De gusto e Benessere - How to manage meals away from home

When we are following a nutrition plan, the problem of how to manage meals outside the home can arise; in fact, often, meals are consumed at the desk, in the canteen, restaurants and it is not always easy to control the quality of the food you take and the amount of calories you put in. If it is possible to bring food from home, the problem obviously does not exist because for the preparation of meals you can follow the instructions of the scheme, preparing everything the night before. If instead we are faced with a meal in the restaurant, at a buffet or in the cafeteria we can follow some useful indications to orient ourselves in the choice. In order to learn how to manage our meals outside the home, it is first important to gain experience in knowing your portion even if you do not have a scale. We can do this at home, trying to make a mental photograph of how much space takes up in the plate for example our portion of pasta or rice (cooked), bread, cheese, of meat etc The next step is to learn to understand what micronutrients are in a dish, so that you can create a balanced meal. For example, if I take a complete dish, such as pasta with ragu, fish or a lasagna dish, it is sufficient to add a side of vegetables. It is also advisable to avoid dishes prepared with sauces and heavy sauces. The sauce is often prepared with fatty meat, resulting rich in saturated fats, as well as many sauces are made with butter and cream, which are also rich in saturated fats. If the portions are large you can share a meal with a friend, order half portion or take half home for lunch the next day. As a side dish, if I took a first one, it would be better to orient on salads or grilled vegetables rather than fried or baked fries; they can represent a good accompaniment instead for a second like meat or fish. When eating out you may also have the desire to drink something different, but remember that even alcohol has its calories, so it would be better to opt for a soft drink or a single glass of wine or beer. How can we manage the rest of the day? If at lunch we realize that we have eaten a very spicy meal, during the rest of the day we will try to limit fatty foods and condiments If we ate only a plate of pasta with tomato sauce, During the day we can reach our daily protein intake by eating a Greek yogurt for snack time or increasing the portion of protein in the evening. If your lunch was particularly plentiful you probably won’t be hungry, one possibility is to eat something as light as a portion of vegetables. Finally, in order not to fall into the mistake of too abundant lunches or dinners, it is better to "break" the morning or afternoon with a snack thus avoiding the effect of "binge eating" on the main meals.