Download WEEK SEVENTY-EIGHT :: What Are Some Good Foods To Choose

WEEK SEVENTY-EIGHT :: What Are Some Good Foods To Choose When Dining Out?
Eating out is something we all have in common. Whether it be because we don't feel like cooking
ourselves, for a social event, or perhaps just to try something different for a change, we all have our
reasons for dining out once in a while. Of course, there's nothing wrong with this as the dining
experiences often tend to be enjoyable and fun, but it's not without problems.
Many diners may find themselves in an awkward position as they try to pick out a meal the fits in with
their dieting routine. This article is designed to help in making those choices so no one has to fear
compromising their diet during their dining experiences.
Do you choose your restaurants before going out so that you know they will have a
healthy dish for you or do you pick from whatever options you have at that particular
restaurant?
Sometimes different situations call for different strategies. There are times that we decide to eat out
instead of cooking for ourself. In this kind of situation we have complete power over the choice of
dining location. At other times, a group of acquaintances might like to eat somewhere and you would
get some say in a location. Still yet, we may have no choice if we'd like to join a group that already
decided and is at a restaurant.
As humans are social creatures, we may agree to go to locations that we are not particularly fond of,
just to be able to eat with others. However, it's important to never let others compromise our goals. If
you don't agree with others' choice, it won't be the end of the world to choose not to go with them.
Many people will respect our decisions as long as we're open about them.
Ideally, the best situations are the ones where we know our options before actually arriving at the
restaurant. During these experiences, we can often avoid the stress that often accompanies choosing
foods that agree with our dietary decisions. In the coming section, we explore different styles of
cuisine in order to increase our comfort levels and get the most enjoyment out of our dining
experiences.
What are the healthiest choices at the following restaurants?
The growing trend of globalization allows for us to try food from different cultures all over the world.
Having such diverse selections are a blessing to take advantage of, however, some cultural preferences
may push dishes to extremes that do not agree with our balanced diets. Here, we'll explore different
styles of cuisine, and how to pick out the healthier items from each, creating a well balanced meal that
we're comfortable eating.
- American
While the cuisine of the United States includes a wide range of ethnic foods since it is a nation
comprised of immigrants, typically we think of barbecue, grilled, or fried style foods, especially meats,
as American. Common additions include breads, potatoes, and fresh salads or vegetables. The style
has a tendency to incorporate meats that may be less lean than desired. A good goal when eating at
American restaurants would be to make selections with fat content in mind. Let's look at some healthy
choices for specific locations.
Subway
In general Subway offers some of the healthiest sandwiches, salads, and wraps around. The basic way
to make a calorie-considerate choice would be to stay away from selections with excess cheese, or that
use meat like steak, bacon, meatballs, or salami. Picking the smallest portion size on whole wheat
bread with moderate cheese and lean meat would be ideal.
For example:
6" Roast Beef Sub (whole wheat bread, veggies, no sauce)
Calories: 290 Fat: 5g Saturate Fat: 2g Carbohydrates: 45g Protein: 19g Sodium: 920mg
Carl's Jr.
This location makes healthy choices very difficult. Most everything on the menu is loaded with fat and
high in calories. Avoiding Carl's Jr. altogether may be a good decision for those watching their food
intake. However, there a couple of exceptional choices that one can make here.
Examples:
Charbroiled BBQ Chicken
Calories: 370 Fat: 4g Saturated Fat: 1g Carbohydrates: 47g Fiber: 4g Protein: 35g
Charbroiled Chicken Salad to Go
Calories: 330 Fat: 7g Saturated Fat: 4g Carbohydrates: 17g Fiber: 5g Protein: 34g
KFC
The renowned fried chicken of KFC might be an unbalanced choice. Often the fat content is quite high
with basically no carbohydrates or fiber. The best choice would most likely come from the sandwich
menu.
Example:
Tender Roast® w/o sauce
Calories: 270 Fat Calories: 45 Fat: 5g Saturated Fat: 1.5g Cholesterol: 65mg Sodium: 690mg Carbs.:
23g Fiber: 1g Sugars: 0g Protein: 31g
McDonalds
While known for its burgers, they are typically not the best choice on the menu. A high fat content is a
common trait of menu selections. A good way to cut this back would be to choose grilled chicken over
beef and cheese to create a more balanced meal.
Examples:
Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken
Calories: 210 Fat: 6g Saturated Fat: 3g Cholesterol: 70mg Sodium: 830mg Carbs: 11g Fiber: 3g
Sugars: 4g Protein: 28g
Chicken McGrill
Calories: 400 Fat: 16g Saturated Fat: 3g Cholesterol: 70mg Sodium: 1010mg Carbs: 38g Fiber: 3g
Sugars: 7g Protein: 27g
TGIF
Moving on to the the nicer of American style restaurants, TGIF offers many meals that are well
balanced. The best bet to lowering calorie intake from a meal here, though, would be to choose
something from the low-fat menu. Selections from here have approximately 10 grams of fat and 500
calories total.
Examples:
Zen Chicken Pot Stickers
Shanghai Chicken Salad
Santa Fe Chicken Salad
Bruschetta Tilapia
Outback Steakhouse
Another nice restaurant, the Outback Steakhouse gives the diner many choices, allowing them to get a
meal just the way they want it. Some suggestions for organizing a healthy meal might be to order a
house salad, steamed vegetables, jacket, potato, or sweet potato prepared without toppings or butter as
sides. Then, for an entree select the shrimp, chicken, or steak veggie grillers, outback special, outback
lamb, or chicken on the barbie.
Buffalo Wild Wings
The bar and grill of Buffalo Wild Wings has a nice atmosphere, not to mention nice deals.
Unfortunately nutritional information is unavailable for the foods here, but the best bet looks to be
getting either a wrap or sandwich. Avoid extra sauces, creams, and cheeses while picking the grilled
chicken over the breaded in order to get a balanced and nutritious meal.
Hooters
It's one of those places that happens to be appealing for reasons besides the food. They do not offer
accurate nutritional information, but from experience, a lot of the food tends toward the greasy fried
type. Best stick with one of the grilled chicken salads or grilled chicken sandwich, holding the fatty
dressings, if you'd like to walk out with your stomach still at ease.
- Chinese/Japanese/Vietnamese
These Asian cuisines are characterized by the presence of a starch, either rice, noodles, or steamed
buns. Accompanying the starch would be another dish consisting of meat and/or vegetables. Meals at
Asian restaurants tend to be well balanced in terms of nutrients, but it's often necessary to watch
portion size. Often times, they will give extra servings of rice since it's not very expensive or because
it is considered the main part of the meal in many cultures. The other things to steer away from are the
fried and fatty meats.
Examples of some of the healthiest Asian cuisine choices:
Szechuan Shrimp
Shrimp with Garlic Sauce
Stir Fried Vegetables
Chicken Chow Mein
The above selections all have lower levels of fat compared to some other dishes. When eaten with an
appropriate amount of rice or noodles, they will provide a well balanced meal. However, shrimp dishes
may be an issue for those watching their cholesterol. Chicken and tofu are often good low-fat
substitutes for other meats.
- Italian
Popular foods of Italian origin include many pastas, breads, cheeses, and tomato based sauces. The
dishes that tend to include only these types of food items are often not very balanced. They lack a
protein source. Fortunately, there are many dishes which include chicken, shrimp, or other fish. All of
these examples taken from The Olive Garden restaurant would be good.
Examples of lunch sized entrees:
Chicken Giardino
Calories: 350 Fat: 7g Saturated Fat: 3g Protein: 26g Carbs: 40g Cholesterol: 50mg Sodium: 1180mg
Other good lunch sized entrees:
Grilled Chicken Spiedini
Garlic-Herb Chicken con Brocolli
Chicken Scampi
Shrimp Fra Diavolo
Venetian Apricot Chicken
- Mongolian
Mongolian food can be known for it's roasted meats accompanied by rice, noodles and vegetables. One
famous Mongolian dish is roasted sheep. Based upon the nutritional information for the Mongolian
Barbecue restaurant, I offer the following suggestions.
-Avoid sesame, peanut, or vegetable oil sauces as they are high in fat and calories.
-Choose soy, teriyaki, sweet & sour, marinara, lemon, or wine sauce.
-Choosing lo mein over pasta noodles will yield less calories.
-Good additions would be any of the vegetables. Tofu, egg, and potato additions add the most calories.
-Selecting tofu would mean more protein, an egg, more fat, and a potato, more carbohydrates.
-All seafood are generally good choices.
-The only meat to stay away from would be sausage, as it contains twice as many calories as port,
steak, chicken, lamb, or turkey. With 85% of these calories can be from fat in the sausage.
- Thai
Again we see rice as a staple component of Thai style dishes. Also common are curries, stir-fries and
noodle dishes. Most Thai food is either stir-fried, steamed, or sometimes grilled, so the preparation
method is not much of an issue. Following some of the same advice as before, watch portion sizes for
the starches, as they are often considered the main course. Also try to select from seafood or a lean
meat if available.
- Mexican
The style of food that hails from Mexico is characterized by its spicy flavors and pleasant varieties of
colors. In addition to its appealing taste, Mexican food is often very abundant in protein, vitamins, and
other nutrients. The trick to getting the most out of Mexican foods is to avoid the greasy, fatty foods
and toppings.
Taco Bell
Any of the “Fresco Style” items are good choices. All of them are 350 calories or under, with less than
10 grams of fat. The tacos, gorditas, chalupas, and burritos all offer good nutrition, but have slightly
more calories due to more fat content. Just try to avoid the express menu, the worst choices come from
it.
Chipotle
Offering satisfying burritos and tacos, there are a couple of places that one can go wrong when making
their selections. The biggest caloric additions come from the cheese, sour cream and guacamole.
Avoiding these as well as extra chips would make for the healthiest meal at this location.
What tips would you give to someone who is looking to eat healthy at a restaurant?
As we have seen, many dining locations do not provide nutritional information. In other
circumstances, the choices must be considered on the spot. In any case, there are general tips and
guidelines to follow in order to get a meal suited to our health interests. Here are some of them:
-Ask the waiter or waitress questions about how the food is prepared and try to request it a different
way if the current methods are undesired.
-Get a salad. The addition will add the often-lacking fiber component to many meals. It can also help
fill you up and resist eating greater amounts of a greasy, fatty, or otherwise less desired food. Just
make sure to avoid calorie-rich dressings, sour cream, and cheese additions as much as possible when
eating a salad.
-If getting a type of sandwich or burger, select a wheat or rye bread if available, providing the benefits
of extra fiber. Also, hold the mayonnaise and other fatty dressings. Select lean meats with fish, turkey
and chicken being best. A lot of fast food might have beef of questionable quality.
-Look for menu choices that are marked as light or similarly for the health conscious patrons.
-Avoid buffets. They just give reason to over-eat, particularly on unhealthy foods.
-Don't settle for fried foods. This reduces unnecessary fat content. Choose steamed, boiled, or baked
instead.
-Only select soft drinks labelled as diet. Regular types contain many unwanted and empty sugar
calories.
-Resist alcoholic beverages. It just ends up as empty calories and can slow the digestive process.
Additionally, the effects of alcohol may produce some loss of self-restraint, causing an undesired, overeating situation.
-Choose smallest portion sizes available. If the meal that you are served looks a little large for one
person, it probably is. Don't feel obligated to eat the whole thing. Feel free to take the left-overs home
for another meal in the future.
-Skip most appetizers and desserts. They are often less nutritional, fatty, or sugary.
-Remember balance. This is the key to getting the most nutritional meal possible. The main way to
accomplish balance in a meal is to select one serving of a clean starch like potatoes, rice, or pasta.
Sides of beans or corn are also good choices for their nutritional value and addition of fiber. The next
step would be to pick a clean protein source. Lean meats like turkey, chicken, or fish are excellent
choices, but a nice steak once in a while doesn't hurt too much either. Vegetables or salads can be
added as desired, provided the advice above is still heeded. The main source of calories should be from
the carbohydrates and protein. Make these calories count and choose clean, quality foods.
Which fast food place has the healthiest foods? Give examples.
This was an easy choice after browsing through the nutritional information provided by several
different establishments. Virtually every item on the Subway menu is less than 500 calories, with
almost all of these being fresh, clean, and quality calories. Subway also offers a great variety of
choices to suit most everyone's taste. They provide low-fat as well as low-carb selections. Possibly
some of the best and most balanced choices come from the low-fat menu.
Some examples taken from the low-fat menu:
All choices are 6-inch sandwiches on Italian bread with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, green peppers,
pickles, and olives.
Item
Ham Sandwich
Oven Roasted Chicken Breast
Roast Beef Sandwich
Turkey Breast & Ham Sandwich
Turkey Breast Sandwich
Subway Club Sandwich
Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki
Veggi Delite Sandwich
Calories
290
330
290
290
280
320
370
230
Fat
5g
5g
5g
4.5g
5g
6g
5g
3g
Carbs
47g
47g
45g
46g
47g
47g
59g
44g
Fiber
4g
4g
4g
4g
4g
4g
4g
4g
Sugar
8g
9g
8g
7g
8g
8g
19g
7g
Protein
18g
24g
19g
18g
20g
24g
26g
9g
Visit the website at www.subway.com to view more selections and to further research nutritional
information. Also an interesting read is Jared's transformation story. Apparently, he made amazing
losses in body fat on a diet consisting mainly of Subway foods.
Which has the worst? Give examples.
One of the unhealthiest quick-service dining locations explored was definitely Carl's Jr. Their menu is
loaded with gut-busting, fatty food with enormous calorie counts. Most of the sides might provide
enough calories to be called a main dish. The selection of salad dressings is ridiculous, with the low-fat
dressing still providing 260 calories, 150 of them being from fat. On top of all else, the desserts and
shakes add up to 700 nutritionally empty fat and sugar calories.
Examples:
Item
The Original Six Dollar Burger
Calories
1010
Fat
66g
Carbs
60g
Bacon Swiss Crispy Chicken Sandwich 750
28g
91g
Loaded Breakfast Burrito
49g
53g
810
Fiber
3g
Sugar
18g
3g
3g
Protein
40g
31g
39g
The website, www.carlsjr.com, also provided an interactive nutritional calculator that is interesting to
play with. I put together the following sample meal to demonstrate how unhealthy some choices can
get when eating at Carl's Jr.
Item
Double Six Dollar Burger
Calories
1420
Fat
101g
Carbs
62
Fiber
3
Sugar
17
Protein
64
Garden Salad-To-Go
House Dressing
Medium French Fries
Strawberry Ice Cream Shake
120
220
460
700
3g
22g
22g
33g
5
3
59
84
2
0
5
0
3
2
1
75
3
1
7
14
Total
2920
181g
213g
10g
98g
89g
There you have it. Half the meal is fat. Half the carbohydrates are from sugar. This selection, all from
Carl's Jr., is definitely lacking in nutritional value.
Now that we've seen examples ranging from the best to the worst in food nutrition, we know there is a
wide range of quality for the foods we consume. Hopefully, by following some of the healthy-eating
guidelines outlined previously, you can make more confident dining decisions.
References:
www.subway.com
www.carlsjr.com
http://www.helpguide.org/life/fast_food_nutrition.htm
http://www.3fatchicks.com/fast-food-nutrition/
http://www.cspinet.org/nah/09_02/best_worst.pdf
http://www.askmen.com/sports/foodcourt_100/135_eating_well.html
http://channels.netscape.com/homerealestate/feature.jsp?story=healthyfastfoods
http://www.coolnurse.com/dieting_ff.htm
http://walking.about.com/od/diet/a/blfastfood.htm
http://www.bdsmongolianbarbeque.com/Nutrition.pdf
http://www.shapefit.com/olive-garden-calories.html