• March 2, 2017

Tips To Eating Healthy At Restaurants

If you monitor your diet closely to maintain a healthy lifestyle, eating out at restaurants can completely interfere with your healthy eating goals. Many restaurants have rich meals with large serving sizes, which together can add up to more than 1,000 calories per plate. Eating out at restaurants, however, shouldn’t make your diet fail. Here are some tips you can use to make healthy choices if you enjoy eating at your favorite restaurant.

First of all, it’s important to know that restaurants use special promotional tactics to encourage you to choose high-calorie foods. A menu that contains food images that appear watery and appetizing is more likely to convince you to give up your diet and become whole. However, don’t let the photos fool you.

In addition, restaurants use descriptive menu language to make fatty foods look too palatable to leave out. For example, a menu might describe “a soft, juicy sauce made with fresh pasta and thick, delicious meatballs”, not just “spaghetti and meatballs.” If you read the first details, you can imagine how delicious it is to eat this dish.

On the other hand, there are tips about the health of the item. While a little pasta is a great way to meet your daily carbohydrate needs, the pasta dishes served in restaurants are almost always much bigger than they should be. Also, “creamy” sauce can mean a sauce filled with cream and butter, both of which are fattening.

In addition, giant meatballs have more protein and red meat than you need. Red meat is linked to heart disease and cancer, so this product should always be consumed in moderation.

Next, look at not only keywords but also items that are inherently weaker. For example, try to choose foods that have at least one serving of vegetables. However, be aware that mashed potatoes, french fries, fried greens, and buttered greens will not help you meet your health goals.

Look for seasonings, including olive-based salad dressings. Olive oil contains specific fatty acids that can actually help increase good cholesterol, not bad.

Finally, there are a few different strategies you can use to stick to your diet. When you receive your food, ask for a box so you can store half of it. This way you can protect yourself from the temptation to overeat. You can also share meals with friends who also want to stick to their diet. If you want, you can visit a restaurant that only serves organic food and a large number of fresh vegetables.

Eating healthy isn’t the only way to keep your body in tip-top shape. You should consider exercise and regular visits to the doctor for evaluation. If you need help paying for your doctor’s visit, consider getting health insurance to cover these costs.