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Eating Out the Healthy Way!

Eating Out The Healthy Way

Eating out is hard to ignore. It is important to make healthy choices when you are eating out. Don't completely deprive yourself, but sometimes have a treat! These are some tips to follow to eat healthy when eating out.


CHOOSE OFTEN

CHOOSE RARELY

A soup or salad appetizer

A high fat appetizer along with a meal

To put half of your meal in a box right away

To try to finish your plate even if you are full

To ask for salad dressing on the side

To let your salad be possibly covered in dressing

Steamed, grilled, baked or broiled foods

Pan fried, crispy or au gratin foods

A grilled chicken sandwich

A fried crispy sandwich

A sandwich with a lot of vegetables

A sandwich with a lot of cheese and bacon

A baked potato

Fries

To add salsa and/or low-fat cottage cheese to your baked potato

To smother your baked potato in butter and sour cream

Meals filled with vegetables

Meals filled with gravies or butter sauces

To ask the server to bring bread and butter only once

To let your server keep refilling the bread all through the meal

To order a fruit cup or sherbet for dessert.

To order a slice of cake

Early Morning Eating Out

  • Order whole-grain toast or bagels with a jam or low-fat cream cheese.
  • Choose whole fruit, a fruit cup or a glass of 100% fruit juice.
  • Choose low-fat or fat-free yogurt with fresh fruit.
  • Look for whole-grain cereals and fat-free milk.

A Healthy Taste of Italy

  • Choose whole-grain pasta and bread when possible.
  • Ask for less cheese than they normally put on the dish you ordered.
  • When ordering a pizza, do not request extra cheese. Fill the pizza with vegetables rather than high fat meats.
  • Choose marinara sauce over a butter or cream sauce.

Guiltless Fiesta Favorites

  • When you sit down, ask the server to not bring tortilla chips to the table.
  • When ordering taco salads, ask for one without the shell.
  • Ask for low-fat sour cream and salsa to flavor your meal, rather than cheese and regular sour cream.

Sources: http://www.americanheart.org, http://www.restaurant.org, http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov