3 Tips for Eating Healthier At Restaurants

Here’s how to eat healthier at restaurants – and still enjoy your meal while getting rid of that extra holiday weight!
This time of year, it seems just about everyone is trying to lose a bit of weight. If you’re feeling like you put on a few over the holidays, you may be making healthy resolutions to eat better this year. But one place that we all can slip up in our healthy eating resolutions is while dining out.
If you’re eating out on a regular basis, just cutting back and preparing more meals at home will likely save you some calories – as well as quite a bit of dough.
But it’s perfectly fine to enjoy a restaurant meal once in a while – especially if you don’t overdo it – and if you know how to make good menu choices.
You may be surprised to learn that you don’t have to give up all of your favorites to eat healthier at restaurants. But you do need to be diligent about avoiding these 3 types of foods:
The 3 most important things to avoid that are EVERYWHERE at restaurants are:
- the deep fried foods
- the refined starchy foods
- and any sodas, juices, or other sugary foods (except whole fruits, which are great)
This eliminates the major food sources that do the worst damage in our food supply – the evil trans fats, the inflammatory refined vegetable oils, refined starches, and processed sugars.
This means trying to skip the table bread, skipping the french fries (that come with every single sandwich on every menu known to man), and reducing or eliminating all of the heaping portions of rice and pasta that are often loaded on the plates as well.
How to do it healthier, but still satisfying…
Instead, try to order just meat, side vegetables, and a salad, asking for the vegetables or salad as a substitute for the typical fries, rice, or pasta that the meal probably comes with.
Almost every restaurant I’ve ever been to will always allow me to substitute veggies or a side salad for the fries or chips that almost always come with sandwiches or burgers.
……………………………………….
Example Substitutions:
Take a look at the typical difference this simple substitution makes between choosing smart and doing what most people do…
Most people will eat a meal out such as this:
- Sandwich or burger — the bread is usually the unhealthiest part of this
- fries or chips — source of deadly trans fats
- soda or other sweetened drink — mostly deadly high fructose corn syrup
A MUCH smarter alternative for a leaner, healthier body is very simply this:
- A steak, chicken breast, or fish piece (this avoids the refined wheat of a sandwich)
- veggies or salad (much better choice than fries or chips)
- unsweetened iced tea or water with lemon….
These 3 simple substitutions save at least 400 – 900 calories EACH time you dine out (depending on drink refills and fries portion sizes)… AND you’re cutting out the most harmful foods to your body as well by avoiding the trannies and high fructose corn syrup.
Also, it may be rare to find this in most restaurants, but if you can find some that offer much healthier grass-fed beef burgers, it’s a much smarter decision compared to grain fattened beef.
………………………………………
For more healthy eating tips, plus a special type of exercise you can do to keep from putting on weight if you slip up and eat too many carbs, click here…
Related Posts
-
[Foodie Friday Recipe] Fresh Spring Thai Lettuce Wraps
No Comments | May 10, 2019 -
[Foodie Friday Recipe] Easy Chickpea Pita Sandwiches
No Comments | Mar 16, 2018 -
Foodie Friday Recipe: Homemade Heart-Healthy Granola
No Comments | Apr 21, 2017 -
The 5 Best Exercises for Diabetics
No Comments | May 16, 2017 -
Carotenoids: Why You Need Them & Where to Find Them
No Comments | Sep 10, 2018 -
3 Easy Steps For Creating Smart Health Goals
No Comments | Jan 16, 2017