The Health Bulletin

Everyone likes eating out. But when you’re on a diet, you face that inevitable dilemma. What can I eat in a restaurant while still staying on my diet? Or, the lesser challenge, do I just eat anything I want and forget about the diet? Well, today, with so many people eating out frequently, you should certainly follow through on the first option.

Search out restaurants that have a low calorie menu, such as Applebee’s and Houlihan’s. More and more restaurants are accommodating guests who need to or want to eat healthy at restaurants when away from home.

Many restaurants have their menus online at their website. Search the restaurant’s website for their menus first and you can see if they have low calorie options before you even go. You may wish to call ahead and ask if the chef is willing to prepare some main dishes to minor specification changes, such as no butter. Often a restaurant will have no problem substituting a side salad for a side of fries or a baked potato. Skip the cole slaw as well; it can add a lot of calories with the creamy sauce.

Use some will power to pass on the bread they often put down. It’s hard but it’s filling and the butter pats can add up to heavy duty calories. Skip the alcohol and appetizers and simply order water for your drink.

A small salad with a vinaigrette dressing would be fine. In fact, you can make your main dish a salad. Add plain chicken or fish or have a shrimp cocktail with it. These are low calorie options. Skip creamy dressings such as Russian, Blue cheese, thousand island and ranch. If you must have one of them, limit it to the tiniest amount of dressing to make it edible. Ask for your dressing on the side, so that you have the option of putting it on your salad yourself.

Then scour the main courses. Look for chicken or fish that has been grilled, roasted or broiled. If you want to order those items, be sure to tell the server, no butter! Usually, that’s how they make the grilled food taste so good!

Definitely avoid creamy sauces, pasta, and fried foods of any type. Certainly skip dessert.

If you eat out frequently, it is easy to fall into the habit of ignoring your diet or being misled into thinking that the food you ordered is “healthy” when its been drenched in butter, fat or creamy thick sauces.

Knowledge is your best friend and research your options. You can eat out for a working lunch or socialize with pals while on a diet. You can eat more than cottage cheese. You just have to know your options.

Find some local, Madison WI restaurants that have healthy food that tastes amazing.

Many people find it a chronic endeavor to lose weight. However, it is important to lose excessive weight to prevent diseases like heart disease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea and gallbladder disease. Overweight can also contribute to some types of cancer, including uterus, gallbladder, ovary, breast and colon in women. Nevertheless, it is not an impossible task to lose weight. You can follow some of the best weight loss tips to prevent many diseases and enjoy various health benefits.

• Identify the reason for why you eat more:

More often, overeating is triggered by stress, anger, depression and loneliness. Learning to cope with these emotional problems can help you to reduce overeating and thereby to lose weight.

• Make healthy changes in your diet:

Making some healthy changes in your diet is one of the best weight loss tips. You can consume a lot of raw fruits and steamed vegetables. This helps to decrease your appetite for stimulant foods like coffee, cola drinks, alcoholic beverages. This also encourages your body to burn more calories. Fruit and vegetables rich in vitamin C liquefy strong body fat, so that it can be easily flushed out of your body. You can also include foods high in fiber like oatmeal in your daily diet. Fiber prevents your body from storing fat and helps to lose weight. You can take lean proteins like baked chicken, fish and whey protein that help to raise your metabolism, which in turn burn off more fat from your body.

• Do some regular exercises:

If you want to lose weight permanently, then you need to do some exercises regularly. Cardio exercises are the best option to burn more calories within a short period of time. You can choose any of the cardio exercises like step aerobics, swimming, bicycling, running and walking to lose your unwanted weight fast.

• Stay motivated:

Staying motivated is one of the best weight loss tips. Without motivation, you may not be able to lose weight, no matter how hard you work out. It is important to set a realistic, short term goal, as it increases your motivation. If you want to become more successful in long term weight loss, you need to focus on becoming healthier rather than becoming thinner.