Last updated
17 October 2009

Making healthier choices - Eating out

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Knowing the good, bad and the ugly menu options

As well as being able to know how to make healthier food and drink choices in general, we thought that it would be useful to provide you with some restaurant-specific tips to try to help you make the lower calorie choice when eating out. Each main restaurant type is considered below.

Italian

We all love italian food and most of us believe it to be relatively healthy restaurant option.

However, like many restaurants, there are high and low calories options on the menu which are not always obviously so. Therefore, it is worth considering the following points when making your selection.

Starter- Rather than garlic bread, which often contains a lot of butter (and so is high in saturated fat and calories), try bruschetta, which is a hearty Italian bread served with fresh tomatoes, onions and herbs - lovely! If garlic bread is a must, try having tomato garlic bread or plain garlic bread rather than garlic bread with cheese!
Pizza- Choose healthier, low fat / low calorie toppings, such as vegetables, ham, fish and prawns. Avoid salami and similar meats and don't ask for extra cheese.
Pasta- Opt for pastas with sauce based on tomatoes or vegetables, rather than cream. Try to avoid dishes with vast quantities of cheese.

Indian

Indian food is favourite for many people and a good Indian dish can be enjoyed from time to as a treat when following a low calorie diet.

Try to choose lower-calorie options such as:

Tandoori or madras with chicken, prawns or vegetables
Plain rice and chapatti instead of pilau rice and naan

Try to avoid creamy curries such as:

Korma;
Passanda; and
Massala.

However, if you really do want a creamy curry with a naan bread and pilau rice, do not feel as though you can't have it, but just don't have it too often! (no more than once a month for instance). Also, try and compensate for any calorie over indulgence on one day by a net depletion over the course of the next few days.

Chinese

Another favourite for many people. Try to opt for lower fat / lower calorie options such as:

Steamed fish;
Chicken chop suey; and
Szechwan prawns.

Also, choose steamed or plain rice rather than egg-fried rice. Anything in batter will be high in fat - again, avoid if possible. In terms of starters, avoid deep fried prawn crackers, dim sum and spring rolls.

Thai

The lower calorie dishes as those that are stir-fried dishes or steamed with chicken, fish or vegetables. The higher calorie dishes to be avoided are the green and red curries which are both made with coconut milk. Such dishes are quite high in fats, particularly saturated fats.

Fish and chips

Takeaway fish and chips is generally an option to be avoided, but if you are lured in to your local chip shop by the neon lights and you really feel like fish and chips, then there are things you can do to consume less calories but still fill yourself up:

Have a portion of baked beans with your fish and chips - eating more beans at the expense of less fish and chips is likely to result in less calories being consumed;
The thicker the chips the better because they absorb less fat - hence they often contain less calories than the equivalent weight of smaller chips;
Don't eat all the batter because it soaks up a lot of fat. If you can get it, fish coated in breadcrumbs soaks up less fat.

As a general point and a learning point, fish and chips cooked at the right temperature absorb less fat and are less calorific in nature. They will also taste a lot better. If your batter and chips appear soggy, this is often a sign that the oil that your meal was cooked in wasn't hot enough.

Burgers, kebabs and similar meaty options

Is fast food bad for you......? It is not as bad as you might think!

Burgers and kebabs receive a really bad press, but they are not necessarily as bad as we are led to believe. McDonalds, for instance, has been assassinated by the media for its burgers, but its Big Mac contains only 570 calories.

The real offender on the McDonalds menu is its medium fries at 540 calories.

If you opt for a burger, try the following to reduce your calorie intake:

Choose grilled burgers made from lean meat or fish;
Have your burger without cheese or mayonnaise; and
Opt for extra salad to fill yourself up.

If you opt for a kebab, try the following to reduce your calorie intake:

Go for a shish kebab served with pitta bread and salad rather than a donner kebab served in a naan bread. Not only is donner meat higher in calories than shish, the naan bread alone often contains more calories than an adults recommended main meal of the day!