Many of my clients love to regularly eat out at restarants many times each week. This makes losing body fat VERY difficult for them, as well as me, as their trainer and coach. However, it CAN be done. It just takes a little education. There are a few tips to follow when ordering when eating out.1. When ordering chicken or fish, make sure it's baked or broiled. Also be sure that it's not breaded, and has not been marinated in oils. Most spices are fine though. Order sauces only on the side, only for dipping, not pouring onto your chicken or fish.
2. Most pastas in restaurants are cooked in water with oil and lots of salts, so make sure you ask for fresh pasta cooked without oils or salt. Cream sauces are usually higher in fat red sauces. Order the sauce on the side, again only for dipping, not pouring onto the pasta.
3. Most rice or potato dishes can easily prepared without sauces or butter and baked without the additions. It's very smart to carry your own butter substitutes to sprinkle on baked potatoes.
4. Chinese restaurants offer fresh white meat poultry or seafood with vegetables. Simply ask for the food to be steamed and any sauces be prepared without corn starch. Avoid fired rice and ask for all meals to be prepared without MSG.
5. Mexican restaurants often add beef fat to their beans and butter to the rice. Avoid the fried tortillas. Easy on the cheeses and it's okay to order chicken or shrimp in corn tortillas and rice without butter.
6. Watch out for "healthy" salads loaded with cheeses, nuts and bacon bits. A broiled chicken breast cut up in a green salad with a baked potato is a very suppotive meal that can be prepared in almost every salad serving restaurant. Make sure to get non-fat dressings or substitute lemon juice for salad dressing.
7. Japanese restaurants offer sushi and sashimi. The white fish (yellow tail, grouper, marlin, etc.) are usually the leanest high quality proteins. Sushi rice is usually white rice. If brown rice is available, it's better to order sashimi with brown rice on the side and a cucumber salad.
8. Be wary of the low fat items on the menu. Many of the low fat items are made with higher fat ingredients. I've seen low fat quesadillas (fried) with guacamole and cheese offering near 50% of calories from fat. DON'T BE AFRAID TO ORDER ITEMS NOT ON THE MENU. If a restaurant offers potato skins, it means they also have potatoes. Be sure to ask for what you want, not just what the menu has.
Chad Cannon is the owner of the Shaping Concepts Fitness Training Center in Bluffton, SC.
