Losing fat at Restaurants and social occasions....

Today's Post:  Thursday, 5-26-2016

Most people gain fat when they eat at restaurant on while on vacation.

I’ve managed not to several times.

Last time I went on vacation in early January this year, when I came back I’d lost two pounds.

Naturally I was quite pleased.  But I was also a bit shocked because I ate very well indeed.  One meal was a feast in fact!

Later I’ll share what health and fat loss expert Mike Geary says about what NOT to eat.

But the formula I followed was simple while on my January vacation.

A.  So here is the summary in case you want the easy way to just do what works.

1.  For breakfast have fruit and protein foods.

( I also drank coffee instead of tea as I was on vacation; and ready-made coffee was available.)

2.  For lunch and dinner have vegetables and protein foods.

3.  At lunch perhaps and for sure at dinner, have one glass of a red wine you like before the meal and stop.

4.  If you have a chance to do hikes or walking from parking to things you want to do and see while on vacation, do that.

5.  Do a brief version of your normal workouts that require no weights in your hotel room first thing in the morning.

[When I’ve done that before, I’ve neither gained or lost fat or weight on the scale.  The readings after I came back were the same.

What I think caused the two pound fat loss on my January vacation was that the hikes and walking to things we were doing and seeing, was in the hilly part of Portland, Oregon with temperatures of 38 to 42 degrees with ten to twenty mile an hour winds.

And we always had over a half mile to walk each way and were always walking fast.

Between the cold and the wind and the hills and the brisk walking speed and how much we did each day, it was a decent fat loss program done for other reasons!

So, by eating in a way that didn’t add fat and that extra exercise I lost two pounds that week.]

So, that’s the basics.

Here are some tips also.

A lot of this produce is not organic, the fruit and vegetables.  And the protein foods are from animals sometimes fed grains and antibiotics.

Some of that I just did because it was only a few days.

But I also took a double dose of my probiotic.

I ate a few grapes and strawberries at breakfast.  But most of the fruit I ate at breakfast was banana, cantaloupe, and pineapple.  The pesticides and herbicides are much less because the outside part that was sprayed was peeled off.  That way I just ate the protected part of the fruit.

For protein, I had bacon, and scrambled eggs, and plain yogurt with the strawberries.

At lunch and dinner I had salad or a vegetable appetizer and my glass of wine instead of the bread when we first arrived.

Then I had some vegetables such as steamed broccoli or green beans and some salad greens with no dressing.

For dinners, because this was Portland where they had ready access to fresh wild caught fish, I was able to have wild caught fish – either Salmon or Steelhead trout which is about the same size and lifestyle as Salmon.

I ate enough that not ordering desserts was easy.

However, one restaurant we went to served multiple courses of ham, beef, chicken, and lamb and they offered baked peeled bananas between meat courses.  No sugar added.

I tried the baked peeled bananas and wound up eating four or five servings!

But because I also only ate the meat and vegetables and salad vegetables otherwise, it apparently added no fat.

(That meal was the feast!:

Fogo de Chão   Brazilian churrascaria steakhouse menu and locations in USA

fogodechao.com/    They have a location in downtown Portland, Oregon.

Not a place I’d allow myself to go often.  But it’s extremely well done and fun to go to.)

Other tips:

(With rare exceptions of dessert foods, I eat no foods that I know are fattening or harmful.

Why worry about that when you are on vacation when you can get foods without those problems!)

I ate no bread or other grain foods.  I ate no salad dressings with mystery ingredients.  And I ate no farmed fish.

Wheat is both harmful and fattening.   The foods it is in almost always have fattening and harmful ingredients added to them.

Some salad dressings use soy or corn oil or add high fructose corn syrup and/or MSG.  Those are also all harmful and fattening.

Farmed fish is so heavily polluted with so many kinds of pollutants, it should be illegal to serve.  NEVER eat it if you value your health. 

But restaurants can often get it and get it at much lower prices.  So if they have a fish dish, always ask if it’s wild caught.

If they know it is wild caught fish for sure and perhaps charge a bit extra that works.

Also, as far as I know halibut and Petrale sole are only wild caught.  So that can be a safe choice.

Lobster tails also work but cost about double what other entrees cost.

Skinless chicken breast also is a less harmful choice.  And, a good cook or chef can add enough flavor to it to make a good dish.

The data is in.  Red wine is the safest alcoholic drink because the phytonutrients from the grapes prevent the carcinogenic effects of the alcohol.

Gut bacteria that help with heart health and fat loss one study found are increased when you drink red wine.

The phytonutrients from the grapes are heart protective. They tend to increase your beneficial HDL too.

And the saponins in some red wines remove excess LDL cholesterol.  Pinot Noir and Zinfandel and Burgundy tend to have the most saponins.

As a change of pace Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are good red wines also and there are some very good ones.

Always taste wine before ordering if you can.  Most of it is quite good and most of the rest is quite drinkable.  But some taste dreadful.

Note that by drinking it when you first arrive, by the time the food comes you are mellow.  But after dinner it has worn off a bit.  So you can do things after dinner and sleep well when you get home.

And, you avoid drinking enough to add fat too.

What if you want a red wine and a dessert drink?  Just drink them both before dinner!

(My sleep doctor taught me this one.  I now only drink wine before dinner.  I drink much less overall. I have five pounds less fat because of the wine I no longer drink.  And, I DO sleep better!)

So that’s my post with mostly what to do to feast and go on vacation without gaining fat.

B.  But in case you would otherwise be tempted to eat or drink the things that are harmful and will make you fatter, here’s Mike Geary’s article.

He does a good job!

“http://www.truthaboutabs.com/healthy-dining-restaurants.html

Here's a few tricks you can use to eat healthier and stay lean even while traveling on business or eating out any time for that matter...

The 3 most important things to avoid that are EVERYWHERE at restaurants are:

the deep fried foods

the refined starchy foods

and any sodas, juices, or other sugary foods (except whole fruits, which are great)

This eliminates the major food sources that do the worst damage in our food supply - the evil trans fats, the inflammatory refined vegetable oils, refined starches, and processed sugars.

This means trying to skip the table bread, skipping the French fries (that come with every single sandwich on every menu known to man), and reducing or eliminating all of the heaping portions of rice and pasta that are often loaded on the plates as well.

[Getting the red wine and a salad or protein or vegetable appetizer right away can keep your hunger from driving you to eat the bread I’ve found.]

How to do it healthier, but still satisfying...

Instead, … order just meat, side vegetables, and a salad, asking for the vegetables or salad as a substitute for the typical fries, rice, or pasta that the meal probably comes with.

Almost every restaurant I've ever been to will always allow me to substitute veggies or a side salad for the fries or chips that almost always come with sandwiches or burgers.

Side note:  It always amazes me how many people scrutinize me because I substitute veggies for fries by telling me that I'm "not living" because I won't eat fries...

Yet they are always the first to complain that they are overweight and have "tried everything", yet can't lose weight. 

I'm not sure why so many people think eating French fries equals "living it up"... I'm all for moderation with many things, but if there's 2 things that should be almost totally removed from everyone's diet because these foods are simply that evil... it's fries and sodas!

Example Substitutions:

Take a look at the typical difference this simple substitution makes between choosing smart and doing what most people do...

Most people will eat a meal out such as this:

Sandwich or burger -- the bread is usually the unhealthiest part of this

fries or chips -- source of deadly trans fats

soda or other sweetened drink -- mostly deadly high fructose corn syrup

A MUCH smarter alternative for a leaner, healthier body is very simply this:

A steak, chicken breast, or fish piece (this avoids the refined wheat of a sandwich)

veggies or salad (much better choice than fries or chips)

unsweetened iced tea or water with lemon (and no diet drinks -- unless you enjoy drinking carcinogenic poisonous artificial sweetener chemicals).

These 2 simple substitutions save at least 400 - 900 calories EACH time you dine out (depending on drink refills and fries portion sizes)...

AND you're cutting out the most harmful foods to your body as well by avoiding the trannies and high fructose corn syrup.”