How to Eat at Restaurants or Work with Ease and Comfort

There are many reasons for most of us to eat at resturants. For all of us, time and convenience are the most common motives. Here is a list of some useful and quick tips for eating out of your home.

If you eat healthy food in sensible portions, you can stick with eating healthy for life. Your portions should be spaced out over the course of the day. You should make water a part of every meal. After you eat, your stomach should be half full, or less, with food. For every two parts of food consumed, you should drink one part water. Leave your stomach at least one quarter empty for movement of air.

When eating at a restaurant, eat half a portion, maximum, and wait five or ten minutes. Restaurant portions are commonly two to four meals on a single or double plate. This is way too much to consume at a single sitting and you may find out that, once you pause and sip your drink, you are already full.

Establish control over your appetite. Most of us feel guilty if we don’t finish a plate. This is usually conditioning from your childhood. Bury your guilty past and have the rest "wrapped to go."
Always eat something for breakfast and never "skip it." When you skip breakfast, you will over-consume for it, later in the day.
Eat slowly and thoroughly chew your food.

Make sure your last meal, or last "snack" of the day, is small and nutritionally dense. Examples: Cereal with fruit, vegetable salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, rice with vegetables, and light popcorn, without the extra butter and salt. For those who eat meat or fish: turkey, chicken, or salmon salad on top of fresh greens.

If you must have a coffee or alcohol, beware that these should be consumed in extreme moderation. Both substances will dehydrate your body, and you will have to drink extra water to make up for it. Wine is much better than hard alcohol, but one or two glasses a day is the limit.