Dining out is a big part of our lives. Maybe you are eating out frequently because you entertain clients. Perhaps you don’t like eating out. Either way, if you want to keep a nice trim body, restaurant meals will give you a huge obstacle to overcome. In fact, eating out is one of the biggest reasons why so many people fatten up while traveling.

If you’re interested in staying lean while dining out by using a few healthy tricks you’re in luck because I’m going to share some below.

The 3 most important things to avoid that are everywhere at restaurants are:

*** refined starchy foods *** any sodas, juices and other sugary foods (except fresh fruits, which are great) *** deep fried foods (anything dropped in a scorching bath of trans fats)

Skip these 3 culprits and you’ll eliminate most of the major food sources that do the worst damage to our food supply - trans fats, processed vegetable oils, processed starchy carbohydrates, and refined sugars.

Skip the bread, cut out the french fries that come with every sandwich on every menu in every restaurant, and cut back on all your portions of pasta and rice that are often loaded on the plate, too.

Instead, just try to order meat and a side salad, and then, asking for the vegetables as a substitute for the typical french fries, pasta, or rice, that most restaurant meals come with.

Nearly every restaurant I have been to will always allow me to substitute vegetables or a side salad for the french fries or chips that usually come with any burger or sandwich.

Just a quick side note, it amazes me how many people scrutinize my substitutions of veggies for fries by telling me that I am ‘not living’ because I refuse to eat deep fried french fries… are you kidding me! If french fries are your idea of ‘living it up’, you need to get a better hobby!

Ironically, these same people are the first to complain that they are fat, overweight and have tried ‘everything’, yet can not lose their big guts. I am not sure why so many people think eating deep fried foods equals ‘living it up’… I am for moderation with many things, but there are 2 things that should be totally removed from every diet because these foods are simply dangerous… it is sodas and fries!

Take a look at the typical difference a simple substitution makes between choosing smart and doing what other people do…

Most people will eat a meal out such as this:

* soda or other sweetened drink (and no, diet sodas are NOT healthy!) * Burger or sandwich or burger * chips or french fries

Here’s a MUCH smarter alternative if you care about your body and health:

* Salad or fresh raw veggies * Burger or other delicious sandwich * unsweetened iced tea or water (no diet pop — unless you like to drink poison!)

These 2 simple substitutions can save you around 400 - 900 calories every time you eat out (depending on drink refills and portion sizes)… AND you are cutting out the poison’s and other harmful foods to your body as well by avoiding the evil trans fats and high fructose corn syrup from the fries and soft drinks.

Here’s a side note: a little-known way to eat full portions of pasta, rice, and breads and actually get away with it without packing on the body fat is to make sure to schedule a high intensity full body resistance training workout (can be free weights or body weight training) BEFORE your scheduled meal time.

Sometimes it can be really hard to fit the workouts into your schedule right before the meal, but if you can, the meal can be your ‘post-exercise meal’. After a high intensity resistance training workout, your body can handle a higher amount of carbs than normal to help replenish the muscle glycogen depletion you had during the intense exercise.

Your typical moderate cardio workout will NOT cut it for this… it must be high intensity resistance training workout to deplete enough muscle glycogen to handle restaurant portions of carbs.

I hope these dining tips help you make smarter and healthier choices for a leaner body next time you eat out.