Things You'll Need:
- Will power
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Step 1
Don't put yourself in bad eating situations.I'm always trying to eat healthy in the city, but sometimes I find myself in terrible situations where it's very difficult, like at the Cubs game, or a Bulls game.Everyone loves an afternoon at Wrigley, but think about what it does to your body. Let's say you have a couple of beers and a hot dog or two. Besides all the fun you had and maybe the win you witnessed, you also possibly consumed more than 1,500 calories.Sporting events don't have the best eating options for you at all. So if you know you are going to a game, try to eat first before you go and save yourself some empty calories. It will be cheaper, you can eat whatever you want and it will no doubt be healthier for you if that's what you are shooting for.
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Step 2
Think about your options.Chicago really has a wide variety of foods to choose from no matter where you are. So take a minute and think about what's on the menu before you order. You'll have to stay away from fried foods for a while - those are a killer. And any traditional Chicago food is probably not a healthy thing for you to have - that is why they are so popular.So think first and eat second.
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Step 3
Copy your favorite dish at home.So let's say you have a favorite dish at a restaurant that you absolutely love, but you know it's not great for you. You don't have to give it up. Why not try to make the home version?Cooking at home is a much healthier option and can save you 25 to 50-percent of the calories in your meal. Restaurant food tastes great because they use a lot of oil and butter - far more than they usually really need. So if you can mimic your favorite dish, but cook it at home, you can really save yourself some grams of fat without losing too much of the flavor.The chances your home dish taste exactly like the restaurant-quality food is slight, but the process of making the food yourself will make up any shortcoming you see in flavor. Plus you will have control over your own product and can find ways to improve it as you go along.It's a fun, healthier way to eat "out".
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Step 4
Don't give up your life -- change it.If you love going to the city's best restaurants -- like Gibson's, Joe's Stone Crab, etc. -- you don't have to stop going there in order to eat healthy. And no, I'm not saying to order the petite fillet instead of the porterhouse from now on. That won't do you much good -- though it would help.But what you can do is amend you eating habits a bit at these local favorites. How about instead of getting steak at Gibson's (the London broil in my favorite) you try a piece of fish? Fish is a great way to eat light and still have a good meal in a nice restaurant. All of these big steakhouses serve fish, and it's prepared so well and tastes really good. So find a good eating fish, like whitefish, trout or grouper (yum!) and start ordering that.And what about the side dishes? How about instead of mashed potatoes or steakhouse-thick onion rings you go for a vegetable, like asparagus (no hollandaise) or some sauteed spinach. Spinach is a great way to go if you want a good vegetable and it will come with garlic and some olive oil and be delicious. You'll forget that you ever wanted the potatoes in the first place.
