Dining Out in Houston Catherine Kruppa, MS, RD, CSSD, LD Advice For Eating Nutrition and Wellness Consulting
General Guidelines to Dining Lean Preparation: Do not starve yourself all day. Choose restaurants with a varied menu. Decide ahead of time what you will order. Do not hesitate to ask how foods on the menu are prepared.
Dining Out Statistics Typical American eat out more than 4 x a week 56% of us say we always or usually find it hard to eat healthy away from home. Women who consumed meals out 5 x per week or more ate 300 more calories = weight gain of 2 lbs per month. It s better to waste it than to waist it.
Proximity Can Be a Problem Stay away from all you can eat buffets. Have bread, chips and butter removed from the table or at least away from you to avoid temptation. Ask that food you don t want be left off the plate. Ask the server not to bring the dessert cart to the table.
Portion Size Restaurant portions are 2-3 x what we truly need. Order 2 appetizers as your meal. Share an order with a friend. Ask for only half of your meal to be delivered to the table and box up the other half Measure food at home so you will be familiar with the portion sizes.
Menu Terminology Leaner ways to cook meats and veggies include broiling, roasting, chargrilling, grilling, poaching, stir-frying, boiling and steaming. Most restaurants will brush or baste the meats with fats during or after the cooking process. Ask for no oil, no butter. The term Prime often refers to meat that is very high in fat.
Menu Terminology Most restaurants add margarine, butter, oil, or other sauces before serving boiled or steamed vegetables. Ask that it be left off. Béarnaise, hollandaise heavy sauces Bisque cream based soup Crusted coated with nuts, breadcrumbs, or potato and panfried until crispy Grilled not necessarily light butter or oil may be added during grilling Sautéed lightly fried; ask the chef to easy on butter or oil Steamed may not be light (butter or oil sometimes added after steaming)
Don t Drink Your Calories Choose a calorie-free beverage such as water, mineral water, club soda, unsweetened iced tea, black tea or diet soda. Know the calories you are drinking: Beer 12-oz can 150 Light beer 12-oz can 100 Mixed drink 8 oz 195 Margarita 8 oz 500 Wine 3-1/2 oz 85
Salads Salad dressings are about 80 calories per level tablespoon. Usually put 3-4 tablespoons (~300 calories) on a small garden salad. Oil & vinegar oil has 125 calories per tablespoon. Ask for dressings on the side. Lower calorie options: flavored vinegars, salsa, lemon.
Breakfast Select skim or low fat milk. Most cold cereals are low in fat. Oatmeal is typically the best choice on the menu. Order egg substitutes. Order ham or Canadian bacon. Hash browns = French fries.
Breakfast Pancakes are made with whole milk and eggs = 510 calories, 6 g fat for 2. Waffles are worse = 830 calories, 64 g fat. French toast = 150 calories, 7 g fat Before butter and syrup!
Navigating a Steak House Menu Rib-Eye Steak Porterhouse Petite Filet Mignon Strip Steak Grilled Tuna Steak Prime Rib
American/ Steak Houses Leaner cuts of meat London broil, filet mignon, round or flank steak, sirloin tip, tenderloin. We only need 6 oz of protein per day. Order the baked potato dry = 240 cal Loaded = 572 calories, 39 g fat
Chinese Appetizers: Order steamed dumplings Fill up on soup Accompaniments: Side of steamed rice = 220 calories Savings = 130 calories vs fried
Chinese Entrees: Order dishes that contain more vegetables than meat. Avoid sweet and sour entrees deep fat fried. Avoid dishes with nuts- 200 calories, 20 g fat. Ask that your dish be prepared with as little oil as possible
Chinese Order steamed foods with sauce on the side. Order fewer meals than the number of people at your table. Select seafood, chicken or tofu over beef and pork. Ask for foods prepared without MSG.
SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS 20 Years Ago Today 500 calories 1 cup spaghetti with sauce and 3 small meatballs How many calories do you think are in today's portion of spaghetti and meatballs?
Dining Out Chicken Caesar Salad = 660 calories Hamburger = 660 calories
Italian Appetizers Minestrone and bean soups Request that Bruschetta be prepared with very little oil. Avoid Caesar salad 270 calories, 21 g fat Watch the high fat additions of olives, pine nuts, cheese and oil. Remember that you have a lot of food coming, do you really need an appetizer?
Italian Pasta Pasta noodles are low in fat. Each half cup portion of pasta has 100 calories. Restaurants serve between 2-4 cups. Sauces: red is good; white is bad. Avoid dishes that are pre-made lasagna, manicotti. Avoid parmigiana meals floured, fried, and topped with marinara and cheese. Hold the oil.
Mexican Most of the portion sizes are double the amount you need. 1363 calories Each Tortilla Chip = 25 Calories Margarita = 500 calories
Mexican Grand Total = 2130
Mexican Appetizers: Move the fried chips. 25 calories per chip, 1.4 g of fat. Order baked chips. Ask for corn tortillas. Enjoy the salsa. Ask about tortilla soup.
Mexican Salads: Taco salad in Taco Shell = 1065 calories, 70 g of fat. Select the chicken fajita salad. Use the picante sauce for a low calorie dressing. Don t eat the shell. Limit or hold the sour cream and guacamole.
Mexican Entrees: Best option: fajitas, watch the high calorie accompaniments refried beans, rice, guacamole, sour cream and cheese. Trim the meat save 100 calories. Corn tortillas over flour save 50 calories each. Little or no oil. Other lower calorie items: soft tacos, soft burritos, arroz con pollo.
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Mexican Entrees: Limit high calorie entrees chalupas, chimichangas, beef or cheese enchiladas, flautas, tacos, tamales Be selective with accompaniments: you don t need chips, rice, beans AND tortillas. Ask for cooked pinto or black beans instead of refried beans.
Thai Appetizers Soft Spring Rolls Hot and Sour Soup Vegetable Soup Seafood Salad Avoid: crispy spring rolls, chicken wings, chicken coconut soup, ground beef salad.
Thai Entrees: Coconut milk is the culprit. Baked chicken or steamed shrimp dishes are you best options. Steamed or grilled fish and jasmine rice. Watch out for pad thai oily, eggy, peanutty noodles. Watch out for chicken curry. Avoid thai fried rice.
Catherine Kruppa, MS, RD, CSSD, LD Advice For Eating Nutrition and Wellness Consulting 281-974-1559 catherinekruppa@adviceforeating.com www.adviceforeating.com