Restaurant Rules

The most apparent thing to remember is that a chef doesnt care about your waistline.. whatsoever.  His main objective is to satisfy your tastebuds.

Unfortunately this is done with generous helpings of cream, fats, salt and sugars (the bad stuff). Here are some rules when ordering out:

1.  Eat some green veg an hour before dinner (Raw brocolli, anything, just endure the taste!) You dont want to be too hungry when your meal arrives. Hunger releases the fat storing hormone Cortisol.

2.  Although most things will be bad in some way, stay away from the obvious (these will just be OTT bad)

3.  Stay away from things likely to be made with cream, including soups and creamy dishes like carbonara. As a general rule, the less thick the sauce the better.

4.  A salad as a starter (no sauce) is a good way to get your metabolism fired before your main course. Its a low calorie option too.

5. Order meat, its the only way to get your protein. Remove visible fat!! Ducks not a great option because of its high non visible fat content.

6.  As a side get steamed veg if possible. There’ll be more than enough taste in the mains sauce. A blob of mash is a lot of unnecessary carbs!!

7. Dessert is a high surge of bad calories when you are already over-full. All will be stored as body-fat. DO NOT GET DESSERT!!!!

Follow these simple rules and save yourself around 1500 calories!! I promise you aswell you will be more satisfied knowing you did it right! :)

Breads – The Good.. The Bad.. And The Doughy!

The cardinal rule of baked goods is this:   A doughy bread/baked good will make you doughy!

The modified flours used to make these “tasty breads” cause serious bloating, and are also Higher GI, meaning they are more likely to be stored as bodyfat. Think of squeezing a doughnut or a pan of white bread (Easy), now think of squeezing a packet of Ryvita (Hard). Things like Ryvita are produced with less flour and more “whole” ingredients. Wholemeal and Wholegrain bread are mid range health wise, because although fluffy, they are made with “whole” products, meaning that every part of the meal or grain is included (shell etc.), meaning it has more fibre so is harder to breakdown. This leaves you feeling fuller for longer and gives you energy over a greater period of time.

Theres something out there better for you than wholemeal or wholegrain bread, and is tastier than Ryvita or another variation of Rye Crispread, which makes it better asswell in my opinion. The baking emporium has a good range of solid spelt or wholemeal break. They are quite like Ryvita but they have a great taste, with a few variations out there (go for 3-seed Spelt – tastiest and best). They’re also organic which makes them additive free. Hopefully it will add some variety to the low level of carbohydrates you are looking to take in!! Expect to find them in health food sections of good shops. I know they are in Donnybrook Fair and SPAR Deansgrange, and most supermarkets (not ALdi/Lidl)