When trying to lose weight you shouldn’t have to sacrifice a meal out just because you have started dieting. You just need to set some rules for yourself and choose better options. Below I am using Nando’s as an example.
In this example you are saving a massive 680 calories from swapping a few things in the menu, yeah its not something that everyone will order in Nando’s but its pretty similar.
The same goes for any other restaurant menu. Pick something that you would normally eat for lunch or dinner. For example, chips (around 600-800 kcal per portion) swap for a jacket potato (around 300 kcal) or vegetables (around 100 kcal without butter), sauce on the side and only use what you want, are all ways to be aware of better choices, and or have more control over what you eat.
This doesn’t mean you can never have chips or that chips are bad, they are not but you just need to cut down on them. Chips are very calorie dense and highly palatable (very tasty) this is why even if you are full after your meal that you still end up munching away at yours or someone’s bowl of chips, so it makes sense to swap them out, as you are drastically lowering the calories by doing so.
Every little smart swap helps.