Eating Out vs Eating In

I get so tired of people saying that it is so hard to eat in at home. Here are a few reasons why I beg to differ with that statement.

1: Eating in is cheaper.

Fast food is expensive. You can make the same thing at home for a fraction of the cost and make more of it for a family.

2. Eating in is healthier.

Fast food and restaurants are notorious for adding extra sugars, oils, and other fattening ingredients and you don't know what is added. At home you have more control of how something is prepared.

3. Eating in is more convenient.

There are a million recipes that you can prepare the day beforehand, you can utilize your freezer by making a lot one day and then freezing the rest.

4. Eating in is boring.

You can cook a wonderful meal with your family, have friends over, or just experiment with different types of food.

Yes it is alright to eat out on occasion, but it should not be the norm. Get the whole family involved and spend quality time together as a family. It is by far much healthier. As a nation, we need to be extremely careful about eating at fast food restaurants and teaching our children that it is the norm. Watch this video and learn why traditional fast food restaurants are making us more obese.

Eating At Restaurants

We are a nation that loves to eat out anywhere besides our own kitchen. We like to be serviced and not have to clean up. You have to be careful when eating out, because you don't know quite a few things. Such as, did they use a lot of extra salt, oils, etc. Fast food restaraunts are known for having lots of calories, cholesterol, salt, fat etc in foods that you would normally think to be healthy choices.

Here are a couple of ground rules for eating out. They are not guaranteed, but they are easy and most restaurants will obilige without too much hassle.

1. Never order anything fried. I am not a big fan of fried food in the first place, but if you do fry, make sure it is at home. Baked french fries are just as good as fried ones. I have given them to friends that only believed in fried french fries, now they bake them as well.

2. Always eat grilled or baked entrees. See reason #1, they often use ridiculous amounts of oils to fry.

3. Refuse the bread or limit to one basket. Too much bread is not good for you.

4. Don't order or even look at the desert menu until after you eat. You may not even want it buy the time you finish your meal.

5. Get a doggy bag as soon as you place your order. As soon as you get your food, put half of it in the doggy bag. Restaurant portion are enormous.

6. Order condiments on the side. Most condiments are loaded with salt and calories. Restaurants always drown food with them. If they are on the side you can control how much you use.

The important thing is to use common sense in this area. You can still eat out, just remember to be smart about it and let it be on occassion and not the norm.