Eating Out

     Who doesn’t love to eat out every once and a while, I mean you don't have to prep anything, there is no argument on who has to clean up after, and yes frankly it’s just easier! Now don’t get me wrong, I am not saying to go out every day, but on special occasions why not, right? Well I am here to offer you some tips so that when you do go out to eat you can still be healthy.

     First, make a conscious effort to pick a place that offers healthy options, and then go on-line and look up the nutritional facts on the restaurants website; they are all required to have it. You can see the calorie count, sodium, fat etc. That way you know what to choose from and what to stay away from.

     Next, know the lingo! When you read a menu know what they are talking about(and don’t be afraid to ask your server). For example, breaded or tempura is usually FRIED. Creamy, cream sauce or alfredo is usually with heavy cream and butter! Anything scampi or in a scampi sauce is all butter! We all know what Buffets are comprised of, but no matter how hard we try we always fall into the trap of eating WAY too much, try avoiding buffets all together!

     Finally, some tricks to eating less would be to try and eat half of the meal and take the rest with you for the next day’s lunch or dinner. Also eat a little at the meal before going out to eat, for example if you are going to dinner, make sure you eat lunch so that when you go out you are not starving and eating everything in sight at the restaurant. Along with eating the meal before, eat something small 30 minutes before you go out, like a piece for fruit or a tall glass of water with lemon, again so you are not super hungry at the restaurant.

DO NOT forget that Alcohol counts! They are calories you need to factor in if you know you want a glass of wine or a cocktail with dinner.

There are some simple things to think about at the drive through as well, Supersized/value size( STAY AWAY, more food=more calories/fat), Salt(drive through restaurants are known for high sodium foods), Bacon(salty and just adds more fat)
 
Live Healthy,
    Nadia