Sticking to a healthy diet doesn't mean you have to avoid dining out.

How are you doing on your healthy habits? Is there a week that you are still stuck on? Reach out to me if you're struggling and need help. Don't worry if you aren't ready to move on to this week's habit. Stick with the habit that you really need to keep working on until it becomes a habit. 
 

I know that going out to restaurants is a part of our lives (now that they are starting to open up again) and we can't or don't always have healthy home-cooked meals, so when you do go out to eat, it's hard sometimes to figure out what the healthiest options are. We are going to try and make it as simple as possible in this weeks healthy habit to help you make healthier choices when you go out to eat. 

In a recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers looked at 19 chain restaurants, studying a typical breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The average restaurant meal contains:

1,128 calories, or about 56 percent of a person's daily calorie intake.
2,269 milligrams of sodium, or 95 percent of a person's daily recommended intake. (Researchers consider 600 milligrams or less a "healthy" meal, yet only 1 percent of all chain restaurant meals meet this standard)
58 grams of fat (89 percent of what we should eat in a day)

One thing I always do before going to a restaurant (if I know ahead of time where we are going) is that I look up their nutrition menu online. Pretty much all restaurants (especially chain restaurants) have nutrition menu's so you can see exactly how many hundreds or thousands of calories a meal has plus how much sodium, fat and carbs it has. Even if you don't count calories (which I don't) you still want to make sure you aren't eating a whole day's worth of calories in one meal. 

With more and more people wanting to eat healthy and wanting to know the nutritional value of the meals they eat, restaurants now have "Healthy" sections on their menus. These are great places to start because most of the meals in this section will be under 500 or 600 calories. I still check the nutrition menu for these items too and pick something that doesn't have a super high amount of sodium. 

Another good section to go to is the appetizer section. Appetizers are usually plenty big enough for a meal and if you're still hungry you can order a side garden salad. Stay away from the fried appetizers though. 

Speaking of salads...if I order a salad a at a restaurant I always just get olive oil and vinegar for my dressing...I know some of you might be saying "Seriously?! I can't just have olive oil and vinegar as a dressing on my salad!" and that's OK...if you get a dressing, like say Blue Cheese, for your salad, make sure you ask for it on the side and one little tip that helps give you the taste of the dressing without all the calories (and whatever other junk ingredients are in it, because you know restaurants don't buy gluten-free, sugar free organic salad dressings lol) -- take your fork and dip it into the dressing first then into your salad. This will give you the taste you want without drenching your whole salad. Also, skip the croutons and cheese. 

I use this exact same tip when ordering Chinese take-out. I always order my Chinese "Steamed with the sauce on the side". So, that means the chicken and the veggies are steamed...no breading on the chicken and it's not fried in oils then loaded up in sauce. 

Another tip is to make sure that you aren't starving before you go out to eat at a restaurant. Just like not going grocery shopping when you are hungry, you shouldn't be so hungry when you go to a restaurant that you want to order one of everything on the menu. This will make you choose something unhealthy and high in calories, sugar, fat and sodium.  Eat a light snack if you can before you go or order a cup of soup first thing when you get to the restaurant. Make sure it's a broth-based soup, not the high fat and high calorie cream-based soup. If it's too hot out for soup then eat a salad first. A study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found that volunteers who ate a large vegetable salad before their main dish ate fewer calories than those who didn’t.

If you don't find any appetizer's very appealing, pick a main dish this is very veggie-heavy...mostly veggies with a healthy balance of fats and protein. The more veggies on your plate, the fuller you will feel with less calories. If your meal you want to order doesn't come with many veggies ask for them. You can always get veggies instead of french fries or mashed potatoes. Most restaurants always have steamed veggies or a vegetable of the day...make sure you ask for it. 

I always ask for fresh fruit instead of hash browns or home fries when getting an omelet for breakfast at a restaurant. 

Choose lean meats - Skinless chicken breast is a better option than the more fatty chicken thighs or legs. As for beef, look for names like top sirloin, tip side steak, bottom round—and stay away from sinful slabs like prime rib.

Salmon is also always a good choice as well. Just make sure it's not loaded with extra butter or fancy sauces. 

Stick with water or unsweetened iced tea or black coffee for your beverage, unless you are out with friends for happy hour and want to enjoy an alcoholic beverage. Then choose a glass of white or red wine or go for a vodka with a splash of club soda and a lime or a whiskey on the rocks with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. 

Always look for something Grilled, Broiled, or Baked.

Don't feel bad for not eating everything on your plate. I never take home leftovers, but if you just can't waste it, then make sure to ask for a to-go box right away and box up half of your meal right away so you don't over eat it.

You've probably heard this one before, but just say no to the bread basket. Fun side note: Did you know that Italians don't eat bread with their pasta? I'm not sure how it got started here in the US, but it makes sense not to have bread with your pasta, because it's just way too many carbs and will fill you up. 

Alright...that's enough for this email, but don't worry because I've got lots more tips this week that I'll share in our Facebook Group! 

Reply to this email or post in our Facebook group with any questions you have and I will gladly help.

This week's email is sponsored by the following.**This email contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

Whether you are vegetarian or vegan, gluten-free or keto, catering to specific food preferences is easy with companies like PlateJoy. With menu planning tools and organized shopping lists, PlateJoy makes it simple to eat a balanced diet, cook delicious meals, and make cooking at home healthy and easy!



Get 15% Off and Free Shipping on Starter Kits with Code NOGERMS15


Home Workouts with BodyFit by Bodybuilding.com



Tired of cooking? Get Cook Unity meals delivered right to your door! Fresh, healthy and convenient!



 Joy Organics CBD products for sleep, anxiety, pain management and more. 

Use Code: CARRIE for a discount on all your yoga, fitness, & muscle therapy equipment at ProSource


Get 10% off at CBDMedic with code: cagmedic10


Carrie A Groff