Eating at a restaurant and eating healthy are rarely complementary activities. In fact, eating out is often cited as the primary reason for an unhealthy lifestyle. But with a little knowledge and preparation, you can turn a restaurant meal from a death threat to a healthy choice.
We're big proponents of the occasional culinary splurge, but whether you're on a diet or you just don't want to pack on extra pounds when you're on vacation, eating healthy at a restaurant is as much about common sense as it is about preparing yourself (and your stomach) to make life easy.
We'll cover the common sense rules you probably already know and should follow when we're eating out, but we'll also try to tackle some of the less obvious ways to make a restaurant meal healthy. To help out I talked with nutritionists and registered dietitians Allanah DiBona and Andy Bellatti.
With that, let's get the common sense rules out of the way.
The Common Sense Rules You Probably Already Know
Just because eating healthy should be common sense doesn't mean we actually abide by it. In fact, most of us probably throw our common sense out the window the second we plop down with a menu filled with spectacularly described food. Here are a few reminders for the simple ways you can keep a restaurant meal healthy.
- Don't leave portion control up to your willpower: We are all pretty terrible at self control, and when you see a plate of tasty food in front of you, it's easy to keep eating until you can't eat anymore. According to Andy Bellatti, your best option is to order half portions whenever possible. Allanah DiBona adds that you might try considering an appetizer as a meal.
- Order dressing and sauces on the side: A restaurant can make something as healthy as a salad unhealthy by covering it in dressing. For dressing or other dippable sauces order it on the side so you can regulate—and easily understand—how much you're using.
- The sides are often the worst part of a meal: Most sides you get at a restaurant are fried or at least covered in some type of sauce or cheese. Choose them wisely by going with the simplest option. This is often a side salad or a mixed vegetables.
- Not all healthy food is healthy at a restaurant: Bellatti points out that a number of foods we think of as healthy aren't at certain restaurants. Sushi, for instance, is often supersized to twice the normal proportion and filled with mayo or fried fish.
- Seriously, skip the soda: We're all aware soda isn't healthy, but it's worth repeating just to make sure we're all on the same page. If you're in need of caffeine see our tasty and healthy alternatives to soda.
The simple rule for eating out is: If it sounds like it's unhealthy, it probably is. With that in mind, let's move on to some of the ways you can customize almost any meal to make it healthier. Photo by Alpha.
Eat Healthy at Any Sit-Down Restaurant
You can certainly try to hit up healthy restaurants but you aren't always in full control of the restaurant choice. Perhaps you're on vacation with a large group of friends and you're roped into heading down to the Super Fatty Butter Palace for a meal. You can still make healthy choices and here's how to do it.
Give Your Willpower a Break and Eat a Snack First
It might seem counterintuitive, but one of the best things you can do for yourself before eating out is to eat a little snack before you go. Bellatti explains:
Eating something an hour before you get to the restaurant is one of the best ways to avoid cravings and impulse decisions. Some ideas: half an apple and a tablespoon of peanut butter, vegetables and hummus, a small banana and a square of dark chocolate. The idea is not to get to the restaurant already full, but to avoid that famished feeling that leads to "eating with the eyeballs."
Essentially, eating a snack gives your willpower a rest and makes a healthy decision easy. When you're not starving those two appetizers followed by a burger the size of your head won't be nearly as appealing. Photo by jrsnchzhrs.
Navigate Any Menu Like a Nutrition Pro
Finding a healthy meal on a menu is hard at a lot restaurants, but all you need to know is where to start. DiBona offers a pretty simple tip for this:
A good rule of thumb is to make protein and produce the basis of your meals. It's easier to navigate a menu when you're looking for large servings of protein (chicken, fish, beef) and any sort of produce that appeals (salad, veggie sides, etc.). If you're aiming for health, most people find these parameters the easiest way to operate.
Once you've made your protein choice start looking for the simplest sounding food on the menu. Bellatti explains:
The idea is to eat simple food. Anything smothered in five types of cheese is not "simple." An edamame appetizer? Simple. Nachos with sour cream, beef, and cheese? Overload. Corn tortillas with black beans and sauteed vegetables? Simple.
With these choices you can usually find something on the menu that's both appetizing and healthy. If you're still stuck then it's time to start asking your waiter questions. Photo by Orin Zebest.
The Questions You Should Ask
If you're anything like me then you probably have no interest in asking questions about menu items and instead order blindly without worry for the repercussions. This is great for an adventurous night out, but if you want to keep the meal healthy you have to ask questions. DiBona offers this reasoning:
Shelve your pride and ask some questions. Often we avoid seeking information in restaurants in order to avoid being the high maintenance table. Servers memorize the menus for a reason, and you're purchasing a product. [Asking a question] ensures you're getting something you really want. You should always know precisely what you're putting into your body.
Bellatti echoes those statements but adds a few concrete questions that are good to ask in nearly every circumstance:
- What can I get instead of fries?
- What vegetables can I get with that?
- Do you offer half portions?
Asking questions will only get you so far. At some restaurants you might also need to make substitutions. Photo by Jeffrey Beall.
Tweak the Menu with Substitutions and Requests
Even with knowledge of a menu you still might not find a super healthy option. When that's the case it's time to make substitutions and requests. This is surprisingly easy and only requires a few tweaks:
- Hold the butter: Restaurants often use more butter in your single meal than you probably do at home in an entire week. Asking them to hold off on it will cut the fat content.
- Skip the extras: Cheeses, bacon, or mayonnaise are all pretty enticing when you're ordering but most restaurants pack on more than a single serving which can add unneeded fat to your otherwise healthy meal.
- Find the best dips: Bellatti recommends sticking with dips like guacamole or hummus when you have the option. If you're not into stuffing up on bread he suggests asking for cucumbers in place of pita bread for dipping.
Bellatti adds that some menu change substitutions are pretty useless and you're best bet is to concentrate on cooking methods:
You're better off getting items that are cooked healthfully (i.e.: grilled, broiled, etc) and then substituting healthier sides than trying to get someone in the kitchen to use 1 teaspoon of oil to cook your dish instead of 2 tablespoons.
For the most part you can apply the same rules above to fast food joints, but fast food is more about research (which is easier because they're all chains) than anything else.
Find the Best Options for Fast Food
Since fast food isn't made to order (at least not entirely) it's not always easy to ask for substitutions or different cooking ingredients. Instead, you have to know what your best options are and what to avoid.
Picking what food to order is as simple as knowing the facts. A Calorie Counter's breakdown of the best and worst menu items at fast food joints is the easiest place to start.
One of the key tricks with any fast food restaurant is to avoid the sides and just order an entree. Most of the extra calories in typical fast food come from the nearly unlimited soda refills and the default order of fries.
For everything else you can heed the same advice as a sit-down restaurant: skip the extra sauces, look for healthily cooked foods, keep your order simple (for instance, a Bacon Sundae is not simple), and if your food is prepared right in front of you ask for lighter portions (restaurants like Chipotle, for example, pack on way too much rice for a normal human). Photo by William F. Yurasko.
Don't Beat Yourself Up for the Occasional Indulgence
Whether you're eating out once a week or you're on vacation and doing it every day the key point both Andy Bellatti and Allanah DiBona stress is that you shouldn't always beat yourself up for overindulging.
One way DiBona suggests dealing with this is by applying the 80-20 rule. Focus your choices on nutrition 80 percent of the time and use the other 20 percent as wiggle room when you just need to indulge. She also suggests the best way to deal with shame is to walk it off by taking a stroll around the neighborhood after your meal. If nothing else, just let go a little when you're eating out. Bellatti sums it up nicely:
They should stop turning every meal into a guilt-fest. Nothing is more irritating than a dinner companion who has to make some negative comment after every bite ("Ugh, there goes my diet!" after taking two bites of bread or "I shouldn't have eaten that!" after having a few bites of dessert).
You can find healthy options on nearly every menu if you know what to look for. This is key when you're on an extended vacation or if you eat out for a lot of your meals. For everyone else the real takeaway is to let yourself relax a little: find the good options on the menu but don't worry about any indulgences you might make. Just try not to eat yourself into a food coma. Photo by Alpha.
Have your own tips for eating healthy when you're eating out? Share them in the comments.
Andy Bellatti, MS, RD is a Seattle-based Nutritionist and the author of the nutrition blog Small Bites. You can follow him on Twitter at @andybellatti.
Alannah DiBona, MA, MS, is a Boston-based nutritionist and wellness counselor, and the woman behind mindbodysportconsulting.com.
Both graciously volunteered their expertise for this story, and we thank them.
Title image remixed from Yuri Arcus (Shutterstock).
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