Health Tip: Eat Healthy When You Eat Out

[CHEF GIRL]

When it's time to eat out, you may think it's too difficult to stick to a diet or to watch those calories.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which offers these eating-out tips, begs to difference:

Order water, skim milk, unsweetened tea, or other drinks low in sugar and calories.
Order a small salad as an appetizer, which will help fill you up before the main meal.
Order salad dressings and other fattening sauces on the side.
Order entrees that include vegetables.
Order dishes that are steamed, baked or broiled, not fried.
Order a small or medium-sized portion -- or even a children's meal -- instead of a regular adult portion.
Order something from the menu, instead of visiting the all-you-can eat buffet.

[wackychick]

And if you can't order a smaller portion, a good rule of thumb that I use is to just eat half of what you get and take the other half home for another meal another day. They serve you such huge portions these days, it is easy to do and you'll still get full on just half.