Healthy Dining Out – 40+ Super tips for you

Restaurants and Dining Out were not too frequently used two decades back. Now fast food has become a fashion and everyone loves this change to relieve from daily stress and strain. Even housewives are not free of it. They also love to have a break from kitchen occasionally, though they are well aware of its health hazards. Dining out has become a part of family get-togethers also, housewives stay relaxed from cooking and use that time to chat with dear ones or special guests. Unhealthy food with more expense and more calories – the first thought which strikes everyone’s mind! When we order more, we eat more! It is true also. But if we take care of some points, we can have a healthy dining out.

Start with salads as starters

Most important tip is to start with salads. If you want to reduce body weight, order salads first. After we eat salads, we can’t take too much main course or side dishes, thus reducing the total calorie intake. Also balance the fried and fatty dishes with equal amount of salads. Please go through these points.

1. Choose only hygienic restaurants. Avoid those which have previous records of food poisoning.

2. If you are health conscious, you can have some light snack, milk or fruits at home one hour before you go out. If so you won’t eat too much outside, yet you can taste some of your favourite hotel dishes.

3. It’s a better idea to pre-plan the menu before you leave home. If you have a healthy eating plan, you won’t be confused with the menu or order extra items.

4. If you have planned for a heavy dinner make your lunch light. If so, daily calorie intake can be balanced to some extent.

5. You should have a clear idea of those food items which can cause health issues or allergic problems.

Are you determined to reduce calories?

6. Fried items are often provided as starters for meals. If you want to reduce calorie intake, avoid oily items such as spring rolls, or use them in low quantity.

7. Carbonated soft drinks are often provided as welcome drinks, and can be avoided. Choose fresh lime soda or simply a glass of water.

8. While going through the menu, you can ask waiter how those items are prepared. It can help you to order light and calorie-less food items. Baked, grilled (broiled) and toasted items are healthier than fried ones. Choose baked potato over fried potato. Choose grilled chicken over fried chicken. Baked vegetables have less fat content.

9. Food items with tags – Creamy, crispy, sauced, bread, buttery, pan fried, cheese sauce etc are high in calories and fat content.

10. If you want to reduce calorie intake, avoid ghee and gravies with cheese, butter and sauce contents. Never hesitate to ask the waiter about the contents of menu items. Never fall into to trap of attractive food names.

11. Also try to reduce the intake amount of food. Before you order you can ask about the quantity. It can save your money and also prevents you from over eating the ordered items. In many occasions, we may eat more only because we don’t want to waste the ordered food. In most restaurants, you can order half-size, because full-size is usually heavy. Use full plates for salads, fruits etc, and half-plates for other items.

12. Noodles and pasta have extra carbohydrate and salt content. If you want to reduce calories, avoid both.

13. Avoid excess spicy, chilly and oily food. Never choose food based on colour and odour. You can also ask waiter to use less food colours and spices for the ordered items.

14. Avoid adding excess salt and sugar to the menu items. Instead used lemon juice and pepper powder.

High preference for fiber rich food

15. Give preference to whole grain main course item instead of perotta, naan etc.

16. Vegetable items are also not free of calories and fat. Paneer butter masala, Kofta curry etc are a few such instances. Try to share curries so that calories will also be shared. Steamed vegetables are healthier than fried ones.

17.Fried rice, Pulao, Roti etc are healthy main course items; preferred with less oil content. Mixed fried rice has vegetables and proteins. Order more quantity of vegetables and salad to make it a healthy dine out.

18.Instead of dressing the salad, you can completely avoid it or use it mildly.

19. Mayanoise can also be avoided this way, or used in controlled manner. Mayonnaise with salt contains extra calories. Salads with mayonnaise dressing get easily damaged. So take care while using such salads. Green salads are simply the best.

20.Yes, we can’t deny, we go for an outing for a change from normal dining habits as well as for enjoyment. Cheat food is ok once in a while. Yet high calorie food is harmful to health. So if we can’t avoid such items, we can share it with others to reduce calorie intake, for instant desserts, crispy chicken, French fries etc.

Never make barbeque a habit

21. Barbeque chicken is grilled. As it has less fat content, it’s comparatively healthy. But the problem is, fat is burned and converted to carcinogen rich carbon in barbeque which is cancer causing. So best option is to ask them not to burn chicken too much, or remove the outer coat of chicken before eating. You can eat barbeque chicken once in two weeks or once in a month. But excess use is definitely harmful to health – studies suggest.

While enjoying a dessert

22. After a heavy dinner, many of us order a dessert. Just think twice if it’s needed. If you really want, choose a fruit salad and share it with others to reduce the intake.

23. Icing cakes are heavy in calories, comparing with normal cakes and they are highly unhealthy. The double quantity of calories in such icing cakes contain sugar, white cream, cold butter etc. Plain cake is safe. If you really want to take a pastry, share it with others instead of ordering huge quantities. Instead of ordering separate items for each person, order two or more items and share it among the members.

While taking buffets don’t forget these points

24. We get totally lost while attending buffets. To use maximum our hard earned money, we eat too much without thinking about its consequences. First take salads and fruits which consume lesser calories. Take sufficient quantity of food only. If you want to try different dishes, take only small quantities, and try different mix ups.

25. Take small quantity of rice, and give more preference to vegetable salads and other vegetarian dishes. If so it will be fiber-rich food. Some raita dish (or curd) added to it gives a perfect meal.

26. When we finish a plate of food, we have the tendency to fill it again. Wait for 10 minutes and have a chat with someone. By that time stomach sends signal to brain that hunger is over. That’s why it’s told slow eating consumes only less quantity of food. It takes 20 minutes for the signal from stomach to reach brain which says, ‘Stop’. Also, when you chew the food well, it’s easy to digest.

27. Instead of serving items with big spatulas and spoons, use small ones. Definitely the quantity of taken food will reduce.

28. Avoid or reduce red meat items like beef and pork.

29. If you want healthy eating, reduce gravy intake. Gravy is rich in fat and calories. In certain dishes all-purpose flour, corn flour, butter, cream, ghee etc are added to gravy for thickness and to enhance taste.

30. South Indian dishes are best for breakfast. Steam cake and chickpeas, Idli-dosa and sambar etc are a few such instances.

31. For lunch, along with main course you can choose two vegetarian dishes, along with chicken or fish. Reduce the amount of boiled rice. Bread is not good for health because of the presence of all-purpose flour. Main course dishes prepared using maida can be avoided as much as possible.

Give attention to the method of preparation of dish

32. Ajinomoto is added as a taste enhancer in fast food, which is very harmful to health. Same is the case of artificial food colours, which can cause cancer and other dreadful diseases. Ajinomoto with flavours of sweet, chilly, sour, salt and spicy gives addiction to those who use it regularly. That’s why kids always love certain packet foods like noodles and fries. You can ask your waiter to avoid Ajinomoto in your ordered items. To give extra flavour to dishes, use sauces, salt, pepper, chilli flakes etc.

33. When you buy snacks, ask about the cooking oil used for frying. Palm oil is used in most cases, which is harmful. Steam cooked snacks and sweets are always healthy comparing with deep fried ones.

When you eat fast food

34. Fast food is not advisable to health. But you need not avoid it completely. Instead go for a dine out at regular gaps, and try to choose items with less calories.

35. Kids like pizzas and burgers. But they are high in calories. You can prepare them at home with less oil and less amount of fatty items. Otherwise never make it a habit to buy those items for kids regularly.

36. Purchase pizzas and burgers only from restaurants of good quality, as we are all concerned about our kids’ health. Sometimes chicken and other meat items used for such dishes may be days old. It can cause health issue. We can’t judge an item by just examining them. Most of such items will be flavoured with colours and spices, and hence not easy to identify bad taste.

37. Avoid soft drinks and opt for fruit juices. Bottled soft drinks contain 6 or more chemical substances, which can upset your health. Artificial sweeteners and flavours and preservatives are the main chemicals used in this case. High amount of caffeine is also present. If you frequently use such drinks, it can lead to fatty liver. Even if kids insist to buy them, give preference to fresh lime soda or other fruit juices of your choice.

38. Start with salads and end with a fruit juice. Choose more veggies and less quantity of main course items. Less fries and more water. Be slow and patient while dining and talk to your family. Crack some jokes please. It adds only lesser calories to your stomach, and more happiness to your soul, a stress relieving feel.

So, here we come to the end of this topic. Happy dining out. Enjoy those special moments with your dear ones. Have a nice time.

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