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For anyone watching their food intake, whether for weight loss or general health, restaurants can be a minefield. What should be a cornucopia of delights is instead an evening of surreptitious calorie counting. But no-one need spend more time analysing food than enjoying it, so here are my top ten tips for making the restaurant experience pleasurable and healthy.

1.PLAN
If you have a dinner reservation then keep breakfast and lunch low calorie so there is room for an evening treat.

2.PICK THE RIGHT RESTAURANT
Some menus are easier to eat healthily from than others. Pan-European cuisine usually offers plenty of white fish and fresh vegetables, but it is hard to resist the temptation of pizza and pasta in an Italian, or the huge steaks, burgers and fries in an American grill.

3.MAKE AN EARLY RESERVATION
A dinner reservation at 6.30pm is much better for the digestion than one at 9.30pm.

4.EAT QUALITY FOOD
Try going to a more expensive restaurant than you would normally. The more up-market the restaurant, the more likely the ingredients are to be simply cooked but high quality. And if it's expensive, your wallet will say "no" to dessert, so you don't have to!

5.DON'T NIBBLE
Crisps, nuts, olives and bread rolls will all tempt you before the food arrives. Don't give in.

6.CHOOSE YOUR FOOD CAREFULLY
Try soup or salad as a starter but without bread. Soups made with vegetable stock are best, like tomato and basil or pea and mint. A really good vichysoisse, though delicious, will have chicken stock, butter and cream aplenty in it, so it not advised for a low cholesterol diet. Likewise the lobster bisque. Sorry.

When it comes to the main course, eat a version of what you want to eat, but altered to reflect your current eating goals. So in an Indian restaurant, have a tandoori chicken with boiled rice instead of the chicken korma and peshwari naan you used to love.

7.DRINK PLENTY OF WATER
It's good for you, it's calorie free and it will help you eat less if you drink a glass of water before each course.

8.WATCH YOUR ALCOHOL INTAKE.
A glass of wine with your meal is fine, but drink slowly or you'll lose your inhibitions and before you know it you'll be tucking into surfn'turf.

9. BE GOOD WITH THE PUD
If you have a sweet tooth then treating yourself to dessert is no crime, though obviously avoid those piled with whipped cream. Meringues, though high in sugar, are low in fat; fresh fruit is fine and anything without pastry is better than anything with. Sorbet will probably be within your boundaries. Under no circumstances ever have the cheese board.

10. ENJOY YOURSELF!
Life is about balance and you won't wreck a diet in one night, so make the best choices you can and enjoy yourself. Remember, it's what you've eaten this week that counts, not simply this meal.

Learn more about this author, Anne Davey.
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