Home is where you have the most control over your food choices. With thoughtful planning and consideration, however, you can eat nourishing foods away from home.
Before getting into how to make wise restaurant choices, it’s helpful to assess your own eating-out routine or experience. How often do you eat out? Why do you choose to eat out? Would it be helpful to eat out less often, or is making better choices all you really need to do? Think about these questions because they will help you set SMART goals that are pertinent to your lifestyle reset.
13 Restaurant Strategies
The challenges to navigating restaurant meals are many. The portions are often huge. It’s hard to know which foods are swimming in sugar and saturated fats. Some foods are sautéed in heart-healthy oils, but others are seared in butter and bacon grease. What sounds like a wholesome wrap or salad may be nothing more than a calorie bomb in disguise. Even if only healthful ingredients come together on your plate, the quantity can eat up your calorie budget in no time. There are a lot of surprises and a lot of unknowns in restaurant meals. The following 13 strategies can help you in any type of restaurant.
1. Treat it like it’s a special occasion only if it’s a special occasion. What was once a treat is now commonplace. Americans eat out much more often than they did a few decades ago. But for many, the idea of splurging when dining out sticks with them even if they visit restaurants a few times each week. Even if they eat out daily! Throwing caution to the wind daily or a few times a week in restaurants is really not moderation and will likely make it hard to meet your health goals. Unless it’s truly a special occasion—a wedding anniversary, a birthday, a celebration of a job promotion, or similar event—treat it like any other meal. Try to mimic the portions you eat at home and balance your plate with more nonstarchy vegetables than other types of food.
2. Make a game plan and stick to it. Winging it rarely works when it comes to lifestyle changes. So before heading to the restaurant, set your plan. My most successful clients preview menus online and make their choices at home in a leisurely environment. They give themselves time to think through their options instead of being influenced by the orders of dining companions or nudges from the waitstaff. Last-minute choices are frequently less healthful. Check out Healthy Dining Finder (healthydiningfinder.com) to look for restaurants near you that offer healthful fare.
3. Ask questions. It’s okay to ask questions about how the food is prepared. Ask about the oils or fats used. Stick to heart-healthy liquid oils like canola, olive, and vegetable oils. As much as possible, avoid butter, lard, coconut oil, and bacon grease. Choose leaner cuts of meat such as skinless poultry, baked and broiled fish, and top sirloin steak. Inquire about sauces. Are they rich in fat or added sugars?
4. Kindly make requests. A lot of people are too inhibited to make special requests. But my experience is nearly always positive, so I encourage you to make requests too. Consider the following.
• Can the dish be made with fish instead of beef?
• Please don’t bring bread or chips to the table.
• Will you ask the chef to use a light hand with the salt?
• May I have a different vegetable in place of french fries?
• Will you bring the sauce (or salad dressing) on the side?
• May I have marinara sauce instead of Alfredo sauce?
• Please leave the bacon off of my sandwich.
These questions are not demanding, and your wait staff or the chef should not be offended. The answer might be no, and that means you may need another few minutes to make your selections.
5. Keep your overall healthy eating plan in mind. If your plan to go out to dinner includes higher-calorie fare, be mindful earlier in the day to keep calories in check. This doesn’t mean that you should starve yourself all day to binge at night. But it is wise to eliminate the extras at other meals. You might eat your lunchtime sandwich without a slice of cheese to save about 100 calories. And you could leave the croutons and ham off your salad. Also think about ways to get in enough fruits and vegetables, two food groups that are frequently lacking from restaurant menus. If you don’t think they’ll make it to your dinner plate, eat them at earlier meals and snacks.
6. Manage hunger. So often I hear advice to eat a snack before heading out to a restaurant or a party. While this is good advice in some situations, it does little more than encourage overeating in other situations. Instead of following blanket advice to eat a snack or not to eat a snack, assess your unique situation. If your meal is likely to be delayed, a small snack is in order. But if you’ve eaten adequately throughout the day and your meal out is at an appropriate time for you, you likely don’t need to pre-eat, and it’s probably better not to do so. If you do need a snack, think about what food group is lacking from your diet and go for that. Consider a cup of yogurt, low-fat cheese, a piece of fruit, or any vegetable, including vegetable juice. Once at the restaurant, be sure to order foods that are filling. Start your meal with a low-calorie salad or broth-based soup. Research studies show that this strategy helps to keep calories for the full meal lower.
7. Be menu savvy. A few menu descriptors hint that the item isn’t prepared in a healthful way. When in doubt, ask your server. Be leery of menu choices with these words: Alfredo, au gratin, batter-dipped, béchamel, breaded, bisque, confit, creamy, crispy, crunchy, crusted, fried, fritters, gooey, golden, rich, roux, scalloped, smothered, sizzling, tempura, or white sauce.
8. Be aware of health halos of ethnic restaurants. Many people automatically assume that food in Chinese or Middle Eastern restaurants is light and healthful because these cuisines tend to be rich in vegetables. But often the health halos are undeserved. The food may be prepared in more “American” ways and include much more fat and a larger proportion of meat to vegetables. Even if the food was prepared exactly like it might be in the home country, that doesn’t mean that it’s light and health boosting. Every type of cuisine has indulgent foods.
9. Be picky. Don’t eat it just because it’s in front of you. If you don’t love it, push it aside. Who wants to use up their calorie budget on food that’s mediocre! If you’re dining at a buffet, give a good look to everything that’s served. The common tendency is to simply start loading up, so the foods at the front of the line tend to fill your plate. Be choosier and more deliberate than that. After scrutinizing the full buffet, select the tastiest and most healthful foods.
10. Slow down and pay attention. Focus on every sip and every bite. Taste it. Feel it. Notice the texture, temperature, appearance, flavor, and aroma. It’s easy to overeat or eat mindlessly when you’re distracted by conversation. Plus, research tells us that our dining companions influence how much and how rapidly we eat. We tend to eat more in large groups. And we tend to eat faster when our companions eat faster. Unfortunately, the faster we eat, the more we tend to eat. Really focus on your speed.
11. Be portion savvy. These days, restaurants rarely serve small portions. I typically know that whatever is on my plate is more than I need. Sometimes you can request small portions or order from an appetizer or small plates menu. Ask if you can order a lunch portion at dinner or the appetizer portion instead of the entrée portion. Splitting menu items with a dining companion is commonplace these days, though there is often an additional charge of a few dollars. When your food comes, decide on a proper portion based on the amount you strive to eat at home. Draw an imaginary line through your food, and don’t cross that line. Alternatively, you can ask your server to box half your meal before it’s brought to the table.
12. Don’t drink your calories. Sodas, lemonade, sweet teas, and alcoholic beverages can cost you quite a lot of calories—several hundred actually. Be clear on where you want to spend your calorie budget. If it’s on food, not drink, order water, unsweetened tea, and the like.
13. Reconsider the meaning of value. Once a patient who had made great strides in his lifestyle reset plan—including making better fast-food choices—told me how he came to order two sandwiches for lunch. He had a coupon for two sandwiches at a reduced price. After weeks of ordering only one sandwich and pairing it with fruit that he brought from home, he ordered two sandwiches simply because of the perceived value. But he actually spent more money than he would have if he had ordered only one sandwich. Plus he got more calories, sodium, saturated fat, and refined grains. It didn’t take long for him to realize that he really wasted money and ate up too much of his calorie allowance, all while getting less nutritional value than if he had stuck to the plan of one sandwich and a piece of fruit. Some diners let cost influence their purchases more than any other factor. Other diners feel that they have to get their money’s worth by eating everything put in front of them. But there are other, more important, ways to assess value than to consider only the amount of money something costs. Pay attention to health value, nutritional value, and satisfaction value. These things are also important, and they can affect the way you feel immediately after eating and long term. If cost is a major driving factor, choose the least expensive healthful item or share something with a friend. Or take some home to eat again at another meal. Two meals for the price of one is an excellent way to save money and better your health. Instead of cashing in on just any bargain—like two sandwiches for a reduced price—ask yourself if this is truly a good way to spend your money. If you wouldn’t buy two sandwiches without the coupon, it’s probably not a good idea to buy two sandwiches ever. And finally, instead of feeling wasteful for leaving food, remind yourself that if your body doesn’t need the food, you’re wasting it whether you eat it or leave it. Overeating is a form of food waste. Ideally, you can freeze leftovers or eat them tomorrow. If not, isn’t it better to leave it where it causes no harm—uneaten on your plate?
Better Fare When Eating Out
Use the following guide to make careful choices when eating out. These foods are a recommended sampling of what to order and what to skip. For a very thorough recommendation (more than 500 pages thorough), check out Eat Out, Eat Well by Hope Warshaw, published by the American Diabetes Association.
American Fare and Fast Food
Go for It:
• Sandwiches with lean meats such as roast beef, turkey, and chicken (Bulk up your sandwich with extra veggies, not extra meats and cheese. If your bread is very fluffy like a sub roll, you can scoop out and discard some of the doughy part.)
• Salads with lots of colorful veggies, a little dressing, and not much of anything else
• Vegetable soup and other broth-based soups (These soups will fill you up for few calories.)
• Lean meats without creamy or buttery sauces (Try steamed shrimp, grilled tuna, baked salmon, sirloin steak, or baked or rotisserie chicken [without the skin.])
• Steamed vegetables, sliced tomatoes, carrot sticks, fresh fruit, sliced apples
• Fast-food sandwich from the children’s menu
Be Careful:
• Croissants and biscuits
• Broccoli-cheese soup, cream of potato soup, and other creamy or cheesy soups
• Deep-fried sides like french fries and onion rings
• Fried chicken or fried fish
• Fatty meats such as prime rib, beef or pork ribs, corned beef, chicken with skin, sausage, bacon, and hot dogs
• Quesadilla
• Large or super-sized sandwiches or burgers (Turkey burgers are frequently made with ground turkey that includes the skin.)
• Fatty sandwich toppings such as bacon, excessive amounts of cheese, fried onions, unknown sauces
• Chicken salad, egg salad, tuna salad (These salads may be very calorie rich because of excessive mayonnaise.)
• Sauces and dressings such as cheese, béarnaise, and hollandaise sauces; gravy; salad dressings (Ask for these items on the side and use the dip-and-stab method. First lightly dip the tines of your fork into the sauce, and then stab your food.)
• Milkshakes
Asian (Specifically Chinese, Japanese, and Thai)
Hint: Use chopsticks to slow you down and to shake off some of the fatty, salty sauces. A good strategy to save calories and money is to order fewer entrees than there are people in your dining party. Three entrees, for example, is usually enough to feed four or five diners.
Go for It:
• Steamed dumplings, steamed spring roll, edamame beans, chicken satay, sushi (government guidelines advise that pregnant women and others with concerns for food safety eat only vegetable sushi or cooked sushi), and seaweed salad
• Miso, wonton, egg drop, hot and sour, and Tom Yum Goong (a Thai spicy, broth-based lemongrass soup with shrimp) soups (But be aware, although these soups are low in calories, most soups are loaded with sodium.)
• Veggie-heavy dishes such as moo goo gai pan, steamed fish with vegetables, and stir-fried meat or tofu and vegetables
• Chicken or salmon teriyaki, Pad Kra Pow (made with a Thai stir-fry basil sauce), and Pad Khing (made with a Thai stir-fry ginger sauce)
• Hot tea
• Fortune cookie (These treats usually provide only about 30 calories.)
Be Careful:
• Fried noodles, egg rolls, chicken wings, spareribs, crab Rangoon, tempura
• Buffets, fast food, and mall fare, where meats are often fried and reheated in extra oil
• Fried dishes like General Tso’s chicken and sweet and sour dishes
• Chow mein, fried rice
Breakfast
Hint: American restaurant breakfasts tend to be quite large and rich in highly refined grains. Focus on whole foods and portion control.
Go for It:
• Scooped bagel, which has fewer calories because the doughiest part is scooped and discarded
• Small whole-grain bagel with peanut butter
• Egg sandwich on whole-wheat bread
• Vegetable omelet, scrambled eggs, scrambled egg whites
• Scrambled tofu
• Small side order of pancakes or whole-grain toast
• Yogurt with fruit
• Oatmeal, whole-grain cream of wheat, other whole-grain cereals
• Fresh fruit, 100% fruit juice
Be Careful:
• Croissants, biscuits, coffee cake, cinnamon rolls, pastries, scones, muffins
• Breakfast meats, which tend to be high in saturated fats
• Fried potatoes
• Pancakes, French toast, waffles (These items are usually made with refined flour and are covered with sugary syrups.)
• Ham and cheese omelet, western omelet
• Bagel and cream cheese
Indian
Hint: Ask your server about the types of fats used in various foods. Try to avoid coconut oil and ghee, which is clarified butter. Both are high in saturated fats.
Go for It:
• Papadum, a baked lentil wafer, and chapati, a flatbread
• Lentil soup
• Raita, a combination of yogurt, onions, and cucumbers (Dip your bread in it or enjoy it alone.)
• Dahl (spicy lentils)
• Lean meats, chicken, fish, or shrimp prepared in the following styles: jalpharezi, masala, saag, tandoor, and vindaloo
Be Careful:
• Fried breads such as paratha and poori
• Fried appetizers such as samosa and pakora
• Curries (These dishes are made with coconut milk, which is high in saturated fat.)
• Creamy entrees such as korma and malai
Italian
Hint: Watch out for the portions of pasta in Italian restaurants. A reasonable serving is a single cup or less, but some restaurants load the plate with pasta and add a mere sprinkling of vegetables. If you don’t want pasta at all—although there’s no reason to avoid a small portion—ask to have your meal served atop a bed of spinach or other vegetable.
Go for It:
• Steamed mussels, clams in tomato sauce, marinated vegetables, prosciutto with melon, caprese salad
• Minestrone and bean soups; stracciatella, which is an egg and vegetable soup
• House salad with dressing on the side
• Tomato-based sauces without cream or fatty meats (Good choices are tomato, pomodoro, marinara, red clam, puttanesca, and cacciatore.)
Be Careful:
• Garlic bread, bread and butter, bread and olive oil
• Fried calamari, fried cheese sticks; antipasti, which is an assortment of meats and cheeses
• Eggplant, veal, and chicken Parmesan, which are floured, fried, and heavy on cheese
• Lasagna, manicotti, and other cheesy, rich casseroles
• Alfredo sauce, which is a mix of butter, cream, and Parmesan cheese, and carbonara sauce, which is rich in fat from eggs, cream, cheese, and Italian bacon
Mexican
Go for It:
• Black bean soup, tortilla soup (hold the bacon and limit the fried tortilla chips); posole, which is a soup or stew made of meat and hominy
• Nopalitos salad, which is made of prickly pear cactus
• Salsa and picante sauce (You don’t need to pair salsa with chips. Instead dress your salad with it and spice up tacos, soups, and more.)
• Guacamole (Guacamole contains healthful fats. It’s high in calories, so limit the amount you eat.)
• Arroz con pollo, chili, soft tacos
• Fajitas, if you request that the sizzling oil or butter be left off your plate
Be Careful:
• Chips, nachos, chile con queso, quesadilla
• Extra cheese and sour cream
• Deep-fried items like crispy tortillas, salad shells, chili rellenos, chimichangas
• Refried beans, unless they are made without lard
Middle Eastern
Go for It:
• Hummus, baba ghanoush, stuffed grape leaves
• Lentil soup, lemon egg soup, cucumber-yogurt soup
• Tabouli
• Greek salad with dressing on the side
• Shish kebobs
• Kibbeh, which is made with ground meat and wheat; kafta, which is another type of meatball
Be Careful:
• Fried items such as falafel, crispy pita chips, and fried eggplant
• Spanikopita: phyllo dough filled with spinach and feta cheese
• Rich casseroles such as pasticchio and moussaka
Be Empowered
• Determine your eating-out style, and ask yourself what changes will help you reach your eating goals. Set a SMART goal.
• Research your favorite restaurants for healthful menu items. Make a list of good choices, so it will free you of weighing options when you eat out. Keep your list on index cards or in your smartphone.
• Practice eating slowly and with your full attention at home, so it will become second nature even when you eat out.
• Weigh and measure your food now and then at home to help you identify a proper portion when you eat out.