Healthy Tips for Dining Out

Eating out in restaurnats is on the rise. More Americans eat out today than they did in the early a970's. Back in 1970 the average American spent approximately 25% of their food budget eating out. Today we spend almost half of our food budget on dining out. Today's lifestyle is fast paced and hectic. This lifestyle lends itself to a life of convenience and fast food restaurant dining. Dining out has obstacles and challenges to remaining healthy and staying physically fit. Restaurant meals have grown in portion size and contains more fat, sodium, carbohydrates and calories than is necessary. The average meal in a restaurant is large enough to feed two to three adults! There are recent studies that have found a direct link between eating in restaurants and taking in more calories while increasing body weight. Obesity rates have soared and is expected to keep rising to epidemic proportions.

This doesn’t mean you have to stop eating out. Many people eat in restaurants for business, soical or convenience and it may not be realistic to stop eating out totally. However it is extremely important to be aware of what you are ordering and how much food is actually on your plate.

Here are a few tips to help you dine out sucessfully.

Share a dessert. Sharing a dessert will allow you to have that taste of sweetness without indulging in all the calories.

Do not add extra cheese to your order. Adding extracheese not only increases the calorie count but also increases the fat content.

Order the leanest cut of meat. Chicken, turkey, or fish will contain the least amount of calories and fat content. By ordering a chicken sandwich instead of roast beef sandwich will cut 100 calories and 10 grams of saturated fat.

Do not order any stuffed entrees. Entrees taht are stuffed are usually loaded with fat, carbohydrates and calories.

Do not “super-size” fast food meals. It may seem economically valuable but they are extremely high in fat and calories. Some combo meals can contain over 2000 calories.

The average American adult gains approxiamtely 2-3 pounds a year. That amount of weight correlates to consuming 20 - 30 extra calories every day. It really does seem to be an insignificant amount of calories but it can really pack on the extra pounds. It is important to be conscious of what you are eating, especially when dining out and not preparing your own food.