Smart Dining-Out Strategies

Splurge On an Upscale Restaurant

Look for a restaurant that prides itself on using in-season, local ingredients. Such places tend to serve smaller portions of top quality foods, rather than gargantuan platters of inexpensive and oily pizzas and pastas. How do you know if the ingredients are local? The menu will usually say where top quality fish, meat, or produce is from. If a chef has gone through the trouble of acquiring, say, fresh wild salmon from a local river, he’ll want you to know how special it is, and will want to prepare the fish in a way that will show its quality to best advantage. This means that the chef probably won’t fry it or hide it under heavy sauces- fewer grams of fat and calories for you.

Dine with Other Health-Conscious People

Research shows that diners tend to mimic people around them. That means that if your friends order grilled fish and salads with dressing on the side, you’re more likely to do so, too. Sample all the entrees when they’re served. The variety will make you feel you indulged more than you really did, and you’ll know what you want to order next time.

Recycle Restaurants

If you dine out often this advice is for you. The more new choices you’re faced with, the more easily you’ll be seduced by foods you probably shouldn’t be eating. Limit temptation by ordering from the same old menu.

Indulge Yourself Annually

You’ve been dreaming of that triple brownie sundae and homemade pasta at the local Italian restaurant since your last anniversary dinner there. So go! Always saying “no” to food treats can make you resent your healthy diet. And even nutritionists say they go out and have their “weakness” food once every six to eight months. To get maximum enjoyment out of your special meal, make a reservation a month in advance. The farther in advance your event is planned, the more pleasure you’ll get when you finally dig in.

Ask the Waiter to “Recork” Your Wine  

Ordering wine by the bottle is usually a better deal than buying it by the glass. But don’t keep drinking just to finish the bottle. Ask the waiter to put the cork back in, and take the rest of the bottle home.

Invite Your Group for Frozen Yogourt After Dinner

Sheer inertia and sluggishness after a filling restaurant meal can cause you to order a dessert you didn’t really want- and finish the whole thing. That can ruin a carefully chosen meal, considering that a single slice of cheesecake contains about 720 calories and 25 grams of saturated fat. If you don’t have a healthy dessert at home that’s ready to eat, walk to the nearest place that serves frozen yogourt. And who knows? You might even decide on the way over that you’re too full for dessert.

Save the Gossip for Your Post-Meal Walk

Even a casual lunch with a friend can turn into an exercise opportunity if you take an energized turn or two around a nearby park or mall afterward.