But I had the chicken!

I hear it all the time. People tell me they go out to eat, but they were "good". I have no doubt that everyone tries to make good choices while eating out. However, the cold, hard truth is that unless you see the nutritional information, you don’t know whether or not you’re being good.

Let’s take a look at a glaring example. You’re going about your busy day and find that you’re hungry and need food now. You know fast food isn’t ideal, but maybe you’ll go to Chipotle and try to eat something healthy. In fact, you’re so nutritionally educated, you know to skip the burrito shell because of the white flour and high fat content that it contains.

So you’re going to do a "healthy" burrito bowl, right? You’re even going to skip the sour cream and cheese because you’re going the extra mile on your diet. Nothing but meat and veggies, right? So what’s your best choice?

Common knowledge would lead you to believe chicken and veggies is a wise choice. Let’s take a look:

4 oz Chicken, 219 calories, 101 calories from fat, which makes it 46% FAT.
3 oz Fajita Vegetables, 100 calorories, 70 calories from fat, so 70% FAT!
That doesn’t sound healthy!

In fact, the steak, which most would consider the worst choice of the three has 108 of its 230 calories coming from fat, making it only 47% fat; only 1% more than the chicken, and 23% LESS fat than those "healthy" veggies!

So how are you supposed to eat healthy when going out? In my experience, it is nearly impossible. Now, that isn’t to say I didn't or don't go out. Just when I do, I know I’m not going to know what I’m really getting, so I get what I want.

Yes, you heard me right. Ninety percent of weight loss is in your mind. So allow yourself to go out, and enjoy a guilt free meal on occasion. How can you eat out and not beat yourself up? Eat half the normal restaurant portions (which are HUGE), and eat healthy, home prepared meals most of the time.

How often is too often? Well, how healthy do you want to be?

As a sidenote, if you were unaware, it's worth pointing out that McDonald's owns Chipotle. Leave it to a clown to make chicken unhealthy.