by Saralyn Colon

Created on: July 20, 2008   Last Updated: December 10, 2011

Every so often, it's great to go out to a restaurant. After a long day at work or school, picking the kids up, cleaning, helping with homework, and all the other daily chores of a household, it's nice to have one less thing on your to do list. Restaurants are a good way to alleviate the stress of cooking a meal. However, many people have a hard time ordering food when out to eat. What should I order? I love the fried chicken, but should I have the fish and steamed veggies instead? Most people find that eating healthy is harder to do at restaurants than at home.

Most restaurants offer "low carb" or healthier items on their menu. For these items, there's typically some type of food content listed with the item itself. There's no need for restaurants to add additional information such as calorie and fat content to all menu items. You would be surprised how certain menu items would not sell as well if people knew how bad or fattening the items were. Also, having a salad with grilled chicken is obviously more healthy than chili cheese fries. What I would like to see however, are carbohydrate listings for menu items.

Being a diabetic makes ordering at restaurants more difficult. Carbohydrate amounts and portion sizes are the most important aspect of the food a diabetic will consume. Having the carbohydrate counts and sizes of all portions, not just steak or fish, will better allow those with diabetes to better gauge their choice of food and medication.

When I go out to eat, I find that while I would love the loaded double cheeseburger, fries, and a soda, having diabetes prevents me from ordering it. I end up choosing salad or veggies instead of a potato or fries. I also have to pay attention to each ingredient, as barbecue sauce, some salad dressings, and the "Jack Daniels" sauces pack too much sugar by themselves to make the meal worth eating. If the menu listed to carb values for its items, I could better decide which entrees are ok and not ok for my diet. I would also be able to indulge once in a while on those larger carb items, but still be able to adjust my medication appropriately for them.

Calories and fat grams are important for those of us watching our weight or trying to eat healthier. However, I do feel that meals are pretty self explanitory when it comes to being healthy choices or not. If you aren't sure still, check out the menu section labeled as healthy or lite.

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