Health & Beauty Tips

You might think that it's not possible to maintain a healthy diet when you eat out at restaurants. In many cases, you would be correct. However, you can still enjoy restaurants occasionally and maintain your healthy diet. You simply need to learn a little bit about nutrition, which will allow you to make the correct food choices to stay healthy, active, mentally stable and happy.

It's a good idea to start by ignoring the drinks section of the menu. Beer and other alcoholic beverages have many empty calories, which do your body no good. The exception to this rule when it comes to alcohol is wine, especially red wine, which can be fine if you have a single glass and can actually help prevent heart disease for some patients.

You should also skip the starters, unless you order a side salad. The appetizers at restaurants are usually high-fat foods that are not meant to fill you up and can in fact make you crave even more high fat foods. Examples of these are mozzarella sticks, potato skins, and wings. Instead, simply focus on your main course or, if you must indulge, share a single serving with the entire table of people.

When choosing your main dish, it is of course important that you look at the ingredients of the dish. Anything with cream sauces or high-fat meats should be avoided, and pass up the potatoes or onion rings. Instead order side dishes like vegetables or ask for just the main course when possible.

Remember too that portion control is everything. When possible, order from the lunch menu. Ask for a doggie bag at the beginning of the meal. To avoid being tempted to eat the whole main course, split it in two and bag one half.

At the end of your meal, skip over the desert menu, just like you did with the appetizers. If you're really tempted, share a dessert with the whole table, or split the portion in half. Many fancy desserts in restaurants have more calories than your entire meal, so keep this in mind before you flag down the waitress to put in an order! Of course, on special occasions, it's alright to cheat a little, but overall healthy eating requires lots of resisting temptation around you.