Watching your calories doesn’t mean that you can’t dine out at a nice restaurant. It does mean, though, that you need to be a more informed consumer even before you order your favorite entrée. FitClub has six hacks that make it easier to stay healthy and still enjoy a night out with friends.
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Don’t eat an entire portion. American restaurants continue to increase the portion of entrée options. If you struggle with leaving food on your plate, ask for a to-go box when you order your dinner. Immediately removing the food you don’t want to eat at this meal from your line of vision will increase the odds that you can stick to a healthier portion size. You might even find that the entrée you want is available as an appetizer, lunch portion, or even on the kids’ menu. Starting with the right portion for your goals eliminates the desire to overeat.
Order sauce on the side, or not at all. Heavy sauces that generally accompany appetizers, salads, and entrées at restaurants can easily be eliminated without sacrificing taste. What may start as a healthy meal can easily become saturated in calories, sodium, and transfat. Opt to start with the sauce on the side if you must, or ask the restaurant to forgo the sauce and actually taste your food.
Don’t drink excess calories. Juice, alcohol, and soft drinks are calorie culprits when we dine out. Ordering plain water can eliminate hundreds of nutrient-lacking calories from your dinner.
Load up on natural flavors, vegetables and fruit. If vegetables and fruit are offered as side dishes, you can save yourself hundreds of unhealthy calories and instead fill up on low-calorie, nutrient-dense foods that your body actually needs. Instead of dousing vegetables in high calorie dressings, opt for lemon, olive oil, or vinaigrette dressings to bring out the flavor in the healthy foods. Where possible, drizzle lemon on your lean meats to enjoy flavor without guilt.
Hands off the bread bowl. Some restaurants set you up for overeating before you even place your order. If your dinner companions want the bread left on the table, ask that it be moved to the other side of the table and left covered so you can resist the temptation to indulge before your meal is served. If you feel the need to indulge, make a decision before you begin eating that you’ll have only one piece. After you’ve enjoyed one piece of bread, ask the server to remove the bread and not to bring any more to the table.
Just because it’s a salad, doesn’t mean it’s the healthiest option on the menu. It’s natural to think that we are hitting our goals because we ordered salad at a restaurant. A quick check of restaurant calorie counts available online will quickly prove that the salad is full of more than just vegetables. Heavy dressings, croutons, bacon bits, cheese, and other varieties of calorie-dense and nutrient-free foods often top restaurant salads and turn a healthy dinner into a calorie bomb. Before you head out, check your chosen restaurant’s online menu for calorie counts and be an educated diner.
