Order Your Favorite Vegetables When Dining Out

Regardless of your age, eating healthy is important for living well.

Just because you didn’t prepare the food doesn’t mean you cannot exercise some control over your situation and still enjoy your meal. When dining out, you can fit most of your favorite dishes into your menu plan by making some adjustments to the ingredients and methods used for food preparation. Moreover, most restaurants now cater to the health-conscious crowd.

When deciding what to eat or drink at a restaurant, choose options that are full of nutrients and limit added sugars, saturated fat, and sodium. When you choose to eat out, don’t forsake the good habits that you follow at home for living well. You can always ask your server to put salad dressings and sauces on the side as well as forego the basket filled with bread. The phrase you are what you eat is not only catchy, but it can serve as a reminder when dining out.

You can avoid a lot of social pressure when ordering by being the first person at the table to make your food choices. Moreover, play it safe and embrace these tips for eating healthy:

• Japanese – Eating at a Japanese restaurant can be tricky. Picking the right sauces can be crucial. Pick teppanyaki dishes cooked on an iron griddle over teriyaki where the sauce can contain a lot of added sugar.
• Mexican – Your best options at a Mexican restaurant are fajitas made with grilled shrimp, meats, or vegetables and a bowl of steamed rice. Veggie, shrimp, or chicken filled green enchiladas with a sprinkle of cheese are okay, too.
• Chinese – Stir-fried shrimp, chicken, and vegetables with steamed brown rice is eating healthy at a Chinese restaurant. Deep fried dishes like orange beef or fried egg rolls have lots of fat.
• Indian – Foods cooked in a tandoor oven, such as tandoori chicken is a healthy food choice when eating Indian food. Also, tikka and bhuna dishes are a healthy choice as they are not covered with heavy sauces.
• Italian – Everyone loves to eat Italian but stick with vegetables, grilled chicken or fish and seafood antipasto. Beware of the bread basket. Restaurants make it easy to sop up a lot of flavorful dipping sauces.

Eating healthier revolves around making smarter choices as you rebuild your overall dietary pattern of food consumption. By focusing on the same wants and needs, you can dine out without sacrifice to your commitment for living well. Order your favorite vegetables when dining out and ask your server how each dish will be prepared. Never smother your salad with a high-fat dressing or cover healthy veggies with a rich cream sauce.

Too often weight loss only gets you to your goal weight and the program does not provide the additional support or guidance for what comes next. In the end, this can lead to lost weight being gained back because not eating out is simply not sustainable. Whether you are sitting at the family table or catching up with friends after work, the winter holidays are filled with tempting food options whenever you choose to eat out. Visit Metabolic Research Center to learn more.