Healthy Eating Guidelines

Eating out is no longer just for special occasions.  Today, the typical American eats more than four meals a week away from home, according to the National Restaurant Association.  But eating out doesn’t have to mean losing sight of your nutritional goals.  Following The Medical Center’s Healthy Eating Guidelines can help you fit dining out into your healthy lifestyle.

  Ask for fat-free or low-fat dressing.
  Try steamed vegetables, rice, fruit or a plain baked potato (with salsa or fat-free ranch dressing).
  The best serving size of meat is the size of a deck of cards. (Take leftovers home for another meal.)
  Choose items either baked, broiled, steamed or grilled.
  Choose broth-based soups over cream-based soups. Soups are great appetizers and will help fill you up, so you eat less.
  Order salad dressings and other sauces on the side, so that you can control how much to add.
  When ordering grilled fish or vegetables, ask that the food either be grilled with little or no butter or oil.
  When ordering pasta dishes, look for tomato-based sauces rather than cream-based sauces.
  Drink water, diet soda, or unsweetened tea or coffee instead of regular soda or alcoholic beverages. This will fill you up without adding any calories.
  Share an appetizer and/or a dessert.
  Order sandwiches with mustard rather than mayonnaise or "special sauce."
  If you want to eat less, order two appetizers, or an appetizer and a salad, as your meal.
  Substitute a baked potato, steamed vegetables, or a salad for French fries or chips.
  Order plain bread or yeast rolls without the butter and oil instead of croissants or biscuits.
  Stop eating when you are full and take home the leftovers.