Eating Out...Gasp!

Can you eat at a restaurant and still achieve optimal health? Of course!  I love eating out.  I don’t have to cook, clean, or worry if anybody will like the meal I poured my heart and soul into making.  However….eating out often equals eating calories, calories, and more calories!  But it doesn’t have to.  Last night my husband took us all out to Olive Garden, the ultimate place of sin when you’re on a diet, or is it?  Let’s take a look at how I did.  What I used to order: raspberry lemonade (110cal) maybe 3 or 4 breadsticks (140 cal each) with alfredo dipping sauce (460cal), chicken fetticine alfredo pasta(1440 CAL!!!), with salad and dressing (150 cal). THAT IS A TOTAL OF 2,580 calories!  Even if I ate half of my meal I’m still consuming 1,290 calories in one meal.  Well last night I ordered: water (0 cal), salad with out dressing (60 cal), and from their lighter menu, the seafood brodetto (480 cal). For a grand total of : 540 calories.  Still quite high for one meal, but you can eat a whole plate and not completely kill your waistline.  So my tips for eating out for Optimal health for the rest of your life:

•  Say NO to the bread.  You don’t have to even let them put that free bread on your table. There’s almost no nutritional value and it’s loaded with calories, not worth it!
•   Drink water, you can add a lemon for flavor, or a diet drink
•   Skip the appetizer
•   Salad dressing on the side or not at all
•   Most restaurants these days have a lighter menu to order from so try to find something that most closely matches a “lean and green” meal
•   Never order anything fried! Always baked or grilled
•   Skip dessert and eat your delicious Medifast brownie when you get home
• If you have some time ahead you can always look up the nutritional facts online and plan your meal before you go to the restaurant so you are less tempted by the higher calorie, higher fat choices.

And that is how the weight will stay off just by adopting a few life-long healthy habits you can still enjoy eating out without the calories.

Happy dining,

Tara