Eating Out Tips

Restaurant Food

When faced with a delicious menu, its all too easy to let your stomach do the ordering rather than your brain! Here are some tips to help you stay on track when eating out in a restaurant.

• At buffets, pick up the smallest plate you can find. Whatever size you choose, you will usually feel compelled to fill it!
• Before dinner, drink a cup of green tea or some Perrier with a slice of lemon. Both will help to reduce your appetite. Going to a restaurant when you’re really hungry is tempting fate.
• Don’t follow the crowd and order a 3 course meal. If you feel that you have to, try to choose light options like a consommé, fruit plate or sorbet.
• Order an appetizer instead of a main course - portions have grown in recent years and you really don’t need more.
• Don’t order anything with sauce. That grilled chicken may sound light, but not if its drowning in a creamy sauce! In an Italian restaurant, order the tomato-based sauces rather than the cream-based ones.
• Order your food steamed, baked, grilled or poached, rather than fried or deep fried.
• Substitute salad for the fries or potatoes that come with your meal.
• Watch your salad dressing! Caesar salad can be just as fattening as a burger.
• If the waiter brings you bread before the meal, send it right back or you’ll end up full before the meal.
• You don’t need to finish the whole meal, or have that extra helping. Most restaurants are happy to provide a doggy bag.
• Be prepared to face diet saboteurs - when your friend says “go ahead, the cheesecake here is divine, one piece won’t hurt”, remember that you chose a healthy main course. Why blow it with an extra 400 calories!
• If you know you are going to a restaurant ahead of time took at their menu and their nutrition guides and pick what you’re going to have in advance! (If they don’t have a nutrition guide it’s always safe to go with a salad, or something you know is low fat)