Restaurant Remedies: Don't Diet Out, Dine Out!

Eating out at restaurants can challenge your good intentions to eat healthfully. But if you follow these helpful tips, you will be on your way to a blissful dining experience. And remember this...before you enter a restaurant, pause to reinforce your intentions and reassure yourself that you are in control of your eating habits. Bon appetit!

Restaurant portions can be pretty big! Don't feel obliged to eat everything on your plate just because you paid for it or because you might be embarrassed. Stop eating when you feel full. Aim for satisfaction, not satiation.
Eat slowly. It takes about 20 minutes for your stomach to send a "full" signal to your brain.
Select restaurants that prepare food to order and allow substitutions.
Call a restaurant in advance to see if they have choices that meet your dietary objectives.
Try creative ordering: Instead of ordering an entire meal, a low fat side order, soup and a salad may be a better choice. Put together combinations that will satisfy your appetite without compromising your diet!
If possible, order a la carte. It will enable you to control the amount of food that is served to you!
Ask for a "doggy bag" before you eat and set aside the amount that you don't want to eat to take home for later.
If you choose to drink alcohol, stick to white wine or light beer and try to limit yourself to one glass. Alternate sipping water with your alcohol.

Remember some key tricks to low fat eating:

remove the skin of chicken before eating.
have salads served with the dressing on the side.
use skim milk in coffee instead of cream.
remove high fat foods such as eggs and olives from salads.
eat bread with no butter.
ask if foods can be prepared without butter or cream sauces.
take care not to override the advantages of a salad bar with the disadvantages of the salad dressing.
lean toward selections of fish and chicken instead of red meat.
don't add salt to your dishes, and request that the chef do the same!