Whether or not you're trying to lose weight, you can eat healthy when dining out or bringing in food,
if you know how. The following tips will help you move toward healthier eating as you limit your calories,
as well as fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium when eating out.
You Are the Customer
Ask for what you want! Most restaurants will honor your
requests.
Ask questions! Don't be intimidated by the menu - your server will be
able to tell you how foods are prepared or suggest substitutions on the
menu.
If you wish to reduce portion sizes - try ordering appetizers as your
main meal.
General Tips: Limiting your calories and fat can be easy
as long as you know what to order. Try asking these questions
when you call ahead or before you order. Ask the restaurant
"Do you or would you on request...":
Serve margarine (rather than butter) with the meal?
Serve fat-free (skim) milk rather than whole milk or cream?
Use less oil when cooking?
Trim visible fat off poultry or meat?
Leave all butter, gravy, or sauces off a side dish or entree?
Serve salad dressing on the side?
Accommodate special requests if made in advance
by telephone or in person?
Above all else, don't get discouraged. There are usually
several healthy choices to choose from at most restaurants.
Reading the Menu
Choose lower-calorie, low-fat cooking methods. Look for
terms like steamed, in its own juice (au jus), garden fresh,
broiled, baked, roasted, poached, tomato juice, dry boiled
(in wine or lemon juice), and lightly sauteed or stir-fried.
Be aware of foods high in calories, fat, and saturated fat.
Watch out for terms like butter sauce, fried, crispy, creamed,
in cream or cheese sauce, au gratin, au fromage, escalloped,
parmesan, hollandaise, bernaise, marinated (in oil), stewed,
basted, sauteed, stir-fried, casserole, hash, prime, pot pie and
pas-try crust.
Specific Tips for Healthy Choices
Breakfast
Fresh fruit or small glass of citrus juice
Whole grain bread, bagel or English muffin with jelly
or honey
Whole grain cereal with low-fat (1%) or fat-free milk
Oatmeal with fat-free milk topped with fruit
Omelet made with egg whites or egg substi-tute
Multigrain pancakes without butter on top
Nonfat yogurt (try adding cereal or fresh fruit)
Beverages
Water with lemon
Flavored sparkling water (noncaloric)
Juice spritzer (half fruit juice and half sparkling water)
Iced tea
Tomato juice (reduced sodium)
Bread
Most bread and breadsticks are low in calories and low in
fat. The calories add up when you add butter, margarine, or
olive oil to the bread. Also, eating a lot of bread in addition
to your meal will fill you up with extra unwanted calories and
not leave enough room for fruits and vegetables.
Appetizers
Steamed seafood
Shrimp cocktail
(limit cocktail sauce - it's high in sodium. also if you are on a cholesterol-lowering diet,
eat shrimp and other shellfish in moderation.)
Melons or fresh fruit
Bean soups
Salad with reduced fat dressing (or add lemon juice or
vinegar)
Entree
Poultry, fish, shellfish and vegetable
dishes are healthy choices
Pasta with red sauce or with vegetables (primavera)
Look for terms like baked, broiled, steamed, poached,
lightly sauteed or stir-fried
Ask for sauces and dressings on the side
Limit the amount of butter, margarine, and salt you use at
the table
Skip the nonvegetable choices: deli meats, bacon, egg,
cheese, croutons
Choose lower-calorie, reduced-fat or fat-free dressing,
lemon juice, or vinegar
Side Dish
Plain vegetables and starches (rice, potato, noodles) make good additions to meals and can also be
combined for a lower-calorie alternative to higher-calorie entrees
Ask for side dishes without butter or margarine
Ask for mustard, salsa or low-fat yogurt instead of sour
cream or butter
Dessert/Coffee
Fresh fruit
Nonfat frozen yogurt
Sherbet or fruit sorbet (these are usually fat-free,
but check the calorie content)
Try sharing a dessert
Ask for low-fat milk for your coffee (instead of cream or
half-'n-half )
Source: National Institutes of Health - U.S. Department of Healthy and Human Services -
NIH Publication no. 05-5213 August 2005
The content provided on this web site is for information purposes only. It is intended to provide tools and reference material and is not designed to provide medical advice. Please consult your healthcare provider regarding any medical issues you have relating to symptoms, conditions, diseases, diagnosis, treatments, and side effects.