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You're on a diet, so you can't really enjoy a night of dining out, right? Wrong. You're not on a diet, you're on the Weight Watchers program, and you can have a lovely time when you want to eat out. All you need to do, as always, is to make better choices.

It obviously helps if the dinner is pre-planned. You can check out the restaurant's menu beforehand, online, where it will be available, more often than not. That puts you in a better position to make a well thought out, healthier choice. Some of the better established chain restaurants also have their food's nutritional information on their website. Plus, with the advance planning, you can make allowances for the extra points that you will need for your night out, by consuming fewer points in the couple of days immediately preceding it. The flexible nature of the program allows you to do that.

When choosing your food, keep a few basics in mind. Choose grilled meat over fried. Steamed dumplings over fried ones. Marinara sauce over cream sauce. White meat over red. Seafood over poultry. A side of beans and asparagus over potatoes. And, if you feel comfortable enough, discard that wine or lemonade in favor of plain water. Steer clear of dishes that explicitly mention cheese or oil in their descriptions.

Restaurants sometimes serve their dishes in large portions. Make sure you stop eating as soon as you begin to feel full. And if you don't really feel the need for dessert, skip it. Otherwise, again, pay attention to the portion size. They are likely to bring you a large slice of warm chocolate cake with an equally large scoop of ice cream. And once you begin to eat it, you'll find it extremely difficult to resist the temptation of polishing it off. Choose something that comes in a smaller serving size. Opt for a mousse rather than a cake. Ask if they have a fruit salad, or a scoop of ice cream served with cut fruit. And stop as soon as you feel full.

Eating out does not have to be about watching everyone else enjoy what they like best, and depriving yourself of the same pleasure. It's just about doing what you are already doing on a regular basis - making healthier choices for your food. You're on a program that allows you, quite literally, to have your cake and eat it too!

Learn more about this author, Bhavya Dabas.
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