What do you do when you fancy a meal out with friends??

Givemewings

What do you all do when you are invited out for a meal with friends? We have been invited out for a curry. I love Indian food and we know a great place that we love but I have no idea of the calories involved. Do you work out extra? Do you try to have the least calorific choice? Or do you avoid going at all? I really want to go for the social side of the evening and the scrummy food but don't want to jeopardise my weight loss. I feel that I may "fall off the wagon" if I don't have a treat once in a while though.

TavistockToad

i am a big indian fan, so i would go with the following:

do extra in your work out before you go, and then do extra the day after as well, but apart from that, ENJOY!! one meal (even a massively calorific one like curry) shouldnt do too much harm as long as you stick to your cals the rest of the week.

CARNAT22

I still eat out (probably once a week) and I try to go for the healthy option. I also make sure I do extra exercise and eat as 'cleanly' as possible before and after.

A few tips when eating Indian:


Top 5 tips

• Enjoy the poppadum and chutney appetisers but avoid deep-fried snacks
• Ask for foods which are grilled or baked instead of fried
• Opt for chicken, seafood or vegetarian dishes instead of lamb, which can be very fatty
• Enjoy the variety of vegetarian, bean and lentil dishes available
• Choose sauces carefully - go for tomato or yoghurt based sauces instead of rich creamy or nut sauces - ask if you're unsure

Healthy Choices

Starters:
• Lentil, mulligatawny or tomato soups
• Grilled kebabs
• Poppadums or bread with chutney and relishes (Aloo Papri Chaat)

Main Courses:
• Yoghurt or tomato based sauces
• Chicken or prawn dishes
• Dishes flavoured with ginger, garlic, chilli or coriander
• Vegetarian dishes such as Aloo Channa, Gobi Aloo, Dal and Bhaingan Bharta
• Tandoori dished (baked in a tandoor)

Side Orders:
• Boiled rice
• Chapati and plain naan bread
• Raita (yoghurt and cucumber dip) with poppadums
• Chutneys
• Onion and chilli salads

Desserts:
• Fruit sorbet
• Kheer (rice Pudding)

Elleinnz

Yep - make sure that you go for a good workout - and then make some smart choices, and most importantly watch the size of the portions - do your research before hand.....

In the end of the day - this should be a new lifestyle, so even if your best plans turns to custard you just get back onto your healthy eating the next day.....

In my experience these little nights out with friends (even when I go slightly over my cals 100 - 200) hardly ever has an impact on the scale ....

Enjoy your time with your friends :-)

Angelabec

I also eat out fairly regularly, a couple of times a month. I try and do extra exercise on the day, or in the couple of days after, and I also try to limit my calories on the day so I have plenty left for the evening. I definitely don't recommend not going, you can't put your life on hold until you lose weight, you need to find a way to balance your life. Enjoy your meal, and don't panic if the scales show a gain in the morning, it will soon come off again.

littlemili

Indian is one of the better choices. I eat it very frequently and it causes me no weight loss problems. If you want to be really careful, I would recommend:

1. No cream, cheese or yoghurt dishes, only tomato based.
2. Skip on meat and stick to prawn, fish or vegetable curries.
3. Check what is fried. You will be shocked. Then don't eat it if it's fried.
4. No naan or popadom - both horrendous in calories.
5. Skip the rice if you can, but it's a better option than fried breads.
6. Drink lots of water to limit how much you eat and also minimise next-day salt retention.

I usually get tarka daal (garlic lentils), bombay potatoes and a vegetable curry. Sometimes I will have 1 popadom and mango chutney on a greedy day. I often record a loss the next day, and have never had a gain.