Our lives are not always stationery. Sometime you may find yourself travelling for work or leisure and some other time you are away from home most meal-times. With today’s hectic lifestyles, most of us end up eating out often. That could mean getting a coffee and pancake or mandazi for breakfast from a nearby café, grabbing a sandwich or a chapati from the supermarket for lunch, ordering take-out for dinner, or indulging on a special meal at a favorite restaurant.

This may pose challenges especially if you want to keep up with your nutrition goals. Meals away from home make it harder to control ingredients, calories, and portions. This however need not to be a cause of concern, with a small tweak, you can get your daily nutrition needs met. It’s not so much about perfection, it’s about continuing to adjust and make changes based on the circumstances.

It is therefore important to come up with strategies to ensure that you mostly get the right nutrition for every meal.

Most healthy snacks can be packed and carried in small packages without going bad e.g. peanuts, macadamia nuts, cashews, walnuts, apples etc.

The key is to take some time and preplan for those situations and identify those things that ensure you meet your nutritional goals.

Here are 22 Healthy Tips for Eating Out

1. Select a restaurant that offers a variety of foods so that you can choose healthier menu items
2. Before you order, ask how the food was prepared, the ingredients and how the menu selections are prepared. Try to choose dishes made with whole grains, healthy oils, vegetables, and lean proteins. Meat that has been broiled, poached, baked, or grilled is a more health-conscious option than deep-fried foods or dishes prepared with heavy sauces.
3. Obtain a copy of the menu before going to a designated restaurant in order to decide ahead of time what you will order to avoid being distracted by their offers
4. Go where you know you can order food that supports your nutrition goals. Fast food joints wouldn’t be a wise choice
5. Tell the wait staff how you prefer your food to be served i.e. more vegetables and less of protein and carbs. I’ve found that they are mostly very supportive and understanding
6. If you must go to a buffet-style restaurant, survey the entire buffet so that you can decide which selections are the healthiest and will support your nutrition goals. Use a smaller plate at the buffet-style restaurants. Always START with the vegetables. Once you serve the right portion of the vegetables, the other portions will automatically fit on the plate
7. Avoid ordering complete dinners, which often times include extra portions. Instead opt for a-la-carte selections since they give you more control over what you eat. You can politely request how you would like your meal prepared e.g. “I’d like my chicken grilled without margarine or butter”.
8. The best breakfast option in the restaurants include a bowl of uji (porridge), high-fiber cereals with no added sugar, skimmed milk, unsweetened yoghurt or mala, hard boiled eggs, chicken breast, beans, scrambled egg whites, sweet potatoes, omelets, oats, tea or coffee. Avoid the pastries, over processed and sugar-added cereals, white bread
9. If you know you are going to eat out for dinner, plan to have a lighter lunch
10. Ask the server to remove the bread basket after you have been served to avoid the temptation of eating bread. You don’t have to eat soup with bread
11. Curb your appetite by ordering soup or a salad prior to your meal
12. Avoid appetizers such as samosas, fried onion rings, buffalo wings etc. A soup or salad will suffice
13. Most of the sauces in the restaurants are loaded with high fat, high sugar and high cholesterol. Get familiar with the restaurant lingo e.g. sautéed, fried etc. and make an informed decision regarding your meal choices
14. When ordering a salad, ask for dressing on the side or request no dressing at all (opt for lemon or vinegar and black pepper instead)
15. Consider sharing an entrée with your dining companion if the portions are large
16. When ordering beef or lamb, stick to lower fat cuts
17. Trim all visible fat from your meat
18. For poultry or turkey order skinless or just remove the skin once you are served
19. Don’t feel guilty about leaving food on your plate
20. You don’t have to have a dessert, but if you would like, choose fresh fruits
21. Avoid going for second serving in the buffet-style restaurant. In case you need to eat some more, serve vegetables only
22. Avoid cocktails when dining out. Alcohol is high in sugar and calories, it overstimulates your appetite and lowers your inhibitions about overeating. If you want to enjoy a drink, you can cut back on the extra calories by ordering smaller measures, such as a small glass of wine

Think about your whole diet

Being conscious of your meal selection will determine how well you meet or get close to meeting your nutrition goals. Remember to have all the necessary nutrients- both macro and micro nutrients- and in the right portions.

There will be times when you want to eat your favorite food for pleasure and not worry about whether it is healthy or not.

Being flexible about your diet and food choices is linked with better overall health and weight management.

It’s helpful to think about how a meal fits into your diet overall.

If you are following healthy meal patterns most of the time, go ahead and treat yourself.

An occasional indulgence can be good for the soul.