There are several healthy menu items offered at many restaurants and fast food establishments. If possible, decide what you plan to eat before you go to any restaurant. Then you will be less tempted when you are hungry to order a less nutritious item. For example, Wendy’s has an 8-ounce chili that contains 187 calories and 6 grams of fat. McDonald's has a fruit and yogurt parfait that has 160 calories. Subway is always a great choice and offers a number of healthy sandwiches (turkey, oven-roasted chicken breast, roast beef, veggie delite). Applebee’s offers a weight watchers menu that lists the calorie content of each entrée, while Chili’s has a "guilt-free" section of their menu that lists the calories, fat, and carbohydrates of each entree. Calorieking.com is a great place to look up the calorie content of different food items. A variety of restaurant menu items and nutrition facts can be found on the Web site at www.calorieking.com.
Also, most of the chain restaurants have their own nutritional information on their own Web sites that you can access. Some even allow you to combine menu items so you can easily get the total calories and fat content for an entire meal you might order.
If the nutritional information is not available, in general, here are some good items to order:
- Baked, grilled or broiled meat, fish, or poultry.
- Baked white potatoes or sweet potatoes.
- Plain rice, especially brown rice.
- Side orders of garden salads or steamed vegetables.
- Cottage cheese with fruit.
- Whole wheat bread and toast.
- Cooked whole-grain cereals like oatmeal.
- Unsweetened dry whole-grain cereals.
- Fat-free or reduced-fat milk.
- Yogurt.
- Beverages that are sugar free like black coffee, unsweetened tea, diet sodas, water.
- Any topping or sauces like light mayonnaise, light salad dressing, margarine, and butter only served on the side so you control the amount added to your food.
