Dining Out on a Diet: 25 Tips For Eating at Restaurants

With Valentines Day approaching , what better time to release ITK Tips for eating out.

Dining out for many is a way of life, however as we dine out more often our weight will increase. Undoubtedly preparing our own healthy meals will give us better control of caloric intake but occasionally we will be eating out so we need to be capable of making healthy choices.

In almost every menu there are a few dishes or a few dish modifications which will not affect your goals, but the most important thing is to always go with a plan, no matter how general. The rule of thumb is to avoid all white flour and sugar made items, and keep the complex carbs, oils and dairy ingredients to a minimum.

There are simple solutions to other challenges you may face when dining out. If you have meal options which include garlic bread, pasta or rice, you can ask for these items to be replaced with other sides such as Irish or sweet potatoes. Many meals will also be topped with cheesy, creamy or sugary sauces. Feel free to enjoy these dishes, however, do not spread the extra sauce around or “soak it up” with the available starch. One teaspoon of a sauce can be as much as 50 extra calories, so avoid the excess.

As always though, things are never quite that simple, so for diet management, planning and strategy are key. Here are a few tools to help you to do this properly.

1) Choose the restaurant wisely
If you have the option chose a restaurant which typically will serve foods known to be lower in fats or added calories such as a seafood or grill restaurant.

2) Avoid buffets
Seeing all the tempting foods laid out in front of you is not the best way to encourage yourself to make better food choices. Also paying for a buffet will always motivate you to try and get your money’s worth by piling on your plate.

3) Check the menu online before you go
Many places post their menus on their website or Facebook pages. Look at your options and make a plan ahead of time. It’s easier to make a good decision for yourself in advance when you are objective and are not surrounded by temptations.

4) Look at the menu objectively
Menus often use words such as savory, drizzled, succulent to pull you in, try to see the items objectively as what they are so you can make proper decisions.

5) Eat healthily before you go
Don’t starve yourself all day and expect to have self-control when you are more hungry. Don’t eat foolishly all day racking up calories hoping that somehow you will be too satisfied to be tempted. Eat sensibly and moderately, having small portion controlled meals before eating out and saving calories while not ramping up your hunger.

6) Drink water before heading out and before you order
When managing your intake, water is always your friend. Aside from being essential for physiological processes, it helps to take the edge off cravings. In fact sometimes what we interpret as hunger is really thirst. So, do a bit of pre-filling before heading out and before ordering.

7) Leave the bread and chips alone
This will probably be your biggest will power test. The bread, chips and butter etc. for the table is incredibly tempting but also in every way detrimental to your goals and wellness lifestyle. If you must partake have a half of a piece just to satisfy your curiosity, but then it’s straight back to your water.

8) Get help from the server
Servers can be more helpful that you may think, once you explain your goals to them they’ll help you figure out (if you haven’t already) what to order and how to modify  the options for healthier choices, which brings us to the next point.

9) Ask and request
As one fast food joint says, have it the way you like (or something like that, how would I know?), ask how the meals are prepared and if needs be, request that substitution be made. For example, Irish or sweet potatoes instead of rice or spaghetti.

10) Always order water, any kind of water
Avoid sugary drinks at all cost, instead order plain water, bottled water or carbonated water. Save yourself the unnecessary calories.

11) Order before your company
Make your order first. Group pressure is real and sitting there hearing all the foods your party is ordering may result in you quietly changing your order.

12) Share with someone else
Restaurant serving sizes in a portion controlled world can easily serve two or three times. A good way to restrict overeating and perhaps save a few dollars is to share an order with someone else, assuming of course you both enjoy the same dishes.

13) If you have appetizers only have appetizers
By dieting calorie standards an appetizer is a meal before a meal so you have to be very careful. You can do one of three things:
 a. Skip appetizers altogether. You can save yourself 300/500, or more, calories right there
b. Order a salad or soup to start. If you don’t want to feel left out while everyone else is having their appetizer order a soup or a salad instead of a meat, oil and carb heavy appetizer
c. Order two appetizers instead of the main. Most appetizers contain less calories than the typical entrée so having a soup/salad appetizer followed by a protein vegetable appetizer, served as your entrée is a great way to save those extra calories and still enjoy eating out.

14) Salads are your friends
Clearly salads done right with less to no cheese and just a little dressing is significantly lower in calories but that is only one advantage over other eating options. Never underestimate the nutritional need for micronutrients and their wellness benefits. Vegetables are chock full of micro-nutrients and fiber, both helping to keep you healthy and helping you to feel filled.

15) Focus on vegetable sides or only one carb side
Cooked vegetables can be delicious, there are many more vegetables than people initially imagine and with just a little culinary knowledge the flavors and spiciness are inspiring. Remember being a foodie does not mean stuffing yourself with excess calories and carbs. The most discriminating of foodies understand that enjoying refined challenging food creations is not the same as eating everything in sight and piling them high on your plate. Learn to challenge yourself to discover and partake of healthily chosen well prepared favorable foods from all cultures without damaging your wellness living.

16) Think grilled and baked before deep-fried
Grilled and baked meats are just as flavorful or maybe even more flavorful than fried. The natural flavors and textures are maintained and of course, less calories. There are 500 calories in a quarter cup of oil; 500 pointless oily extra calories. Definitely think grilled and baked first.

17) Choose leaner meats
Always remember that beef pork and lamb have more saturated fats than meats such as chicken and fish and vegetable proteins, but, if you are having beef choose choice or select grades.

18) Ask for the sauce separately
With your salads and meats ask for your sauce separately and use as little as possible, you will still get the flavor you are seeking but on your own terms.

19) Avoid creamy sauces if you can
Most creamy sauces are both calorie and saturated fats intensive, instead ask for or chose a Greek, balsamic, tomato or  vinaigrette sauce.

20) Cheese won’t be your friend
Take it from a lifelong cheese head, skipping cheese or leaving the cheese off your dish is paining, but is essential for wellness. Generally, the least cheese you have with your meals the better. Simply put, cheese is a high fat, high calorie food with 100 calories and 8 grams of fat per ounce plus sugar. Of course, some types of cheeses are “cleaner” than others but there is no escaping the reality that  having cheese in your diet poses an overall challenge to weight management.

21) Healthy claims usually don’t mean much
Make your own choices and substitutions on the dining menu. It has been discovered way too often that the “healthy” menu selections are at times more calories and less healthy that the regular menu selections. Use your knowledge and ask for what you think is best using proper selections and substitutions.

22) Limit your alcohol to under 180 calories
A glass of beer, 154 calories. A glass of wine, 123 calories. A glass of soda water, 0 calories. Now, think of the number of calories in two glasses, three, four glasses, then it becomes easy to see why you must limit your alcohol intake.

23) Portion control still rules
One trick which works is to ask the server for the take out container at the beginning of your meal, share your take out servings before sharing into your plate, and remember think ¾ plate and no more. Restaurant plates are often over-sized to begin with.

24) Eat slowly. This is the best time to follow the chew 32 times rule
Eating mindfully is always key and chewing deliberately 32 times while savoring your meal is a good way to appreciate it and the moment. Getting the best nutritional time and economic value from the occasion.

25) Someone else’s dessert is your only dessert
For many people after choosing wisely and controlling all the urges the dessert is the big downfall, packing in 400 calories worth of cheesecake, with an extra 150 calorie scoop of ice cream after carefully managing a 700 calorie dinner is just defeating. If you must have a fruit mix or a sherbet, and if even that will just not do just have a small taste of someone else’s dessert, you will be pleasantly surprised how well this works.

Most importantly always think about your diet on a whole, people who succeed at healthy living don’t ever see it as something you take a break from, it is something you chose and live daily, even when you decide to indulge in an occasional tasty treat or an evening out for business or with friends and family, as vegetarians or vegans do always know what you will and what you won’t indulge in and live by that better way, you will not regret it.

Contributed by George Rattray