How to eat out healthy??

swissdutchess

Since I've been in a relationship again, we go out to eat a lot w/ friends. Any advice on how to eat healthy w/ restaurant menus?

CARNAT22

A few tips:

Salad or starter (or kiddy meal) as a main
Go for tomato based sauces (as opposed to cream based)
Go for chicken / turkey as opposed to red meat
No bread / breadsticks
No dressings (or ask for it on the side so you can control how much you put on)
Drink lots of water
If you are having 2 {or 3 courses} try to share the starter and / or dessert
refuse extra cheese on dishes - they normally load you up with parmesan in Italian restaraunts.

Why don't you suggest to your partner and friends maybe having each other round for dinner sometimes instead of going out - that way if you are cooking you can make your dinner low-cal (or if your friends are cooking they can make it healthy for you)

yyzdnl

Not to hard really. Stay a way from fried and heavily sauced or cheesed items. Go with grilled or broiled. All fish and lean meats are fine but with larger steaks over 6 to 8 oz. bring home portion for leftover.

I travel allot for company and find when I dine out choosing simple dishes are better than complicated ones because it is easier and more accurate to enter into food log.

thefreemans28

Here's what I do... if you know where you are going a little in advance, pull up the restaurant menu online and plug in the items on MFP and see what your healthiest option would be. Also, don't be afraid to ask questions at the restaurant, "Is that made with oil? butter? do you have a fat free dressing option?" etc.

oceanrose78

I use MFP on my phone to double check at chain restaurants.

Stay away from fried foods and ask for dressings on the side. I find Apps have the most hidden calories, so be careful to monitor those.

The biggest hidden danger with restaurant food is sodium, really up your water intake. Also, never ever underestimate the calories a restaurant can add. Why does their food taste so good? Because they add butter and cheese and lovely things like that.

WanabeHotMama

Applebees has a new menu of meals under 550 calories