Restaurant food is inherently high in salt and high-fat choices. Many restaurants have healthy options and provide calorie information on their menus and websites.
Focus on these healthier food ordering habits:
- Avoid sweetened beverages, juices, and alcohol. Instead, order water with lemon or sugar-free choices as your beverage.
- Drinks water frequently during the meal to achieve the sensation of feeling full faster.
- Many restaurant portions are much larger than you need or even want to eat. When your food comes to you, place half of it in a take-home box.
- Focus on ordering choices with fruits and vegetables as the predominant ingredients.
- If you are going to eat meat, avoid beef and focus on choices with chicken, turkey, and fish that is baked, roasted, or grilled, and not fried.
- Avoid processed meats, like deli meats, bacon, ham, and sausage, including the turkey versions of these foods.
- Avoid salty snacks and sugary foods, pastries, candy, and baked goods.
- Avoid choices rich in butter and rich sauces (these are high in fat).
- Minimize starchy foods like bread, rice, pasta, and white potatoes. Substitute the starch in a meal for another vegetable. If you are going to eat starches, whole wheat or whole grain bread and pasta are better choices.
- Ask the server not to bring bread to the table while you are waiting on your meal.
- Do not add salt to your food. Only add salt to the food on your plate after you have tasted your food-use salt very sparingly, if at all.
- Avoid choices made with eggs and cheese.
- When planning to go out to eat or to an event, eat a small healthy snack before you go. You will eat less and be able to make healthier choices because you are not as hungry when you are ordering your meal.
- Avoid salad bars, hot food bars, and pre-prepared food venues, unless you are going to eat only fresh fruit and vegetables (beware that a lot of food put into salad bars comes out of a can, box, or plastic pre-prepared package which is high in salt).
- Focus on ordering salads with the dressing on the side, baked, lean meats, like chicken turkey, and fish, and avoid ordering fried foods and foods with sauces and gravy on top.