Cooking and eating at home is definitely healthier, but what if you want to eat out? I found these tips on what to order and what to avoid like the plague!

Another tip that someone told me: If you order something rich and don’t intent to take it home, put lots of salt on it. That’ll prevent you from grazing if you’re deep in conversation with a friend.

Yes, I know it’s wasteful, but I know there are some folks out there who don’t like taking home leftovers.

Here are some highlights from Shape Magazine’s How to Eat Out & Still Lose Weight

Mexican Restaurants

• No chips. Save the salsa for added flavor to food.
• Salads: avoid cheese and the fried shell
• Choose grilled meats.
• Corn tortillas are baked
• Beans usually have lard. Avoid.

Chinese Restaurants

• Brown rice
• Order boiled items
• Use hoisin, duck and plum sauce. Low in fat, but be careful – high in sugar.
• Stir fries have LOTS of oil. Equivalent of the fat in 16 strips of bacon.

Thai Restaurants

• Good: Chicken sate’ with peanut sauce
• Avoid: curries with coconut milk base (too much fat)
• Good: Tom Yum soup
• Avoid: Pad Thai 😦 Too much oil
• Good: anything grilled or steamed

Italian Restaurants

• Good: order 2 appetizers for a meal. Most have lots of veggies. Avoid fried foods like fried calamari 😦 Look into getting a soup.
• Order a 1/2 portion of pasta and a salad. Dip the fork in the salad dressing and spear the salad.
• Avoid cheese.
• Choose tomato sauce.
• Use pesto in moderation.
• Choose grilled options

American Restaurants

• Always choose the healthy options.
• Choose high-protein breakfast or oatmeal.
• Chicken Caesar salad is deceptive – it’s high in fat (about as much fat as a cheeseburger)
• Choose clear soups
• Choose grilled chicken or salmon

Dessert

• Opt for a cappuccino or skim milk latte or fruit
• Avoid ice cream and whipped cream. Choose sorbet if you want ice cream.