better
H
E A
L T H
Vu
salads
■ Make it your meal.
Every third restaurant visit,
order a meal-size salad. A low-cal, high-volume salad
will leave you both full and slim. Choose salads that
load up on lettuce, veggies, and good proteins such
as chicken, salmon, eggs, or nuts.
■ Dress on the side.
This way, you control how
much is added. Olive oil- and vinegar-based are best
Avoid creamy dressings.
■ Go easy on extras.
Grated cheese, croutons, and
fried noodles can add hundreds of calories and lots
of saturated fat to an otherwise perfectly good salad.
entrées
Most restaurant entrées are double the
recommended serving size. The worst culprits
tend to be American and Mexican restaurants, which
can easily go beyond double portions.
■ Learn the code.
Look for entrées that are
grilled, broiled, au jus, or from lean cuts such as loin or
flank. Avoid items described as crispy, batter-dipped,
creamy, au gratin, buttered, pan-fried, deep-fried, or
tempura Ask for fish and vegetables to be grilled dry,
or lightly in olive oil (use lemon juice to zest them up).
today’s special:
advice
A V O ID B U F F E T S Variety leads to
excess. If you must eat at a buffet, scout
it out first. Decide what you’ll have
before you start loading up. Fill half your
plate with vegetables.
B E F IR S T T O O R D E R You’ll be less
influenced by others* choices. (In fact, you
will influence their choices, so you might
get the whole table eating healthier.)
S IT N E X T T O A N A N G E L Just
being in close proximity to someone who’s
equally concerned about calories and
healthy eating will help you eat better.
■ M odify everything.
Request sauces, butter,
gravy, and sour cream on the side. Instead of French
fries, ask for a baked potato with salsa, or a small
salad instead of coleslaw. Ask the server or the cook
for suggestions on how to make a particular dish
healthier. They hear good ideas from other
customers all the time.
■ Go vegetarian.
There are exceptions (can
anyone say eggplant Parmesan?) but vegetarian
entrées are usually a healthier choice. Try to order
one at least once a week.
■ Bring some home.
Doggie bags are so
commonly used now that some people bring their
own containers to cut down on wasted packaging If
you really want to try an entrée that you know will be
oversized, have the server pack half in the doggy bag
before it leaves the kitchen.
desserts
All things in moderation, especially dessert. Just a little
bit can be very satisfying
■ Share alike,
it’s routine these days to split a dessert
with the table. Ask for plates and forks for everyone.
■ O rder fru it.
If it’s not on the menu, ask whether
the cook might put together a bowl of berries,
pineapple cubes, or a slice of melon with a dab of
whipped cream.
■ End the meal sweetly.
Have a mint or some
sugar-free gum, or brush your teeth right after eating
to signal to your body that the meal is over.
MEET OUR EXPERTS
These are the people whose expertise we drew upon for
this story: Brian Wansink, Ph.D., author of
Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think
and director of Cornell University’s Food and Brand Lab; Kathleen Zelman, R.D., director of
nutrition for WebMD Health; Nikki and David Goldbeck, co-authors of
Healthy Highways: The
Traveler’s Guide to Healthy Eating
(
healthyhighways.com
) .
Tools for
Tummies
It’s easier than ever to get
the info you need to make
healthy eating-out choices.
CALORIEKING.COM
Find nutritional
information for over
50,000 foods, including
more than 260 fast-food
chains. Includes calories,
fat, fiber, and protein
content. Free.
CALORIELAB.COM
Search for about 70,000
foods and 500 restaurant
menus, or browse a food
and restaurant directory
for calories and nutrition
information. Free.
HEALTHYDINING
FINDER.COM
Enter a zip code and
price range and find
nearby healthful
restaurant items. Includes
menus and nutritional
analysis. Free.
HEALTHY HIGHWAYS:
THE TRAVELER’S GUIDE
TO HEALTHY EATING
by Nikki and David
Goldbeck. State maps and
local directions guide you
to 2,800 healthy eateries
and natural food stores
throughout the U.S.
RESTAURANT
NUTRITION
A downloadable
application (or
app) for the
iPod touch or
iPhone. It lists
the nutritional
contents for
each menu item
at most chain restaurants.
Free, see more at
apple.com/itunes.
2 6 o SEPTEMBER 2009
BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS
PHOTOS: (BOTTLES) JUPITER IMAGES: (IPOD) KATHRYN GAMBLE
