How to stop yourself from eating out!!!

I totally feel your pain! Its really hard being a student and budgeting time and money to cook healthy meals. Honestly from my experience it is hard to say no to roommates and friends when they want go and get take out, especially when they want to do late night study breaks for food. I found that the best way for me to eat healthy was to cook meals large enough to have left overs for a few days, even though it does get boring after a few days and you want to mix it up. I also found that when I get bored of cooking the same things over and over again, you can find some really awesome healthy recipes that are easy to make online, especially pinterest and you can get healthy versions of pretty much any kind of cuisine.

And in those times when you do go for take out with friends, try and get the healthiest version you can get. Portioning is also a big help. Even you want to go for something, just try and eat a smaller version (or if you have good willpower half) of what you usually get.

you just gotta stick it out. I found that the further I went without getting some foods, the cravings lessened.

What helped me was adding up what I spent every day on fast food and then figured out what I spent a month, and in a year, on unhealthy foods. It was a shock to me. If that doesn't help, why not look at that amount and think of other things you can spend it on. Maybe even physically putting that money into a jar or account and treat yourself to something healthy when you reach a certain amount of money.

Fortunately for me, I have ravenous friends. I take out half of whatever I've ordered for myself and put the rest in the middle of the table for the pack to devour. My friends love my new eating habits. Sometimes I go the other way too, I'll just order a side dish and steal stuff from other people. Depending on what chinese place you're going to you can get pretty healthy food compared to a burger place. I'm busy and I like eating out so I've just made it work around my diet.

For quick make at home stuff I like burritos, wraps and mason jar salads. Mason jar salads are especially versatile. Check them out on Pinterest. I don't use actual mason jars, I got some tall clear plastic cups with lids. The jar salads will keep in the fridge for days and are super simple to make. I use a lot of the same ingredients in my wraps, salads and burritos so I don't buy or waste a lot of food.

...Spend some time thinking about healthy food you could eat that doesn't need much preparation: baking a potato and just serving with a filling, scrambling some eggs...

Great examples. Those are both nutritious, cheap and super easy to make. :drinker:

If I find myself tempted to eat out I remind myself of all the nasties that you get free of charge from eating out. Most restaurants put huge amounts of salt in their food - even the expensive ones. Then there are the additives and preservatives - just what is in the food? Lots of luck trying to find a restaurant that serves low carb meals. Then there is the hygeine. My council has a web site where they rank restaurants according to their hygeine standards - only one in the whole council area has five stars. Lots of free faecal matter and bacteria in most of them. That should be enough to keep you at home. If I cook I know just what is in the food, how clean the cooking process was and I can cook to my own serving size.

What ninerbuff said ay 10:58. Make a choice.

1. Do you wnat to lose/ weight or eat healthy v just be a sheep and eating the food that isnt on your current healthy eating agenda becayse its convenient.

2. You need to plan and be more thoughtful. IF you eat well (complex carbs) have breakfast, then you will be less hungry during the day and wont need to eat out. You cna prepare sandwiches and eat thise. Their food schedule is not yours, if you want to lose weight enough. It will be cheaper. Not wanting to cook and go for take out is just an excuse.

3. Alternatively use some of the good advice above, go and eat with friends but exercise portion control and make wiser healthier choices in what you eat. I liked the suggestion of taking what you need and then putting the rest of youir portion for your friends to share.

4. Do exercise and save up those eat back calories, so you cna go out once or twice a week or it will make it easier to incorporate into your diet plan.

Weve all been busy, done exams etc. Still boils down to you making a choice. You dont have to go out all the time with them you wont turn into a pumpkin, you dont have to eat what they eat, nor as much as what they eat. Are you logging your food?

I am having the same dilemma when eating out with family and friends. According to a friend of mine who happens to be a Wellness Coach as well -- its a matter of choosing the right food. Like Sandwiches minus the dressings and stuff - salads with vinaigrette dressing instead of the typical mayo/ranch dressings...it may look like depriving yourself but its more of your choice and most importantly the volume of what you eat. Good Luck!

I keep a budget down to the letter and 99% of the time eating out doesn't fit. It helps me keep honest and I lose my desire to want to eat out at all.

I agree with DMO. A crockpot will take away any worries for bad foods and when you get back from school, you will have a filling, healthy meal instead of junk.
I think this is the only reason why I love living in the middle of nowhere. There are no fast food places. :ohwell:

My daughter has a large, inexpensive rice cooker and she can cook almost anything in that thing. It has a slow cook setting so she makes soups, stews, chili, jambalaya and she sometimes even makes rice in the thing. She made a chocolate cake in that thing just because I jokingly said she couldn't. Like the crockpot suggestions above, a large rice cooker might be a good investment.

My daughter has a large, inexpensive rice cooker and she can cook almost anything in that thing. It has a slow cook setting so she makes soups, stews, chili, jambalaya and she sometimes even makes rice in the thing. She made a chocolate cake in that thing just because I jokingly said she couldn't. Like the crockpot suggestions above, a large rice cooker might be a good investment.

^^This. I have one and could easily cook every meal in it. Best thing you can use cheap, healthy ingredients (beans, pulses, rice, whole grains etc) and set a timer so it's ready when you are.

When I was a student, I used to buy meat in bulk, divide it into portions and either freeze it raw or freeze it cooked into something simple like a stew that I could quickly microwave. I now do a lot of cooking when I have time and either freeze portions or stash cooked meats/vegetables in the fridge for meals mid-week.

It's really about planning ahead. Nothing more.

all i can say… is eating out? you never really know the true calories..they add so much fat and you'll never get to goal eating that way.

you have to find time to prepare stuff for the week that you can pack a cooler bag for the day and go. It is the single trick to staying on track. you always have snacks and food with you so you don't starve and hit the drive thru.

I do mine on sunday evening… so i tis ready for the week. good luck.

I will admit now I didn't read through all the comments so if I'm repeating I'll apologize but I have a few thoughts for you.

A portion of why your friends are eating out is for the social interaction. It's also possible they don't or can't cook so why not offer the option of come to my place to eat, have everyone pitch in $5 each then you can use that cash to restock your own supplies. You can do crock pot meals, toss everything in the crock pot before classes then at the end of the day your meal is all cooked, healthy and much cheaper than dining out. If your friends are willing to join you for dinner they still get the social event and if that isn't an option mention meeting them for coffee at a local coffee shop instead of having dinner with them each time they go out.

Batch cooking really does make a huge difference when time is something you don't have a lot of. If you're running the oven to cook a casserole toss in a few potatoes or whip up a breakfast casserole too and cook that at the same time. You can even put a bunch of bread in a casserole dish, top it with french toast batter and bake that up, that's another quick and easy breakfast or dinner option.

A few crock pot ideas for multiple meals:
Chili - great by itself or used to top a baked potato or mixed with rice
Pasta bake - toss in a jar of sauce, veggies and meat if you'd like then toss in a small box of pasta with a cup of water
Stews - toss veggies, meat and flavor packet and add water
Egg scramble - scramble up some egg mixture or use egg beaters or egg whites. Spray the crockpot with nonstick spray then pour the egg mix in and toss any of your favorite omelet items inside and let cook. All you have to do is scoop and portion it out, you can even add diced potatoes or shredded hashbrowns for more texture.