Health Hackers

How to Eat Out AND Stay Healthy – 10 Expert Tips

Posted on October 25th, 2008 in Health Articles

You want your cake and to eat it to, well you can! Eat out all the time and stay healthy, how you ask? It’s easy, just follow these 10 tips.

It’s five in the evening and it’s time to think about what to do for dinner, the thought of having to head home, think of what to cook, shop for the ingredients, and then have to cook over a hot stove seems a bit like hard work, eating out is a much better option but what about your health?

After working all day it’s the last thing you want to do. It’s so much easier to just eat out, but there are two things weighing on your mind. One; it’s going to cost more, and two; it will be a more unhealthy option. Worry no more! We have a few health tips, collected from all over the web, so you can be confident that you will get maximum flavor with minimum impact on your health, and no grubby dishes to have to clean afterwards.

1. Choose Wisely – Think twice and take a second before rushing in.
You will be surprised to learn that even what might seem like the most unhealthy restaurant there are still many options to help reduce the impact a meal will have on your health. Although, keep in mind; it makes it a little easier and less tempting if you choose a restaurant that has a broad menu and does not just cook fried food or food options that are loaded with sugar and other additives.

Before rushing into choosing a restaurant take a little time to make sure you choose a good restaurant with a broad menu. Good places to start are Japanese or Suchi Restaurants and Thai food. Colder climate countries tend to have heavier stodgy foods which involve cream and carbohydrates. Italian food can contain a lot of Carbohydrates so don’t make it worse by ordering a paster with a rich cream and cheese sauce, go for a lighter tomato based sauce.

2. Factor in Fitness – A simple way to add in some exercise around your meal. This does not directly involve eating but it is something you can do around your meal that will make a big differnce. Get some fitness in before you even get to the restaurant. Walk instead of using public transport or your own transport, this will require you to maybe leave a little earlier but will help a lot, as no matter what you eat you need to burn it off if you want to lose weight or stay health. Even a 10-20 minute walk is far better than nothing. If you are short for time getting there then choose to walk home from the restaurant you eat at, simple, easy exercise while on the go.

3. Salad and Vegetable Additions - Choosing A Salad Option to get your health goodness and not eat too much.

Just ordering a cheap salad or some vegetables with your meal will make a massive difference. Try eating a salad first up, before your meal, as it’s better for your digestion because it will digest faster then your meat, pasta, or other main meal choice. This will provide you with much needed nutrients and goodness that your body requires to stay healthy. Eating it first will help fill you up and consume less of the foods that will add weight.

4. Watch Out For the Pointy End – think food pyramid. We all know that we should think about the food pyramid when deciding what to put in our stomachs, quite boring but it’s actually the easiest way to remind yourself of what your body really needs to stay healthy. Watch out for the pointy end of that pyramid, yes, the pointy end full of fat, oils and then sugar, which is the fastest way to eating badly. Unfortunately most restaurants don’t reflect their menu options in proportion to the food pyramid so you need to be aware of this when ordering. Think grains and vegetables, with small portions of yummy tasty sauces.

5. Flavor Often Equals Fat – You need a work-around; how to get flavor by not eating fatty foods. Yes, the cold hard reality of food is that fat equals flavor 9 times out of 10, and the more you eat fat laden, oily foods, the more you want to drink sugary drinks to compensate for the heavy oily flavors that linger in your mouth. It’s a double whammy! If you choose fatty food options you will be consuming too much fat and oil and also too much sugar in drinks like coke, diet drink options are available but it’s far better to have water, or soda water.

Instead of fried fatty food which is cooked in oil see if there is a grilled or steamed option, this is a much healthier way to consume your food. You can also compensate for flavor in other ways, think spices, herbs and health condiments. These will add richness and flavor to your foods without the bad ass tag team of flirtatious Fat and seductive sugar.

6. Portion Control - Stop your eyes become bigger then your stomach, don’t over eat. Don’t get so excited when you see that delicious large mouth watering menu, it’s so easy to make the biggest mistake of all, which all restaurants want you to make, the old “over order” trick. It’s so easy to do that even a regular person that eats out a lot will fall for this trick time and time again.
The good news is that it’s easy to avoid. When are hungary our eyes are bigger then our stomachs. The fact is that It’s takes around 30 minutes before our stomach digests the food we eat, so the signal that we are actually full reaches us about half an hour too late.

There is an easy way to get around this. Be smart about how you consume food. Try and just get the main meal, share a main meal, then order something else if you are still hungry. Or skip the appetizers and desert. Don’t worry you will still be full. If you must have desert then get fruit – it’s pack full of nutrients and won’t add extra weight. Also, try and eat a little slower. We are always in a rush these days but food is best digested if we have a conversation while we are eating, it’s a good way to catch up with friends as well enjoy the shared experience that sharing a meal offers.

7. You Have a Mouth – Don’t be afraid to ask the waiter for advice on the meal health contents. The food we purchase at the super market has the nutritional value clearly marked on the side of the packet, so we are at least informed as the the health information of our particular choice. Some countries even make this law. When we eat out this is not the case, maybe it will be one day but for now it’s another trap into making a bad food choice, especially when we are starving by the time dinner hits. What compounds the problem is that we all work back these days, so by the time dinner hits we just want some thing that tastes good and fills us up.

The tip to getting around this problem is don’t be afraid to use your mouth that god gave you. Ask the waiter about the content or ingredients of a dish on the menu. Even if the waiter only offers a little bit of extra info it can make the difference between a health and unhealthy choice. It might seem strange at first but they are the waiter and should be happy to answer your questions, after all, that’s their job! Once you ask these questions a few times it gets a lot easier.

8. The Carbo Hit-man - Stay on guard or one blink and he’s got you!

You can’t escape the hit-man that is Mr Carbo, he’s flipp’en everywhere! Let me introduce them, we are talking about Rice, Pasta, Bread and Potatos. They are everywhere! It’s like you need eyes in the back of your head, as they will appear in nearly every meal. These are food carbo fillers, they will fill you up without fail but they are unhealthy if you eat too much of them. Restaurants love using them in meals as they are cheap ingredients and fill the customer up. When served with fattening oil laden sauces they can taste divine. Don’t get me wrong, we all needs carbs and they sure do fill you up. Just don’t let your appetite before a meal sway you into making the wrong choice. It’s the deadly trap that the carbo hit-man takes advantage of every time.

Take our advice, try limiting your carb intake and swap the volume of carbs with vegies or salad. If there is only one thing you do then do this, it will have the biggest impact on eating out and staying healthy. If you must have bread then choose a whole-meal option.

9. Fresh is Best – Choose fresh food options for flavor and better health. Try and return to restaurants that offer the freshest food and ingredients, they will not only taste a lot better but they are better for your health. When vegetables are boiled instead of steamed then they loose a lot of their goodness. Thai food generally is a quick and fresh way of cooking, the ingredients are only cooked for a short of time so they retain their freshness and goodness.

10. Alcohol, Limit the Intake – In just one hundred Mills of wine you are consuming the same amount of calories as a piece of bread. When you are served a glass of wine it’s more often that the volume will exceed 100 mills so keep this in mind. Having a beer with your meal is even worse. If you are going to eat out regularly this is one sure way of staying healthy and reducing your calorie intake.

I hope these 10 Super eating out expert tips on how to eat out and stay health will have you getting out more, and enjoying food at your local restaurants without feeling the guilt of adding extra weight to your bod. It’s easy to make smart food choices that will not only be packed full of flavor but fit in with your health lifestyle.