20 tricks to eating healthy while eating out

Going to a restaurant shouldn’t be your excuse to eat unhealthy foods. Follow these tips and not only will you enjoy your meal more, you’ll feel satisfied and happy when you’re done.

Restaurants offering “table side” service, where food is prepared at the diners’ table, continue to grow in numbers and popularity. But like fast-food outlets, these dining establishments can be ticking time bombs when it comes to nutritional health. Government surveys find that the food you typically eat when you’re not home is nutritionally worse in every way than the food you eat at home.

But healthier options do exist on their menus – if you know how to look for them. You can also rely on these tips to help making eating out a healthier treat.

Dining out is no time to be a meek consumer, notes Dr Michael F. Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and co-author of the book Restaurant Confidential. “You need to be an assertive consumer by asking for changes on the menu,” he says. For instance, if an item is fried, ask for it grilled. If it comes with French fries, ask for a side of veggies instead. Ask for a smaller portion of the meat and a larger portion of the salad; for salad instead of coleslaw; baked potato instead of fried. “Just assume you can have the food prepared the way you want it,” says Dr Jacobson. “Very often, the restaurant will cooperate.”

Often a side of vegetables in a restaurant is really like garnish – a carrot and a forkful of squash. When ordering, ask for three or four times the normal serving of veggies, and offer to pay extra. “I’ve never been charged,” says dietitian Dr Jeff Novick. “And I’ve never been disappointed. I get full.”

Get an idea of the ingredients in your dish, such as salt, butter and oil, and how much is used.

Some restaurants list kilojoules and nutritional content of their meals. Check first before ordering.

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Or split a main with your dining partner. A CSPI survey found that restaurants often serve two to three times more than food labels list as a serving.

If there is a nice selection of seafood- and vegetable-based starters, consider skipping the main and having two entrées for your meal. Often, that is more than enough food to fill you up.

Scientists at Pennsylvania State University found that volunteers who ate a big veggie salad before the main course ate fewer kilojoules overall than those who didn’t have a first-course salad, notes Novick.

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This is a vegetable course – keep it tasty but healthy. That means avoiding anything in a creamy sauce (coleslaw, pasta salads and potato salads), and skipping the bacon bits and fried noodles. Instead, load up on the raw vegetables, treat yourself to a few well-drained marinated vegetables (artichoke hearts, red peppers, or mushrooms), and for a change, add in some fruit or nuts. Indeed, fruits such as mango, kiwi, rockmelon and pear are often the secret ingredient in four-star salads.

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Even salads that are mostly raw vegetables are a problem if they’re loaded with cheese, meats and refined grains like croutons. Italian antipasto salads also are a health challenge, with all their salami, spicy ham and cheese. Get the salad, but ask for vegetables only.

Don’t like it when your salad is drowning in a sea of oil? Get your dressing on the side, in a small bowl. Dip your empty fork into the dressing, then skewer a forkful of salad. You’ll be surprised at how this tastes just right, and how little dressing you’ll use.

Most restaurants post their menus on their websites, and many provide nutritional information and highlight healthier options. You can decide before you ever arrive and place your order. Conversely, if you don’t see anything that’s healthy, pick another restaurant.

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Any menu description that uses the words creamy, breaded, crisp, sauced or stuffed is likely loaded with saturated fats. Other “beware of” words include: buttery, sautéed, pan-fried, au gratin, Thermidor, Newburg, Parmesan, cheese sauce, scalloped, and au lait, à la mode, or au fromage (with milk, ice cream, or cheese).

If you must have something to munch on while you wait for your order, ask for a plate of raw vegetables.

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If you must order an alcoholic drink, forget the margaritas, piña coladas and other exotic mixed drinks. They often include sugary mixers. Opt instead for a glass of wine, a light beer, a vodka and tonic or a simple martini (without the chocolate liquor, sour green apple schnapps, or triple sec).

Just make sure it’s not fried. When the CSPI evaluated food served at seafood chains and independent restaurants, researchers found low-fat and low-sodium options abounded. Plus, you can order seafood so many different ways – steamed, baked, broiled, sautéed, blackened, or grilled.

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It will slow you down, help you enjoy the food more, and let the message get to your brain that you’re full – before your plate is empty.

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Or ask if they have salsa – the ultimate potato topper, both in terms of flavour and health. Just go easy on the butter and sour cream.

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Even if it’s just a regular family restaurant. If you view eating out as an event or a treat, rather than a way to get an everyday dinner, you won’t eat out as often. And that’s good from both a health and a cost standpoint.

You can always have some sorbet or even a small piece of chocolate at home. That is much better health wise than the kilojoule-laden Triple Chocolate Meltdown or a mountain of ice cream topped by a second mountain of whipped cream.

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Source: RD.com