Tips to control your calories when eating out
As we eat out more and more, the percentage of calories will increase, in our body. We will spend a lot of money in a day dining out. With temptation and extra calories abound at restaurants from the bread basket and the cocktail menu to the oil-laden sides, staying healthy when eating out takes a bit of planning and foresight. And not just from the moment you enter the restaurant, either, but from the moment you wake and decide you’re going to dine out that day. You can eat out successfully and enjoy.
Here are few tips that will help you eat smart while eating out.
Know before you go
With most restaurants these days, you can go online and look at their menus. See what dishes look healthy grilled items, salads, vegetable sides, and so forth. Decide before you go what you will order, and stick to your decision once you get there. Collect the menus of the restaurants you frequently visit so that you have them to refer to.
Sit in a quiet spot
Nobody knows this, but people who sit in the more distracting parts of restaurants eat considerably more. Commotion makes it easy to lose track of how much you’re putting in your mouth. If you’re making a reservation, request a quiet table. If you walk in and are offered a table in a busier spot, ask for one away from the action. It’s worth the wait.
Be the first to order
You’ve decided to pick something light off the menu, but when your friend orders the decadent steak fries, you start to rethink your boring grilled salmon. To sidestep the temptation of your friend’s less healthy dish, place your order first. If you can’t order first, then make your decision, close the menu, and repeat your selection to yourself to help you stick to it. If you’re dining at a restaurant you visit often, just ask for your favorite healthy option without ever opening the menu.
Stay away from snacking
The most damage often occurs before the actual meal begins: appetizer trays are loaded with fat. Besides that, they take away your appetite for the healthiest foods to come. Avoid them. Even the freebies like chips and salsa or a basket of rolls and butter at other establishments can pile up fat and calories that you don’t need. If you can’t exercise control, have your server remove the temptation.
Make a meal out of apps
Certain appetizers can be excellent choices for an entree. The portion size of appetizers is often more appropriate than the extremely large portions provided in entrees. Consider healthful options such as steamed seafood, salads that aren’t loaded with high-fat ingredients, grilled vegetables, and broth-based soups. You might also choose to combine the appetizer with a salad; the salad will bulk up the meal so that you feel more satisfied without adding a lot of calories. Be aware that some appetizers, particularly fried fare or items covered in cheeses, oils, and cream sauces, may be overloaded with calories and fat. Some fried appetizers can provide a day’s worth of fat to four people!
Choose low-fat methods
The way your entree is prepared influences its calorie and fat content. Choose grilled, boiled or baked meats at entrees. Pan-fried and deep-fried foods give you extra fat you don’t need. Broiling, baking, steaming, poaching and grilling seafood, skinless poultry, lean meat, and veggies give you all the flavor without all the fat.
Practice portion control
Restaurants serve mountains of food about two to three times the quantity that we need in a meal. This is no big secret. Just don’t try to finish those mega-size portions.
Here is the list of few foods that are low in calories and available outside as well
Matar Pulao
This food good for weight loss and it is the one that packs a nutritive punch in addition to being low in calories. And with peas perfectly fulfilling this criterion, consuming them can aid in weight loss.
Roti or Papadums
This food is easy to digest and contains low calories, dinner and which is a big plus for weight watchers.
Cucumber Raita
This snack is a quick and flavorsome complement to your dinner and can also serve it as a light snack, it contains less calories of fat.
Sprouts Salad
This salad or chaat is included in the diet of many people who are watching their weight.
Ragi Dosa
This is a variant of the popular South Indian dosa, which is certainly loved by desi eaters everywhere.
Chicken Tikka
If you’re not a huge fan of vegetables or vegetarian cuisine, you can include some chicken tikka in your diet.Which has less fat content and tasty too.
While eating out can be fun, you can also try to mix things up and save money with alternate activities to do with friends. Instead of going out to lunch at work bringing healthy low-calorie meals from home is the best choice.
