It Takes More Than Ordering Off The Light Menu To Eat Healthy

By Brent Carney
Content Coordinator / TriCities.com
Published: May 22, 2008

A study of chain restaurants conducted simultaneously by television stations in eight cities around the country revealed that many meals marketed towards health-conscious or dieting consumers contain up to twice the calories and eight times the grams of fat than the restaurants claimed.

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Nancy Mitchell, a dieting instructor with Weight Watchers in Bristol, Tenn., offered several tips on how to stay within your diet when you’re out to eat.

ASK QUESTIONS

The first step, according to Mitchell, starts when it’s time to order.

Along with choosing a healthy meal, it’s important to ask the server questions and specifically describe what you want.

“You need to go ahead at restaurants and tell them ‘I want it grilled,” she said, adding that it’s also important to ask specific questions.

“How is it grilled? Is it grilled on a grill where grease drips out or is it grilled on a grill where everything else is grilled?”

BE ASSERTIVE

Whether requesting that salad dressing be served on the side or that butter be left off a potato, Mitchell says it’s acceptable to demand your food be prepared the way you want it.

“You talk to them in such a way and [the server] will find a way to do that for you,” she said.

If restaurants say they can’t accommodate specific needs, Mitchell says it’s time to find a new place to eat.

DO YOUR HOMEWORK

Once the food arrives, it’s important to be able to recognize what you’re eating and how much of it will fit in your diet.

Mitchell recommends following a diet and paying close attention to the portion sizes you serve yourself when you’re at home.

That way, when you’re out to eat, you know exactly how much food you can afford to eat.

“Weighing and measuring is an important tool… [You] need to know when you go out what an eight ounce potato looks like,” she said.

“The key thing is control…You need to have control over what you eat in order to be healthy.”