Editor’s Note:

Smilepua introduces guest-author Keith Lai. His website is one of the best places on the internet for fitness advice. Keith is one of the people I turned to for advice when searching for a muscle building program and his approach to dieting is not only effective but still allows you to have a social life. Enjoy!

How To Eat Out And Stay Lean Without Ordering a F@cking Salad

If I’m out on a date the last thing I want to do is eat a salad for dinner! This article covers the same strategies I use before a date.

Eating out and dieting.

Two terms, that in most minds don’t really go together. And when they do, salad is typically involved in some way, shape, or form.

Don’t get me wrong though, salad is great. But why the f@ck would you go to a restaurant to order salad.

No restaurant on this planet is “known” for their salad, and if you’re one of those people who goes to a fancy steakhouse and orders a salad…you need to reevaluate your life.

Just because you’re going out to eat doesn’t mean you have to suffer like all other dieters.

And despite what everyone says, it’s very possible to go out, eat your favorite foods, and still lose weight. Crazy huh?

Let me show you how.

What to do

Use Intermittent fasting

I fasted all day before taking down this platter of sushi along with a few beers.

This is quite possibly the greatest tip I have for you. For those unfamiliar with intermittent fasting (IF), it’s essentially system where you take planned breaks from eating.

Most forms of intermittent fasting have you skipping breakfast, so the majority of your calories are consumed in 1-3 total meals typically around late afternoon or night.

You’re still consuming the same amount of calories, the only difference is in the lowered meal frequency.

This is a far stretch from the wildly popular “6-8 meals per day” diets that run rampant in the fitness industry. But the problem with eating 6-8 meals per day is that each meal gives you very few calories to work with. By the time you head out to eat, you’ll only have 300 calories to work with and guess what you’ll have to order, a goddamn salad.

My advice – If you know you’re going out for a big night of eating, skip breakfast, eat very light beforehand, I’m talking maybe a 1-2 pieces of fruit and a protein shake. That way you can go out, eat a relatively large meal and experience no weight gain.

Cycle your calorie intake

Meatloaf wrapped in bacon! I need to go eat this again soon!

This is quite simple.

Everyone needs to create a 3500 calorie deficit to lose one pound of fat per week.

And most guys go about doing this by creating a 500 calorie deficit per day.

However this leaves very little room for error and if you mess up one day, then your entire week gets screwed.

To see how this would work, let’s look at a male who loses one pound per week on 2000 calories per day. This would mean that he needs 14000 calories per week (2000 * 7 = 14000). So with calorie cycling, this is what the week might look like:

• Monday: 2000 calories
• Tuesday: 1000 calories
• Wednesday: 2000 calories
• Thursday:1000 calories
• Friday: 2500 calories
• Saturday: 3500 calories
• Sunday: 2000 calories

In the end…it all adds up to 14000 despite having higher calorie days on Friday and Saturday.

And remember, you can cycle your calories however you like. I just assumed that more people go out to eat on Friday and Saturday.

What not to do

Don’t eat a “mini” meal before your main meal

Flip through any fitness magazine in the past 6 months and you’re bound to find an “eating out tip” that tells you to eat before you go out.

This could be a half-sandwich, cup of yogurt, or the infamous handful of almonds.

These “mini” meals typically add anywhere from 100-300 extra calories to your day and they rarely  prevent you from actually eating less when you go out. It’s simply too damn hard to eat a significantly less just because you snacked on a couple of almonds.

If you really need help curbing appetite, try drinking a large glass of water or better yet, some tea or coffee as the caffeine helps blunt hunger.

Don’t try to burn off the extra calories in your next workout

I had to throw a picture of a woman wearing next to nothing in here at some point.

You went out, had a couple beers, one too many slices of pizza, a massive triple chunk brownie sundae, and woke up 3 pounds heavier the next day. So what?

If you overindulge a bit, don’t sweat it. Don’t be one of those people who punishes themselves by running on the treadmill for 3 hours.

It’s not worth it.

So what if you ate a little more than planned? Just resume your normal diet the day after. And even if you do manage to gain a few pounds, the majority of it will be water weight due to the increase in sodium and carbs.

It’s the people that are consistent. It’s those who can focus on the big picture, remain strong, and not give two shits about one night of gluttony who will succeed and build their dream body.

Keith Lai is the author of FitMole, a fitness blog dedicated to helping people pack on muscle, burn fat, and build their dream body. Find out how you can start building your dream body by downloading his free ebook, Celebrity Bodies The Smart Way here.