Stay away from “All-You-Can-Eat”
This is where you will most likely overeat. The price would probably be higher than ordering from the ala carte menu but you get more varieties of food. Yes, you do but is it worth to pay more to eat more calories? This is definitely a no-no for a weekly dining out venue. However, a once in a blue moon visit would not harm, as long as you keep up with your diet and regular exercise.
Order and Share
If you happen to be dining out with a friend or family who is also conscious of their calorie intake, do practice to order and share dishes together. You can always tell the waiter to serve the dish in 2 separate plates or you may just ask for an extra clean plate when the entrée is being served on the table. In another way, when you share you get to try different varieties of food instead of just eating your plate of food on your own. This will also avoid food wastage especially for those who are usually unable to finish everything on their plate.
Be colorful
Most of the time if you realized, the brightest colors on food comes from vegetables and fruits. Try to choose colorful dishes which will probably have more content of vegetables and fruits compared to other dull colored dishes as you see with meat and creamy sauced dishes. There’s also another reason for ordering a colorful plate of food. Many of the substances that provide fruits and vegetables with their colors are antioxidants--potent disease-fighters that have been proven to lower heart disease and cancer risk.
Dip into sauce
This could be the oldest trick in a dieter’s handbook. Please always request for sauces, dressings, toppings, and condiments on the side or to be placed in a small sauce plate. A lot of calories come from what you use to dress your salad, so it's best when you control the amount of dressing.
Use a fork to dip some dressing from the sauce plate and smear on your salad before munching down. This can help to control your amount of intake of salad dressing and thus help to keep you on diet too.
Order appetizers and sides
If you’re a small eater, always opt to order an appetizer or side dishes to replace your main course. Due to today’s oversized portioning of appetizers in restaurants, this makes a perfect meal for one person. Just make sure your choice doesn’t include deep fried food and always have at least 2 servings of vegetables. This could serve as one good dieting strategy too!
Techniques in ordering the main course
Entrées or also known as main courses usually have the highest collection of calories on the plate. Anyhow, you wouldn’t go wrong in ordering if you take note on two very important areas: Preparation and sauces. Never go for entrées with keywords such as buttery, breaded, buttered, fried, pan-fried, creamed, scalloped, au gratin and a la mode. You may order it if you see grilled, baked, steamed, broiled, poached, stir-fried and roasted. Try to avoid sauces made with milk, cheese, oil or mayonnaise.
Tomato-based sauces are usually more flavorful and healthier than creamy sauces and gravies. Just remember, red is usually better than white or yellow.
Desserts are optional
Some say there’s always room for desserts. Well, not exactly. If you really can’t resist the temptations, always opt for fruit desserts and make sure it’s not buried under syrup or whipped cream. On the other hand, sorbet or frozen yogurts are great alternatives to ice cream, but do watch the sugar content. Plain ice cream wouldn’t be all that bad either but please make sure you stick with just one scoop and don’t forget to ride your bicycle for an extra round or two around the lake the next day!
Note: Don’t forget to eat slowly to savor the taste and flavor of the food. Eating slowly also helps to send the message of satiety to your brain before you overeat and become uncomfortably stuffed by the end of your meal.
Until then,
Happy Eating!
Evelyn
