Ask a Dietitian

As seen on BCTV April 9/02
SMART RESTAURANT DINING

People are eating out more now than ever before. As our schedules become busier, we find less time for food preparation and even for grocery shopping. When faced with the question; “What’s for dinner?” often the answer is the name of a restaurant rather than that of a dish like “stirfry”. If restaurant dining has become a way of life for you, then it makes sense to start paying a little more attention to what you are ordering.

With restaurant meals come bigger portions, calorie-dense foods, lots of variety to choose from and great taste, not to mention a quick and hassle-free way of getting your meal. It’s becoming easier and easier to eat a terrible diet. How is this affecting you? A recent national Health Survey revealed that 60% of men and 40% of women in Canada are now overweight or obese. It also found that people who eat out most often have the most body fat.

How can you make some better choices?

• Portion Control: Don’t treat your body like a human garbage bin, if you are full take it home or at least stop eating.
• Serving Size: Assume that at the end of every item on the menu it says “serves two”. Share an appetizer or entrée with a friend or order a half portion
• Calorie-density: You can practically inhale calorie dense foods before you feel full. Fatty foods, sweets and refined carbohydrates provide lots of calories with little fibre to fill you up. Tip: Fill up on lower calorie-dense foods by starting with a salad instead of cheese sticks as an appetizer, order extra vegetables and less pasta or mashed potato with your meal and have a fruit or sorbet for dessert instead of chocolate cake.
• Reduce the fat:
  * Definitely choose a salad instead of fries and ask for the dressing on the side. Caesar salads are only slightly better than fries so go for a green salad or spinach salad instead.
  * Choose baked potato instead of mashed potato and skip the toppings like sour cream and bacon bits.
  * Choose steamed rice instead of rice pilaf or risotto
  * Choose plain pasta instead of stuffed pasta
  * Order tomato based sauces instead of cheese or cream sauces like Alfredo
  * Avoid foods that are deep fried like French fries, onion rings, chicken wings, calamari, samosa, cheese sticks, chicken strips, battered fish and chips etc.
• Emphasize the good fats: Order more fish or meals that include tofu or nuts as the protein food.
• Hydration: Always order water with your meals. Especially if you have coffee, alcohol or anything really sweet or salty.
• Limit liquid calories: Pop, juice, lemonade, iced tea, milk and alcohol all contain calories and they don’t register as well as the calories in actual foods. A 300ml pop has 140 kcal. Not to mention the fact that alcohol makes you lose your inhibitions so you tend to eat more or make worse food choices. Tip: Start off with a glass of water to quench your thirst and then decide what you want to drink.

Bottom Line: Try to make your dinner 4 times per week and cook extras for your lunch the next day and even one more dinner. Try to limit restaurant dining to one dinner each week to cut spending and fat.

Watch for the Eating for Energy segment on BCTV’s Noon News Hour!