strategies that you can use before you go to a restaurant, while you’re at the restaurant, and after the fact. We’ll discuss these in order now and think about which strategies might work for you as we go along. Before you go to the restaurant, you can cut back by 100 to 150 calories a day for three days before you plan to eat out. This will give you an additional 300 to 450 calories to spend at the restaurant. You can also add an additional 10 to 15 minutes to your exercise plan for three days before you eat out. Be the one who chooses the restaurant. Choose one that you know has options that will fit your meal plans. You should know that you actually eat more calories when you eat with more people. So try to keep your restaurant outing to just a few people. You can look at the menu online before you go and plan your order in advance. Having a plan is an excellent strategy. And remember, use the hunger scale. Don’t go to a restaurant when you are really hungry. It’s better have a light snack and get yourself back to level 4 to 6 in the hunger scale, rather than go to a restaurant at a much higher hunger level. When you’re at the restaurant, there’s some strategies that you can use as well. You should be the first one to order, that way you won’t be tempted by menu items that other people order. You should tell the wait staff not to bring the bread or the tortilla chips. These are the kinds of refillable foods that keep coming to your table, and those calories add up very quickly. You should always ask the waiter how the food is prepared and how many ounces are served for the meat, poultry, and fish items. You can always ask for double vegetable side dishes instead of potatoes or another starch, and always ask for salad dressings, sauces, and gravy on the side. That way you can control the portion sizes. You can always ask for grilled or broiled versions of meat menu items. And as always, pay attention to the hunger scale. Stop eating when you start to feel full, and that’s when you ask for the to-go box. After you finish your restaurant visit, you can always cut back by 100-150 calories for 3 days after you eat out. And you can also add 10 to 15 additional minutes to your exercise plan for those 3 days after you eat out. If you happen to get off track while you’re at the restaurant, don’t let yourself get in a funk. Get yourself right back on track the very next meal with your food and exercise plan. Hopefully these suggestions have been helpful for you. Take a minute now to name three strategies that you think can help you control your calorie intake when eating outside of your home.