How to: Eat Out and Not Wreck Your Diet

Going out to dinner should be fun, relaxing and social, so don’t sit at the table wracked with guilt over possibly ruining the diet you’ve been carefully following. There are ways to enjoy yourself out on the town without sending yourself into a shame spiral because you over-consumed. The Big Breakfast Diet by Daniela Jakubowicz, M.D., explains that with a little planning and awareness about portion size and food preparation, you can easily sidestep any roadblocks you may encounter when dining out.

Here are 10 tips for a diet-friendly night:

1. Review the menu from home: If you’re dining at a chain restaurant, check its website, where many post the nutritional information for their menus. Decide on your meal before leaving home, or figure out how you will ask your server to prepare your entrée for you.

2. Start with an appetizer: Start you meal with something healthy like shrimp cocktail – hold the cocktail sauce and squeeze on a bit of fresh lemon. Or opt to have your dessert first, such as a bowl of fresh fruit salad.

3. Ignore the bread basket: Unless you’re at a restaurant that serves crusty artisanal bread, most bread isn’t worth the carbs.

4. Speak up for substitutions: If your entrée comes with fries or cole slaw, request a salad, dressing on the side, or grilled veggies instead and pay extra if you have to. Or if you get three sides with your entrée, ask your waiter for a triple order of steamed, grilled or roasted veggies.

5. Practice preventative portion control: The majority of restaurants offer gigantic portions, so ask your server to box half your entrée (except for the veggies) and serve the other half.

6. Use the dip-and-spear method for salads: When you order a salad, ask for the dressing on the side. Dip your fork into the dressing, then spear a forkful of greens.

7. Treat yourself to seafood: Since fewer people tend to cook seafood at home, treat yourself when you go out. Request that your fish or shellfish be baked, broiled, sautéed, poached, steamed, or grilled, and that it be prepared without extra oil or butter. Nix sauces or ask for them on the side.

8. Tempt yourself with lean meat or poultry: Your best bets include skinless chicken breasts, pork loin, and beef sirloin. Request that it be baked, broiled, grilled, poached or roasted without extra butter or oil.

9. Have dessert raw: For a sweet ending to your meal, order a dish of fresh-fruit compote.

10. Menu Reading 101:
Here are some common menu descriptions that suggest lower and higher fat content:

Lower Fat Content:
Grilled
Poached
Broiled
Braised
Baked
Roasted
Boiled
Steamed
Au jus
Stir-fried
Dry (boiled in wine)

Higher Fat Content:
Fried
Buttered
Breaded
Au Gratin
Crispy
Rich
Creamed, creamy
Béarnaise or Hollandaise sauce
Parmesan