Healthy Eating On The Road And On The Run
Today’s culture is one of eating on the run, power lunches, and socializing over dinner in restaurants. Part of the challenge we all face is making sound choices without losing the enjoyment of eating. Here are some tips how to eat out and stay on track with healthy eating habits.
Get to know the restaurants in your area. Find restaurants that will work with you. For example, restaurants that provide menu selections that are heart healthy, that will cook with low fat cheese, non fat milk, etc.
Cut back on how much you order. Although you may think you are famished, you are not. Split a meal with a friend, or save half for lunch the next day.
Order a low fat version of your usual order. Have it broiled instead of fried. Have your dressing and sauces served on the side. Be sure the food server understands what you want. Get them involved in the process. Ask how a dish is prepared, or ask for the chef’s recommendation for a low fat dish. Be a low fat advocate. Restaurants listen to their customers. Praise the availability of low fat options, or request them if they are not offered.
If you are offered a choice of side orders, choose a lower fat alternative such as a green salad, a plain baked potato, or a steamed vegetable dish instead of cole slaw, french fries, or fried vegetables.
You do not have to eliminate desserts. Just moderate them. Have just one scoop of ice cream, sorbet or non fat frozen yogurt. Order fresh fruit. Split dessert with someone or the whole table.
Go ethnic and low fat. Try steamed or stir fried (even meatless) ethnic dishes, BUT watch out for deep fried foods and rich sauces.
The bread basket! Choose breadsticks, Rykrisp, a small roll or slice of bread and pass up the butter, margarine and oil. Be careful how much bread you are consuming. The wait for dinner can sometimes be long. Don’t fill up before your meal comes.
Appetizers always sound and look great and are fun to share. When ordering an appetizer, choose something that requires lots of chewing, and share!
When choosing an entree, pick something with less fat, cholesterol and calories like fish, poultry or lean cuts of red meat. Remember to ask how it is prepared, if not indicated on the menu.
Vegetables are loaded with vitamins, minerals and fiber, but be sure and ask about the cooking procedure. You do not want to ruin the benefits of vegetables by loading them with unnecessary calories and fat.
When looking at a menu, the following descriptions will clue you into the high fat dishes:
| Buttery or Buttered |
| Basted |
| Fried, French Fried, Crispy |
| Creamed, In gravy |
| Hollandaise |
| Au gratin or In cheese sauce |
| Scalloped |
| Rich |
If you are looking for the low fat choices, the following descriptions would include:
| Broiled, Grilled, Roasted (without added fat) |
| Stir Fried |
| Steamed |
| Au Jus, In its own juices |
| Poached |
| Raw |
| Garden fresh |
When eating on the run, you are short on time and stop off for a quick bite at a drive through:
| Choose grilled or sliced meat sandwiches rather than fried or breaded and deep fried sandwiches. |
| Have your hamburger without cheese |
| Hold the sauce. Just use the ketchup or mustard instead of mayonnaise based sauces on fish, hamburgers, and other sandwiches. |
| Try the salad bar. Watch out for high fat dressings, marinated vegetable salads, and salads mixed with mayonnaise and salad dressing. |
What to do when not given a choice: When eating at a banquet, convention, wedding, etc., the choice you do have is in what you choose to eat. If fatty food or food laden with sauce, remove the skin and scrape off the sauce. You do not have to finish every thing on your plate
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