Healthy Edge Guide to Eating Out When eating out, there are definitely some strategies to make the healthiest choices available to you. Most people choose to approach eating out as out of sight, out of mind. If there are no nutritional facts or ingredients to read, most people don t give a second thought to their ordering decisions and then wonder why they are bloated and puffy for days. The Healthy Edge does NOT recommend counting calories when you are eating a whole food based lifestyle. When eating out however, it is empowering to know what and how much you are indulging in. Restaurants DESIGN food items and descriptions to APPEAR healthy! Ignoring your choices when eating out just might be the answer to why you are not getting or maintaining results. We love our 20% nights out, but if you are eating out one or more times a week, this guide could prove useful to support you in making the best decisions available to you. RESEARCH the common places you choose to eat out at and the dishes you order so you can be HONEST with yourself on what those choices REALLY mean to your health and waistline! Mexican: 1. Corn tortillas: Compared to their flour counterparts, corn tortillas have about half as many calories and twice as much fiber, making them the better option in every instance, especially with tacos and fajitas. 2. Tostada: Ask to replace a deep fried tostada with a soft corn tortilla. 3. Nachos. Order soft corn tortillas and use for dipping in the salsa instead of eating deep fried chips. We have had restaurants cut and bake soft corn tortillas to replace the deep friend chips. Just ask! If you choose to eat the tortilla Cerviche chips, ask to have it served with your dinner so you keep the chips in moderation. 4. Cerviche is served all over Latin America and consists of a little more than fresh fish or shrimp marinated with diced vegetables and plenty of lime juice, which serves to "cook" the fish. It's a low- calorie, protein- rich dish that when ordered with soft corn tortillas can turn into a full meal. Just make sure the fish is fresh! 5. Salad with a side of soft corn tortillas. Order a delicious salad with the dressing on the side (of course) and use the salad to make tacos with soft corn tortillas. Use salsa as a topper. 6. Pozole: A delicious broth- based soup built around hominy the fiber- loaded member of the maize (corn) family. Most pozoles are also loaded with chile peppers, which contain Enchiladas antioxidant capsaicins, and pork, which adds high- quality protein. This is one of the lighter meals you can order at a Mexican restaurant, but beware soups typically have high sodium. COPYRIGHT THE HEALTHY EDGE, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 1
7. Whole beans versus refried beans. You may be saving unwanted fat in choosing the whole beans, but beware the sodium is probably off the charts for this seemingly healthy side. 8. Extra Pico, please! Usually Mexican dishes are served with rice, beans and Pico de Gallo. Ask for more Pico de Gallo instead of rice that can pack a ton of sodium. 9. Fajitas. A combination of vegetables and meats, fajitas can be a healthy choice if it is cooked with little oil. Ask for light oil and crunchy vegetables. Order the vegetable fajitas for more vegetables and add chicken or beef (if you choose). 10. Enchiladas: Choose chicken over cheese or ground beef, skip the rice, order whole beans and serve the sauce on the side. Thai 1. Summer Rolls: Lean pork or shrimp mixed with vegetables and rice noodles and wrapped in a thin sheet of rice paper summer rolls might be accurately thought of as healthy and unfried egg rolls. They have roots in Vietnam, but they're common in other parts of Asia and available on most Thai menus. Just make sure you order a summer and not a spring roll, or you'll be right back in the fryer. 2. Brown Rice versus White Rice. Most Thai restaurants will offer both of these. Go for the whole grain brown rice, but just a heaping spoonful. 3. Satay: These meat skewers are grilled and then coated in a spicy peanut sauce, which brings to your table lots of flavor and protein with relatively little fat. Consider this one of the good guys: An entree portion has fewer than 300 calories. 4. Tom Yum Soup: A high- protein, low- calorie soup featuring lean meat and mushrooms simmered in broth with lemongrass, cilantro, and other seasonings. You'll do fine with any bowl of tom yum, but the best options are the ones that feature shrimp or mixed seafood. Sodium may be an issue. 5. Massaman curry: A curry that's closer in consistency to the thicker versions of India and generally cooked with crushed peanuts and potatoes. However, like most Thai curries, massaman generally carries a load of coconut cream that is not bad for you, but there is a lot of it! Scoop out the goodies of the curry and leave the coconut cream based sauce behind. Remember, it s all about moderation! 6. Gaeng Pah: Whereas most curries are made with a base of coconut milk, country- style curries are made with water. For that reason, choosing country- style can cut a couple hundred calories off your meal. Be warned though: Without the presence of fat from coconut, water- based curries tend to be far spicier Spring Rolls Gaeng Pah 2 COPYRIGHT THE HEALTHY EDGE, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
than their coconut- based cousins. 7. Turn up the heat! If you can stand the heat, tell the chef to turn it up. That burn on your tongue comes from a class of pepper- based phytochemicals called capsaicins, which have been shown to clear congestion, lower cholesterol, and boost metabolism to reduce body fat. Taiwanese researchers even found that exposing developing fat cells to capsaicins caused them to die before they matured. And hey, who says you can't break a little sweat at the dinner table. 8. Grilled meats are popular in Thai cuisine, and as far as lean cooking methods go, this is as good as it gets. Instead of letting oils soak into the tissue, the grill's dry heat pulls fats out. Every time you eat Thai, try to squeeze one grilled item on your family's table. Chinese There is a distinct difference between Chinese at a mall and an authentic Chinese restaurant. One is the price and second is the quality and options available to eat healthily. 1. Kung Pao Chicken: Made with roasted peanuts, dried chilies, and a slew of other vegetables, Kung Pao can be one of the best entrées on the Chinese menu. That's because the chicken isn't fried. Definitely beats General Tso's, sesame chicken, and sweet and sour anything. 2. BEWARE! Lo Mein and Chow Mein: Noodle dishes like lo mein and chow mein are cooked in the wok right alongside the meat and vegetables. Why is that bad? Because to keep them from sticking, the chef must pour in more oil and more sauce, a careless move that brings to your plate a deluge of extra fat and sugar. A full order may top 1,000 calories. 3. BEWARE! Egg Drop Soup: Although reliably low in calories, the amount of sodium in egg drop soup varies from high to horrendous. Keep your serving to a small cup rather than a Steamed Shrimp with Vegetables meal- size bowl. Otherwise, you could sacrifice most of a day's sodium allotment in a few spoonfuls. 4. BEWARE! Cashew Chicken: Authentic Chinese? Hardly. The version most common used today is reputed to have roots in Springfield, Missouri. Basically it consists of fried chicken, a handful of cashews, and a thick layer of oyster sauce. Not your best choice. 5. Peking Duck: Duck sits slightly ahead of ground turkey in terms of its overall balance of protein, fat, and nutrients. It's also one of the most authentic Chinese dishes on the menu, with chefs employing painstaking measures to render most of the fat from the bird, ensuring extra- crunchy skin. It dodges the syrupy plague infecting everything else, so it winds up being one of the healthiest entrées. 6. Pot Stickers: Panfrying imparts far less fat than other frying methods do, and it has a thin dumpling wrapper that holds the meat and vegetables. As an appetizer split among friends, this would be one of your best bets at a Chinese Restaurant. COPYRIGHT THE HEALTHY EDGE, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 3
7. Steamed rice over fried rice. Seems obvious, but steamed rice should not be a free- for all. Stick to a serving size of ½ - 1 cup cooked. 8. Steamed Shrimp with Vegetables: The best part about ordering meats and veggies steamed is that you can be assured they haven't spent their last few minutes of kitchen life soaking in an oil- filled wok. What starts out as a low- fat food remains one a restaurant world rarity. Italian Restaurants 1. Mussels: Great appetizer choice. 2. Bruschetta: The Italian version of chips and salsa has much more going for it than the bottomless baskets of fried tortillas. A full order will run about 600 calories perfect for a table of four. Limit the butter. If you choose to dip it your bread in olive oil, you will rack on tons of calories and fat! Try asking for marinara sauce to dip it in! 3. Choose Whole wheat pasta or brown rice pasta over enriched pasta. 4. Salad with dressing on the side! Caesar salad already tossed in dressing can destroy your great week of healthy eating! 5. BEWARE! Parmigiana. In Italian, it means "parmesan," but on American menus, it means a battery of breading, oil, cheese, and sauce. This treatment can turn a harmless vegetable into a 1,000- calorie bomb. Cut that total in half by applying the sauce and cheese to grilled eggplant or chicken, instead. You don't need the oily breading to make a delicious meal. 6. Chicken Marsala: Healthy in theory only. In practice, chefs get carried away with the prosciutto and oil and this simple staple skyrockets to 900 calories or more. If you have your heart set on this, eat half of a portion or talk to the chef about creating a healthier version of it with less oil and prosciutto. 7. Know your sauces! a. Marinara: This is virtually fat- free, plus it delivers at least one serving of fruit in the form of antioxidant- packed tomatoes. b. Pesto: It's high in fat, but most of that is healthy monounsaturated fat from olive oil. Plus the addition of basil and garlic add a concentrated punch of cancer- fighting compounds. Eat in moderation. c. Butter and Parmesan: These sauces contain almost all fat. d. Alfredo: The same as butter and parmesan, only with the addition of heavy cream. Definitely not a Healthy Edge pick. 4 COPYRIGHT THE HEALTHY EDGE, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
8. Bake Ziti: Tossed in marinara and then baked with a layer of cheese on top, this pasta falls somewhere between lasagna and spaghetti with red sauce on the calorie meter. There may be sausage added which will add to calories and unwanted fat. Ask for light cheese and extra marinara sauce and consider boxing half of it up and taking it home. 9. Cannoli: This authentic Sicilian dessert consists of pastry dough stuffed with sweetened ricotta, a cheese that shares much in common nutritionally with cottage cheese. As long as the portion size is reasonable, cannoli beats a 700- calorie slice of tiramisu any day. To keep it around 200 calories, look for a piece about as long as two D batteries. If served two to a plate, share them. 10. Gelato: The Italian ice cream is made with milk instead of heavy cream. That doesn't make it a zero- impact food, but it's a better choice! Great 20% item! COPYRIGHT THE HEALTHY EDGE, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 5