DINING OUT WHILE WATCHING YOUR WEIGHT

By Louise Whiteside

For many of us, restaurant dining is sheer joy! How delightful, being ensconced in a cozy booth, inhaling luscious culinary aromas, perusing alluring menu pictures, and being greeted by a smiling, uniformed, eager-to-please server!

Yes, dining out can be a most enjoyable recreational and socialexperience. How disheartening then, when, by doctors’ orders. or by our own self-determination, we must practice the customary art of weight management!

But take heart: It is entirely possible to enjoy delicious, healthy and calorie-friendly meals at restaurants of your choice. The trick is to follow a few practical guidelines and make some careful choices.

Here are some tips to help keep the “dining out” experience enjoyable and healthy. 

1. Keep a list of restaurants that you know have good food options. Suggest places to

your friends where you have been and know that diet-friendly menu options are available.

2. Almost all restaurants have websites now. Look at the restaurant’s menu in advance and decide what you will order before you go to the establishment. This is a great way to avoid being tempted by high-caloric food choices.

3. Many restaurants now include nutritional information about their dishes. When possible, note the nutritional information and look for dishes high in protein and low in fat and sugar.

4. Don’t go to a restaurant hungry! If you arrive at the restaurant after skipping breakfast or lunch, you will be uncontrollably hungry and will make poor food choices.  

Instead, when planning a restaurant dinner, have a high-protein breakfast such as poached or scrambled eggs, and a lunch of chopped steak or tossed salad. 

5. Become familiar with an establishment’s jargon. Look for words such as steamed, baked, grilled or broiled, as processes to have your protein cooked. On the contrary, avoid dishes with such words as panfried, crispy, breaded, sautéed or smothered, which tends to describe higher-fat foods.

6. Be an assertive customer. Ask for food preparation which conforms with your dietary needs. For example, ask for the chicken to be grilled instead of fried. Ask your server not to bring the bread basket. Remember, you are paying for the meal!

7. Have a salad as your first course to help fill you up with a foundation of nutritional health.

8. Many restaurants serve large portions. If possible, share your meal with your dining partner.

9. As soon as your meal is served, ask for a box. Place half your meal in the box

for a later meal at home.  

10. Order a high-vegetable meal, such as a stir-fry.

11. Avoid those high-calorie drinks. Ask for water or unsweetened tea instead.

Below are some examples of calorie-friendly meals that you can find in most restaurants:

1. Sirloin steak with steamed vegetables and a baked potato

2. Grilled chicken breast with green beans and mashed potatoes

3. Salmon with rice and broccoli

4. Chopped steak and a side salad

5. Melon, berries or a fruit cup for dessert

Many of us enjoy a fast food stop now and again. Here are some healthier solutions available at your favorite fast food restaurant:

McDonald’s – McChicken

Taco Bell – 2 chicken tacos

Wendy’s – Large chili or Cobb salad 

Chick-fil-A – 12-count grilled nuggets

Starbucks – Turkey, provolone & pesto sandwich

Chipotle – Salad bowl

Panda Express – Grilled teriyaki chicken 

Enjoy a delicious, healthy and diet-friendly meal at the restaurant of your choice.

Wishing you the best of luck with your weight-management program!

Louise Whiteside, a longtime resident of Washington, D.C. and Maryland, now resides in the Colorado Rockies, where she loves memoir writing, bargain hunting, cooking, country music, theater and travel.