Eating Out Survival Guide
Ellen Coleman, RD, MA, MPH © 2004

Finding a healthy meal within your calorie and fat budget while on-the-go or on-the-road can be a challenge. But, by following a few guidelines for choosing fast foods, eating at restaurants, and ordering from menus, you can have healthier meals away from home.

Fast Food
Fast food meals can be part of a healthy diet and active lifestyle when nutritious options are selected. Many fast food restaurants offer salad bars, prepared salads, grilled or baked meat, fish or poultry, baked potatoes, low-fat frozen yogurt or ice-milk, and healthy soups.

For breakfast, start your day with hot or cold cereal, bagels, English muffins, low-fat muffins, pancakes, toast, fruit, and fruit juices. Add a scrambled egg and one-percent or non-fat milk or yogurt. Breakfast sandwiches made with cheese, sauce, bacon, or sausage, and side dishes such as hash browns, Danish, croissants, and biscuits are higher in fat and calories.

If you crave a burger for lunch or dinner, go for a single patty to keep fat intake to a minimum. Even two plain hamburgers have less fat than a double burger with cheese. Ask for extra tomatoes and lettuce, not sauce.

Breading and deep fat-frying offsets the low-fat content of skinless chicken and fish. Order these foods grilled, roasted, or broiled. Add barbecue sauce or spices for flavor instead of a mayonnaise-based sauce.

Choose thin crust pizza instead of thick crust or deep-dish pizza. Vegetable pizza toppings such as mushrooms, spinach, onions, green and red peppers, hot peppers, pineapple, and broccoli are high in carbohydrate and fiber and low in fat. Extra cheese, pepperoni and sausage add more fat. Chicken, Canadian bacon or low-fat mozzarella or ricotta cheeses are leaner protein options.

Choose a regular- or junior-size roast beef, chicken, turkey, ham and cheese, or vegetable sandwich. Spice up your sandwich with oregano, pepper, mus-tard, barbecue sauce, tomatoes, vegetables, pickles, and hot or sweet peppers instead of mayonnaise or oil. Order your sandwich on whole-grain products to increase dietary fiber. Croissants and biscuits are high in fat.
Top a baked potato with non-fat sour cream, chives, two tablespoons of grated cheese, mushrooms, broccoli, or chili. Avoid high fat toppings such as cheese sauces, regular sour cream, and bacon.

Go easy on fries to reduce calories and fat. Enjoy a small order of fries – or share a large with a friend. At the salad bar, choose salad greens, fresh fruits, and vegetables. Salads made with mayonnaise or oil (potato, macaroni, coleslaw, and pasta) are high in fat. Add lean protein with low-fat cheese and cottage cheese, kidney beans, egg whites, tuna, chicken, and turkey. Top your salad with raisins, croutons, and low fat or nonfat salad dressing. Choose soups such as chicken/turkey with noodles/rice, minestrone, vegetable, black bean, lentil, and split pea. Broth-based soups are preferable to cream soups that supply significantly more calories from fat.

Next: "Restaurants"