The September issue of Fitness magazine was full of tips for people who want to eat a little smarter, both at restaurants and at home. In case you missed it, here are some of the highlights.
Tips for successful restaurant eating
If you’re on a diet now or have ever been on a diet, you know how difficult it can be to stick to your plan when you go out to eat. Best intentions can easily be wrecked by tempting menu items or a long wait for a table.
For that reason, Fitness’ health experts say you should always get a reservation when you can so you don’t have to sit around watching other people eat (and getting really hungry) before you sit down. If you can pick a table in a less-crowded and noisy area of the restaurant, that will help, too, because distractions, from the hostess station to a book or a television, will cause you to focus less on your food and result in your eating more.
Other tips include taking a few minutes to relax after getting to the restaurant instead of diving headlong into the fried appetizers; watching menus for adjectives like “juicy” and “rich,” which often connote fatty choices; order condiments on the side and use just a spoonful on your meal; and pay cash so you’re less inclined to indulge in dessert, drinks and appetizers.
Better choices for at-home eating
Most of us know of a few foods that experts recommend we eat if we want to be really healthy, like blueberries, oatmeal and almonds. The magazine recommends a few more snacks and tasty foods that you might want to add to your diet for optimum nutrition.
The magazine’s health experts say swapping bread for a whole-wheat pita for a sandwich gives you more fiber and more opportunity to add veggies to your meal. Choosing a tomato salsa as an accompaniment to a sandwich or for a snack is a great choice because of the lycopene involved, and because it is flavorful but low-calorie. Hummus is another great snack option because of the olive oil, which can help stabilize your blood sugar and calm the appetite.
Kale is recommended because of an antioxidant that may help prevent ovarian cancer, while popcorn should be your go-to evening snack (without the butter, of course) because it’s so low in calories you can eat a huge portion without wrecking your diet.
Oranges are a great choice not only for vitamin c, but also for their high levels of potassium, fiber and folate, and mangoes have polyphenols that may help protect against cancer and heart disease. Vegetable soup is a good way to get closer to your daily quota for produce and may help you eat fewer calories when consumed before a meal.
Grass-fed beef is a wonderful way to get omega-3s, and plain yogurt has a good balance of carbs, protein and fat and may help you lose more body fat.
(By Sarah E. White for CalorieLab Calorie Counter News)
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Eat smarter: Restaurant tips and new foods to nosh
By sarah
