Eating Out? Eat Right!(Heart Health)
Are you trying to maintain a heart-healthy diet? If so, you may find dining out to be a challenge. It’s difficult to choose a smart meal when the portions are so large and there are so many tempting sauces, creams, and dressings poured on top of them. It can be done, though! While it may take more planning and special requests, you can make any meal work toward good heart health. Try these simple tips the next time you dine out!
Choose restaurants that have low saturated fat, low cholesterol menu choices. And, don’t be afraid to make special requests — it’s your right as a paying customer.
Control serving sizes by asking for a side-dish or appetizer-size serving, sharing a dish with a companion, or taking some home.
Ask that gravy, butter, rich sauces, and salad dressing be served on the side. That way, you can control the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol that you eat.
Ask to substitute a salad or baked potato for chips, fries, coleslaw, or other extras — or just ask that the extras be left off of your plate.
When ordering pizza, order vegetable toppings like green pepper, onions, and mushrooms instead of meat or extra cheese. To make your pizza even lower fat, order it with half of the cheese or no cheese.
At fast food restaurants, go for salads, grilled (not fried or breaded) skinless chicken sandwiches, regular-sized hamburgers, or roast beef sandwiches. Go easy on the regular salad dressings and fatty sauces.
Limit jumbo or deluxe burgers, sandwiches, french fries, and other foods.
While it’s difficult to avoid eating out, you can make good choices no matter where you choose to dine. It just takes a little extra planning and a lot of determination — but in the end, the health benefits will be worth it.
B-man 