We eat before we eat. At Mexican restaurants corn chips and salsa greet us as we are seated. At other restaurants it's bread and butter. This custom probably began after a number of servers were injured from flying utensils thrown by starving patrons. We live in a world of instant gratification and the pre-meal snack is consistent with our limited patience for waiting.
Before taking a bite out of the next chip or piece of bread, think about what you are eating. Ten chips contain about 140 calories. A piece of bread with butter is about the same. How many chips or how much bread do you eat before the main meal arrives? As your server delivers the second bowl, you probably ate two or three times that. This is bad for a number of reasons.
First, you are 400 calories in and you haven't had an appetizer or the main meal. You may have already met or even exceeded the calories you need for the meal and you haven't received your order.
Second, bread and chips are refined carbohydrates with limited nutritional value. They are digested quickly putting our insulin to work and spiking our blood sugar levels. Since we cannot use the carbohydrates as energy at the time, insulin works to store it for later use. Fat cells are great for storage so that's where these go. We've ingested three to four hundred fat producing calories before our meal and we've managed to overwork our insulin and raise or blood sugar levels.
Finally, we ordered appetizers and the main meal before our body can process the chips or bread so we order as if we are still starving. When we are starving we crave foods high in fats and sugars. If you are a plate cleaner, you can eat over 1,500 calories in one meal. Unless you were running while you ate, you will not be able to burn through those calories before they are processed and turned into fat.
How can we avoid eating chips and bread?
It is difficult to simply ignore the bowl of food placed on your table when you are hungry. The temptation will be great and your resolve will be low. The key to success is to be prepared before sitting down. Below are a few suggestions for helping you avoid the pre-meal meal.
- Eat a small high protein snack about an hour before your meal. Cottage cheese, beef jerky or a protein bar are some alternatives. Snacks high in protein will lower your hunger pangs and decrease your need for quick easy food when you sit down for your meal.
- Eat a few walnuts, pecans, or almonds as a snack. These are excellent sources of healthy fats. But remember they contain a lot of calories so just eat eight to ten of them.
- Eat some celery, carrots, pickles or other vegetable as a snack. Vegetables are an excellent source of low calorie nutrients that will help you avoid the chips or bread.
- Drink a glass of water about twenty minutes before you sit down. This will fill your stomach and limit your food intake.
- Ask the server to remove the offending chips or bread. You are not required to leave the free food on the table. If you are famished when you sit down, don't leave the distracting foods in front of you to fight with will power alone. Kindly tell your server to save the food for another table.
Chips and bread are a staple food for restaurant goers. It is easy to mindlessly eat them throughout the meal. But if you want to remove unnecessary calories, you will skip the chips.
Gregg Ghelfi is founder and contributor to http://fitinthemiddle.com. Fit in the Middle is dedicated to providing information and resources on nutrition, fitness and weight loss. We invite you to read our blog at http://fitinthemiddle.com/blog/ and comment on the various articles. We also welcome you to submit guest blogs to info@fitinthemiddle.com.
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