4 of 8

Write now Article Tools

Whether one eats out several times a week or on an occasional basis, eating healthy tips will remain the same. One of the biggest mistakes that an individual can make is to think that eating healthy is dieting. Dieting is a nasty word and needs to be taken out of one's vocabulary. For instance, when a woman is under the impression she is dieting and must eat foods that will not add extra pounds on her scale, she falls under the false pretense that certain foods are bad and certain foods are good. However, it is not what you think because her good foods are cakes, cookies, brownies, pizza, and pasta; while fruits, vegetables, and grains are her bad foods. She feels she is sacrificing when she is dieting. Eating healthy is a life-style, not a diet, which occurs twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

The first step to eating healthy while dining out is to change one's mindset. Eating out should be no different than eating at home. Even though one's hands did not produce the plate placed on the table, it still should be the same type of food. Both fine dining and casual restaurants will have a variety of dinner entrees that are quite pleasing to the palate. Ordering a nice chicken breast cooked in an Italian sauce with sauted green beans, rice pilaf, and a slice of warm bread with a dab of real butter is a delicious meal selection.

Another important key element to eating healthy while dining out is portion control. Restaurant owners want their customers to leave satisfied. To illustrate, a pasta order in most restaurants can be sized, if you ask. Rachael Ray advised her audience, on "$40 a Day", to ask for portions even if the menu does not list it. Most food business will want to accommodate their customers and will gladly send a smaller amount. Not only will you save on calories, but you may even save a few extra dollars. However, if the chef is not agreeable to cut his cuisine in half, then ask for a box the minute the meal is delivered. By separating a meal into two portions (before that fork hits the plate) one will ensure himself not to overeat.

Fast food establishments, on the other hand, should not be a person's first choice in eating out. Does this mean that one must never set foot in a fast food restaurant? Of course not! Even fast foods are jumping on the eat-healthy-wagon by serving salads, yogurts, and fruit. Therefore, stepping through those doors has more options for eating healthy than ever before. Plus, eating a hamburger from one of these establishments will only hurt a person's scale if done in abundance.

Healthy tips for dining out are more about one's thoughts rather than which selection to choose on a menu. God created the human body to be a temple for our spirit. By balancing the pleasure and nourishing aspects of food, a person will be able to remember that there is a responsibility that comes with caring for that temple. There is an old saying that will help put food into a healthy perspective, "People should eat to live, not, live to eat!"

Learn more about this author, Michelle Burkhardt.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about Dining out in a healthy manner?
We want to hear your view. Write now!