One of my approaches is to just choose the lesser of two (or more) evils. Instead of a burger with fries, get a grilled sandwich with veggies. I / we don’t eat a lot of fast food; I’m talking more casual dining chains. Most of that food is pretty tasty, so you can opt for something less evil and still get something you enjoy.

When I’m with my wife, we’ll often split an entree. That way we each get a decent amount of food since restaurant servings are huge. Or we’ll plan to take leftovers home. If you’re on the road and have a fridge & microwave, you can do the leftover thing too. I resolve to never stuff myself silly at a restaurant again just because the food is there in front of me.

You also need to be snack-smart. I’m really trying to stay away from candy bars (and all candy), chips, and soda (even diet soda). I kinda like those energy drinks (Monster, Full Throttle, Red Bull); less sugar and actually some good vitamins; they’re OK occasionally. Protein bars can be good too if you’re careful. If I need a snack at an airport, I’ll often look for smoothies (watch the sugar though). I also like the green tea frappuccino at Starbucks (probably should skip the whipped cream…).

And a mental tip – the ol’ “this too will pass” way of thinking. It gets me through tough workouts (“in xx minutes I’ll be done; I want to look back and be proud that I did what I intended to do”), and it can apply (in a kinda opposite way) to eating. Eating something tasty is a temporary pleasure. You can satisfy your basic needs for nutrition in many ways. It’s a good feeling to be fit & healthy and know that you made a good food choice for the last meal and that it won’t set you back (and if it tasted good – even better!).