Dilemma – Eating Out & Take away while trying to manage your weight!

As part of a busy and unpredictable lifestyle, dining out and ordering take away occasionally pop up during the week or on weekends. The following points will provide you with a few simple & basic tips on how to make healthier choices in such situations.

• Choose sauces that are not cream or butter based.
• Go for lean meats with lots of salads or vegetables.
• Remove any saturated fat from foods served to you. For example, remove the skin from poultry and trim the fat from meat.
• Garlic and herb breads can be high in saturated fat and calories. Ask for plain, fresh bread instead.
• Choose seafood dishes that are not crumbed and fried.
• Ask for salad dressings made from oils such as canola, sunflower, and olive oils. Ask for these on the side so you can add them yourself.
• Choose a pasta dish with a vegetable-based sauce instead of a creamy one.
• If you do have room for dessert, then suggest sharing a dessert with someone at your table. Try to choose those that are fruit based such as fresh, baked or canned fruit, or reduced fat custards, sorbets, or gelato.

Take Away

• Try to limit take-away foods such as pastries, pies, pizza, hamburgers and creamy pasta dishes to once a week.
• BBQ chicken: Choose the breast meat. Remove the skin and fat and limit gravy and stuffing. Serve with salad or vegetables rather than hot chips.
• Asian meals: Choose steamed rice, mixed vegetable dishes, lean meats (beef, lamb, pork or chicken), fish, seafood and stir fries. Try to limit dishes based on fried noodles, battered or crumbed deep-fried meats or seafood, coconut cream/milk and ghee.
• Hamburgers/Steak Sandwiches: Ask for lean grilled meat and lots of salad. When possible, ask for extra salad and a wholegrain bun.
• Italian: Choose pasta dishes with vegetable based sauces. Also, ask of the entreé size & have a side salad/cooked vegetables. Choose thin crust pizza with lots of vegetables. Try to avoid salami and sausage meats. Ask for lean meats and small amounts of cheese or reduced fat cheese.
• Lebanese/Greek: Choose donor/shish kebab/shawerma in pita bread (preferably wholemeal) with tabouli or with salad. Try to avoid fried starters such as samosas/fried “kebbeh”/sausages.
• Salad bars: Try to choose salads with dressings made from balsamic vinegar or oils such as canola, sunflower and olive oils, or choose salads with dressing on the side.
• Sandwiches and bread rolls: Ask for sandwiches and bread rolls to be wholemeal/wholegrain. Add reduced saturated fat fillings like lean meat, low or reduced fat cheese, skinless chicken, salmon, tuna and plenty of salad vegetables.

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