How to enjoy brunch — without sabotaging your diet

By Brittany Anas

Admittedly brunch is our favorite kind of meal — second only to brinner (breakfast foods for dinner). But, it’s a real downer leaving your fave brunch spot and realizing you’ve downed the entire day’s worth of calories during your first meal of the day.

Here’s 5 strategies to help you enjoy brunch, without sabotaging your diet.

• Go in with a game plan: If you’re dining out, check out the menu online first to find healthy options and stick to your plan when you get to the restaurant. Sites like Calorie King will tell you the nutritional information of menu items at several chain restaurants. If you’re dining locally and can’t find nutritional stats online for the chocolate chip pancakes you’re considering the next best thing to do is look them up at a similar restaurant that offers up its calorie counts online.
• Avoid the bottomless drinks: Those all-you-can drink mimosas, manmosas (beer + orange juice) and Bloody Mary’s can wreak havoc on your diet. Just say no to them — before you start rationalizing that they’re full of Vitamin C or you can get a day’s worth of fruit and veggies servings from the Bloody Mary’s and their celery stick garnishes. Alcohol can lower your inhibitions — and you’re more likely to stray from your eat-healthy goals. And — we hate to get all scientific on you, especially if you’re just sitting down for breakfast — but when you drink heavily, your body releases the hormone cortisol, which, in a nutshell breaks down muscle and holds on to fat. Womp, womp.
• Order an ‘appetizer’: While everybody is gabbing and looking over the menu, order a side dish of fruit. It’s a staple on the menus of most breakfast places. The fiber and water content in fruit will help you feel more full, so when breakfast arrives you’ll be less likely to inhale those syrupy pastries.
• Host brunch: Instead of meeting up with your gal pals or family members at a restaurant, save some money and invite them over to your house for brunch. Prep an egg strata the night before so you can just put it in the oven in the morning an hour or so before your guests arrive. A vase of fresh flowers will go a long way to dressing up the table. Have them delivered straight to you by ordering from 1800FLOWERS. You can get up to 15 percent Cash Back from ShopAtHome.com! This autumn bouquet is a beautiful assembly of red, orange and yellow roses and the 18-flower bouquet is on sale for $29.99.
• Make a few adjustments: Load your omelettes up with vegetables instead of cheeses. Ask for your toast dry — and spread the butter yourself. And, if your meal comes with bacon — perhaps ask that they just bring half the serving.

Read more articles about 1800FLOWERS here.

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