Eating healthy at restaurants

Most of us eat out at least a few times a week. It can be really difficult to eat healthy at restaurants unless you know what to look for. While it is almost always healthier to eat at home or to bring lunch from home, you can pick healthier options from restaurants. Here are some tips:

• Keep it as simple as possible. The more complex a meal, the more sauces (which means more fat and calories) or extra ingredients are added. Go for a lean protein (steak, grilled chicken, fish) with a side of plain veggies or beans. 
• Use MyPlate to help guide your decisions. Half your plate fruits and vegetables, one-fourth lean protein, one-fourth grains, and one cup of yogurt or milk. 

• Drink water, unsweetened tea, or a little diet soda instead of high calorie beverages. 
• Look at menus online for nutrition information from chain restaurants to see calories, fat, sugars, sodium, etc.
• Skip items with the words breaded, creamy, crispy, or fried. Choose grilled, baked, broiled, or saute instead. 
• Share an entree with a friend and order a side salad. Or, take half of your meal home for a second meal later.
• Baked potatoes can be a healthy side if you watch the butter and sour cream. Try salsa instead.
• Salads can always be a healthy options depending on the content. Go for grilled instead of fried, choose lean protein instead of high fat or high sodium options, add lots of veggies, and choose oil and vinegar or vinegar-based dressings instead of creamy, high fat dressings. 
• Here are some healthy options are various cuisines:
• Mexican/Hispanic - chicken, steak or shrimp fajitas. Skip the tortillas or load up only one. Limit the chips and salsa.
• Chinese/Asian - grilled meat (not breaded) with veggies. Ask for brown rice and skip the fried appetizers (crab Rangoon, egg rolls, etc) or limit them. 
• Italian - skip or limit the bread. Use olive oil for dipping instead of butter if you eat any bread. Marinara is healthier than creamy Alfredo sauces, but most importantly - watch portion sizes!
• BBQ - Meat with minimal sauce, choose veggies or beans for your side. 
• Soups - go for broth-based instead of cream-based. 
• The Eat This, Not That website has a menu decoder to help you analyze various menus. 
• To eat healthy at a fast food place, you only have a few options: small hamburger (no mayo), grilled chicken, side salads, low-fat yogurt, and fruit cups are about the only options. Plain tacos or chili can sometimes be better than other options, but you have to be careful. 
• The more plain fruits or veggies, the better. It is tough to find a lot of options for these foods.
• Of course, if you only eat out once awhile, you are entitled to indulge. But, a lot of people eat out 4-5 times a week, so in that instance, indulgences should not happen every time!
• Eat This, Not That has a list of 20 shockingly healthy restaurant foods. Check it out.
• Eating at home ensures healthier options and saves money. Try to eat at home more often and save your eating out for less often. 

For other information on eating healthy in restaurant and other topics, check out the Eat This, Not That website.