Reasons to eat out vary as greatly as your potential mood. You may dine out as a celebration on one day, and then the very next day choose to head out to a restaurant as a respite after a rough day at work. We dine out to honor the weekend, to have fun on holidays and to have a good meal on any old day of the week, like when cooking feels like too much of a hassle. Add up all of the reason’s you’ve decided to eat out and you’ll realize rather quickly that eating out is a cultural norm. It is also, unfortunately, a major contributor to unhealthy eating habits.

It isn’t impossible to eat healthy when you head out to a restaurant, but it isn’t necessarily easy either. After weight loss surgery there are plenty of options for you on the menu, but eating out every day of the week can get complicated.

To help you stay on track for success during your weight loss program, it may be helpful for you to think of eating out as something that is done on special occasions only.

Eating Healthy While Eating Out

Being healthy is hard enough to do when you have total control over what you eat. When you make the decision to head out to a restaurant, you are starting to relinquish that control. Suddenly you are limited to what is available on the menu, and it is only a short road from that point to take you from good intentions to ‘cheat’ meals.

The reality is that eating out is a fundamental aspect of our American way of living, so thinking that you just won’t eat out ever again is not rational. Even after you reach your weight loss goals, you’ll want to find healthy ways to manage eating out so that you are better suited to maintain your healthy weight level. The best way to accomplish this is to be a defensive diner. This means getting ready for whatever the menu brings by planning ahead and being proactive.

You can become a defensive diner by taking some time before heading out to eat to review what your options are. Choose restaurants that have larger menus, because this gives you the most option. Calling a restaurant earlier in the day gives you a better chance of talking to someone from the kitchen about cooking methods, before they are in the middle of a dinner rush. If you know what you plan to eat before you head out to the restaurant you’ll be able to make a smarter choice. When eating out, being healthy comes down to being prepared and thinking ahead.