Eating out at restaurants is often something that is feared or seen as a taboo for fitness lovers and healthy people alike, or simply anyone tryig to stikc to a fitness goal such as losing weight. But it isn't something that should be avoided completely just because you are trying to stick to a healthy diet. There are always 'better' and sensible options to be found in many if not all resrutant chains. This is especially true today with the eruption of the vegetarian and vegan movement, whos dishes in themselves tend to be healthier then teh average restaurant choice. Below I have comprised a list of my top 10 tips to eating healthily at restaurants, hopefully you can take some and apply these should you want to eat out at a restaurant.
1. Try and find a source of lean meat e.g. chicken, fish, steak (white fish, salmon, tuna) when eating out restaurant and base your meal around this. Restaurants usually contain a few if not one healthy option on their menu but if stuck for choice opt for the leanest source of protein you can find.
2. Avoid anything that's 'fried', 'deep fried', or 'battered' as these are likely to be cooked in lot's of oil, meaning the item of food will be very high in fat and therefore calories. Instead look for things that are grilled, chargrilled, bbq'd. In the same way, you should select your source of carbohydrate smartly. Go for boiled or steamed rice/potatoes over fried .
3) Avoid excess calories through not eating the skin or getting foods that are coated in extra ingredients, for example if you eat a 1/4 of a chicken at Nandos for example, simply avoid the skin and eat only the white meat, or if eating a steak, try and eat less of the fat.
4) Load up on vegetables/salad. I personally find this one essential in stopping me from overeating or wanting to eat things such as fries at restaurants. If you have a good portion of vegetables, especially leafy greens and watery vegetables such as cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes, you will in turn fill your stomach up, while also taking in lots of vitamins and nutrients.. Which leads me on to tip number 5
5. Be smart with your sides. If you happen to be at a restaurant where you can select your sides from a list of options, try and opt for healthier choices over things such as fries. Try to combine one carbohydrate with one portion of vegetables/ salad. So for example if roasted vegetables is an option, choose this with a side of rice.
6. Watch out for sauces, dressings and oils that can quickly rack up the calories. Creamy sauces such as mayonnaise, cheese or cream based sauces tend to be the worst in terms of fat and high calorie content, while tomato based sauces such as salsa and also chili based sauces such as chipotle or hot sauce tend to be much lower in calories. Opt for the latter should you find yourself choosing between different gravy's in meals, or when choosing what sauce to put on your plate. Similarly, oils and dressings on salads can quickly make a salad go from healthy and low in fat to unhealthy, but many do not want to eat a plain salad as this can be pretty bland. To address the issue of plain salad you could either ask for the dressing that the salad comes with to be put on the side rather than all over the salad. That way you are in control of how much of the dressing goes onto it, as restaurants tend to be pretty generous with their servings, or you could simply opt for a healthier choice of dressing such as balsamic vinegar, a teaspoon of olive oil and lemon juice and some salt. Alternatively try out a lighter mayonnaise.
7. Keep hydrated through your meal. Drinking lots of water is likely to keep you fuller and therefore less likely to eat food that you don't want/need for the sake of it.
8. Don't drink your calories! Fizzy drinks such as Coke, Fanta and Lemonade tend to be full of excess sugar and don't leave you feeling hydrated meaning you want more of the sugary drink, and this is often the case with restaurants that offer 'bottomless drinks'. Everything is OK in moderation but if you are trying to lose some fat, or simply just eat a more balanced and healthy diet I would recommend going for water or a diet version of the drink if possible, as you can save yourself a lot of calories.
9.If drinking alcoholic beverages opt for a similar approach as the one above, this means avoiding fancy cocktails which tend to have lots of fruit juices and syrups as well as calories from alcohol. Instead try drinking lower calorie spirits which tend to be clear ones such as gin and vodka.
Pair these spirits with a diet soda or tonic and a slice of lime.
10. Avoid snacking on starters or bread, and instead focus on the main meal. Of course these are fine in moderation and one slice of bread is not going to set you back hundreds of calories, just be wary of loading up on tons of butter.
