
Healthy habits when dining out
Transcript
[00:00:00] Host Amber Smith: Here's some expert advice from registered dietitian Heather Dorsey from Upstate Medical University. How can we eat healthy at a restaurant?
[00:00:10] Heather Dorsey, RD: The most important thing to know about restaurant dining is just to be mindful. Be aware of what you've had for the day to eat, what you're planning on wanting to have. And I think the best thing to do is kind of envision what we call the plate method, where half of your plate you really want to focus on good, healthy vegetables; a quarter of your plate, some healthy lean protein; and the last quarter of your plate, your starches, which include if you're going to get potatoes, corn, peas, when you're out at a restaurant. It's really important to kind of envision that and be mindful.
Some salads are pretty heavy with cheese, and depending on the salad dressing, and depending on the type of meat choice, especially if you get something that's fried versus grilled, that can be challenging. But salads are a good option if you're mindful of maybe asking for extra vegetables.
"I would like double tomatoes, double onions. Go light on the cheese." Those are some options. I think other good options are vegetable-based entrees, or sometimes they're like the vegetarian entrees. And another option that's always available at most restaurants is they'll have a light fare menu, which typically aims for meals less than 600 calories. And that's really the optimal number of calories, or the high end of calories, that you should shoot for in a meal. And you can use that for the whole menu, but what's nice about the light fare menu is it usually keeps it under that number. And you don't have to, you can enjoy the whole entree versus halving. What I also recommend is taking half of your entree home. That is always a good option, too.
The things to just really watch out for is anything that's fried. Anytime you get into the fried realm, you're going to increase your calories a lot. And, just for obvious reasons, fats have the most calories. So when they're adding fat to your food, it's going to increase those calories.
Another thing to be really aware of is things that are smothered in, like, gravies or have glazes on them, or extra sauces or cheeses. The cheese can really add a lot of calories, and a lot of meals tend to put that on to make it taste more rich. And so, watching out for cheeses and cheese sauces, those would be some of the worst options that you'd have to be mindful of.
The best drinks are water or unsweetened tea. Or you could have a nice cup of coffee with some non-dairy creamer and Splenda or Truvia if they have those on the table. Those are best options. You can always go for a diet beverage. Especially if you have, if you have diabetes, you do want to pick the diet or unsweetened options. But I think the best bet is water. And I always say ask for lemon or lime, because then it tastes a little bit better. And it's free, and it's healthy.
[00:03:05] Host Amber Smith: You've been listening to registered dietitian Heather Dorsey from Upstate Medical University.