Enjoy the foods you love without a calorie overload

You'll find dozens of ideas here for eating delicious restaurant foods without blowing your diet—but most importantly, remember these 2 tips:

• If you are going to eat out, think about what you are eating the rest of the day so you can plan well and not blow your "calorie budget."
• Have it your way. Restaurants are in the business of serving customers. Don't be afraid to ask for items specially prepared the way you want them.

The plan

Ordering tips

• Order regular portion sizes instead of the jumbo sizes now common. Try an appetizer, half an entrée, or share a meal with a friend and order an extra side salad. Ask for half the entrée to be wrapped up to go before the food is brought to the table.
• Get exactly what you want by ordering each item separately (a la carte). For example, one chicken enchilada easy-on-the-sauce, side salad, and fruit desert instead of the #8 enchilada plate with rice, beans, sour cream, guacamole, etc.
• Learn to spot which dishes are made with lower calorie cooking methods.
• Ask how dishes are prepared and can they can do it your way: grill the chicken, steam the vegetables, bring sauces and salad dressings on the side, put just a dollop of cream sauce on the pasta primavera and extra grilled vegetables.
• Don't tempt yourself! Have the waiter remove the bowl of chips or peanuts, or the basket of bread, after you've had a small portion. Calories from mindless nibbling can add up before you know it. Don't sit near the desert cart.
• Limit alcohol. It's high calorie, has few nutrients, and can weaken your will power.

Good menu choices

• Clear broth-based soups like Chinese won ton or hot and sour soup, consumée, tortilla soup, or minestrone.
• Lettuce or spinach salads with vegetables and dressing on the side. Go easy on the bacon bits, croutons, cheese, and mayonnaise-based items like macaroni salad or tuna salad (1/4 cup tuna salad = 190 calories).
• Raw vegetables (crudités) with a small amount of low-calorie dip.
• Steamed vegetables with a slice of lemon; grilled veggies if not drenched in oil.
• Meats that are grilled, broiled, roasted or baked without added fat. Choose seafood that is broiled, baked, steamed, blackened, or poached—think tender sole poached in parchment with broth, savory vegetables and herbs.
• A reasonable portion of steak – 3-6 oz.; other lean meat cuts served au jus, with a piquant fruit sauce, or stir-fried with vegetables. Again, go easy on the rich sauces.
• A baked potato with a pat of butter or small amount of sour cream. Top with broccoli, low-fat chili, or salsa.
• Sandwiches on whole wheat, pita, multigrain breads; with low-fat deli meats and cheeses; mustard, relish, ketchup, or low-fat mayonnaise. Add flavor and vitamins with roasted sweet peppers, lettuce, tomato, jalapenos, and chopped olives (small amount).
• Fresh fruit, sherbet, and angel food cake are good choices for dessert.

Fast food

Mexican food

• Brown rice, no-fat black beans, lower-fat cheese,
• Whole-wheat tortillas, corn tortillas, soft tacos,
• Marinated vegetables, grilled chicken, fish Vera Cruz style,
• Fish tacos (grilled fish, coleslaw light on mayonnaise, chopped tomato, salsa)
• Sour cream blended with non-fat yogurt, baked chips,
• And of course salsa—so low in calories you can use it on everything.

Italian food

• Pasta e fagioli (flavorful entree with white beans)
• Minestrone soup
• Salad, dressing on the side
• Crusty bread, go light or skip the butter and olive oil
• Pasta with marinara (red sauce)—skip the meat sauce, or try red clam sauce instead.
• Pasta primavera if made without a cream sauce
• Chicken or veal cacciatore (tomato based sauce)
• Chicken marsala, if made with wine and broth rather than butter or cream
• Fruit for dessert