Healthy Eating at Restaraunts

Eating out at restaurants is a favorite past time for many people. Most people think that when you eat out, you have no real control for eating a healthy diet. Often times this is a correct statement, however, you can still enjoy restaurants occasionally and maintain your healthy diet. You simply have to make good food choices. In order to make good food choices you have to learn about the nutrition you need to stay happy, physically healthy, mentally stable, and active.

Most restaurants have a large drink section on the menu... you should skip right over that. It can be very tempting to have a beer or mixed beverage with your food. However, these drinks come with many empty calories, which of course is not good for your body. The exception to this rule when it comes to alcohol is wine, especially red wine, which can be fine if you have a single glass and can actually help prevent heart disease for some patients.

The appetizer menu is the next culprit to unhealthy eating at a restaurant. Unless you are going to have a salad, you should skip appetizers. When you order appetizers, they are usually high-fat foods that are not meant to fill you up and can in fact make you crave even more high fat foods. What are the biggest high fat appetizers found on most restaurant's menu?

• mozzarella sticks
• potato skins
• wings

Instead of having an appetizer, try to focus on the main course meal that you will be eating. If the temptation is too much for you, share a single appetizer serving with the people at your table.

Now it is time to choose your main dish. The first think you want to look at is the ingredients of the dish. Anything with cream sauces or high-fat meats should be avoided. You should also give up the starches by passing up the potatoes, french fries or onion rings. Substitute them with side dishes like vegetables.

Remember too that portion is everything. Restaraunts like the Cheese Cake Factory, are known to give you more than the needed portion of your meal. In fact, they give you enough food to eat in three separate meals.

Try ordering off of the lunch menu whenever you can. You should also ask for a doggie bag at the beginning of the meal. Split your meal in half from the start so that you are not tempted to eat the entire thing, which is usually enough for two or three portions.

At the end of your meal, the waitress will stick a beautiful desert menu in your face. You may even be presented with dessert samples. Just like you skipped over the appetizers, you should skip over the desserts.

Again, you can share a single desert with the entire table if you feel compelled to order something, or split your portion in half. Many fancy desserts are restaurants have more calories than your entire meal, so keep this in mind before you flag down the waitress to put in an order! Of course, on special occasions, it’s alright to cheat a little, but overall healthy eating requires lots of resisting temptation around you.

Pressure to Not Eat Healthy

Eating healthy and having a healthy lifestyle is tough to do because of all the peer pressure and influence around you on a daily basis. Peer pressure to eat foods that are not good for you is a major part of your life. If you struggle with ways to overcome the peer pressure, don't worry - there are ways to overcome this struggle. It simply takes a little know-how to get people off your back!

One of the biggest source of peer pressure is parties. Usually there is alcohol that is present at parties. Just one drink of alcohol contains hundreds of empty calories. Often time people who drink want other people to drink with them. You might feel some pressure from the party goers to have a drink and relax.

It can be difficult to say no when they are constantly trying to convince you to say yes. Instead, inform them that you are a designated driver for the evening and that you want to stay sober. Usually this will ward off any additional requests for you to have a drink. You might be even asked to drive someone home for the night and could prevent a drunk driving incident from happening. This is an added benefit.

Another time when you may feel pressured to eat is when you have a business meeting with your boss or a client and lunch is ordered for everyone. To avoid a uncomfortable situation, inform your boss that you would like to order a meal in advance of the meeting that fits your healthy eating taste. It is becoming more common for meeting planners to ask your food preferences in advance of the meeting to ensure everyone has something that is desirable to their personal lifestyle choice.

Baby showers, weddings, birthday parties, and other special events can also wreak havoc on your diet, even if you are good at resisting temptation on your own. This is where most people struggle because at a celebration party there is usually cake. It is funny but people pressure you to eat a piece of cake just like they pressure you to have a drink of alcohol at a party for adults.

When someone hands you a piece of cake and won’t take no for an answer, it can be difficult to know what to say! Here are things that you can tell them to get them off your back. Inform them that you had an upset stomach earlier in the day and you do not want to eat at the moment. You could even explain that you have a food allergy and you try to avoid eating cakes and chocolates.

Remember, however, that while refusing bad foods is fine, you should be eating good foods. If you do not, dangerous eating habits and disorders can develop, which will give you, your friends, and your doctor a real reason to worry. It’s ok to say no to peer pressure, but don’t say no to food in general!

Should I Go Organic?

Have you noticed when you go into the grocery store that there are starting to be whole sections of foods labeled as natural or organic? Everything from products like eggs, meat, fish, milk, and produce have an organic section. Signs are posted everywhere labeling these foods and they make it seem as if there is a big difference. The difference I immediately recognize is the price but should I shell out extra money on a organic product or is it simply a marketing ploy?

Natural is a term that you will see associated with a number of fruit and vegetable products. This is definitely a marketing term used to get you to buy the product. Think about it, aren't ALL fruits and vegetables natural?

Next on the list is the organic label. These are foods that are grown without the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Farmers who grow organically help the environment by not introducing chemicals into nature.

You might be interested in purchasing organic foods to avoid ingesting those chemicals normally sprayed on vegetables and fruits to make them grow or pesticides to kill the insects and keep them from destroying the produce. Because organic foods are suppose to be chemical free, they are therefore likely to be healthier foods.

However, you have to balance your desire to purchase organic products over what you can afford to pay for your foods. Buying organic is usually more expensive. If you’re on a budget, skip over organic fruits and vegetables that you can peel, like oranges and bananas. In many cases, once you have discarded the peel, you’ve also discarded the chemicals. No matter what you buy, make sure that you rinse off and even wash your food when preparing to eat it.

You might also see the label “no hormones.” This is usually associated with milk or meat products. This is another labeling that is not true since all animals naturally produce hormones. Hormones are what helps an animal (even a human) regulate body organs, have young, and otherwise function. All meat products have hormones.

What these labels really trying to inform the consumer is that no hormones were unnaturally introduced to the animal. Often times hormones are introduced to animals to help them increase production. For cows it is done to increase the milk production; in chickens it is done to increase the egg production. Hormones are also introduced to cause the animal to grow bigger than it naturally would do on its own.

Finally you may come across meat that has a label that indicates whether the animal was caged or penned. There is argument over whether this makes a difference in the quality or nutritional value of the meat. Some argue that a stressed animal produces hormones that make the meat less desirable to eat. This statement has not been scientifically proven. It simply boils down to a matter of animal rights. These products may be a bit more expensive, but if you want to make human decisions, that is the way to go. Reading the label and making healthy choices can sometimes be difficult, but learning how to do so can help you make the best choices for you diet.