Month: March 2015

Many dieters avoid restaurants for fear of undermining their diet effort. However, savvy dieters realize that – if they are careful – dining out can be a boon to a diet.

To succeed at dieting while facing a menu, there are two basic rules to follow:

• Demand that the food be cooked the way you want
• Expect to take home the excess food

And…

• Accept that you cannot eat the contents of the breadbasket or the mile high chocolate cake for dessert

Here are Some Better Eating Choices for Restaurants

Check the menu ahead of time

Whether you go on line or call the restaurant, know what kind to food to expect. The advantage to doing your menu homework is that you eliminate decision pressure (while the waiter is standing with pad at the ready).

Order first

It’s easy to be influenced by your friends, who, if not dieting, may order tempting high calorie foods. Once you order your broiled salmon and steamed vegetables, it is unlikely you will change that order

when your pal orders chicken Parmesan with pasta.

Be demanding

You’re paying for the meal and you have the right to have the food cooked the way you want. (Broiled, not fried. Hold the cream sauce. No sour cream or butter on the baked potato.)

Be knowledgeable about nutrition and food

Common sense tells you that fried fish and chips do not fit into a diet plan. Avoid cream-based chowders; have then hold the cheese and croutons on onion soup.

Be cranky

Food not prepared the way you want? Send it back. If you asked for the chicken breast without the melted Provolone on top and it comes drenched in cheese, you have the right to return it to the kitchen. Do not be noble and start scrapping off the cheese – assert your rights.

Don’t drink (too much)

If your diet allows wine or a drink with dinner, that’s fine. But when the waiter asks if the table wants another round, say “No.” Not only are you rejecting a second round of calories, but also you are protecting your willpower from the second drink’s “I don’t care anymore” diet collapse.

Take it home

Before you even start eating, anticipate what portion of the meal will be lunch tomorrow. Some dieters even put half their meal in a doggie bag before they start eating.

Here are couple of other quick tips that apply to eating away from home dining:

• Never arrive hungry
• Eat slowly; do not finish before your companions
• Drink lots of water (no, not alcohol)
• Move the breadbasket away from your section of the table – far away.
• Learn the difference between baked, braised, fried, broiled and other restaurant cooking styles.
• Ask for sauces and dressings on the side.

Enjoy your dining experience; do not let a diet commitment ruin the fun of dining out. Plan ahead, eat well and if you slip up a little, do not obsess. Tomorrow is a new day. And if you slip up a lot. Tomorrow is still a new day.

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Conventional diet wisdom says that all those enticing carbohydrates – potatoes and pasta and rice – are not good for a dieter.

The truth is, they are all fine for a diet (well, maybe not white rice so much) in moderation.

What’s bad about the high carbohydrate side dishes is the sour cream, butter, alfredo sauce, bacon bits, cheese, and all the other toppings that add tons of calories to an already tasty side dish.

Pasta or Rice or Potatoes – Which is Best

A baked potato dripping with butter offsets any nutritional value.

Many dieters are surprised to learn that potatoes and rice can be good for a diet since they are almost fat free. And they are fairly close calorie wise.

Even pasta (especially whole grain) is not a bad diet food – in moderation (no pound of pasta per serving, please!)

Potatoes have Vitamins and Minerals

Long rejected in many dieters’ minds, potatoes are an excellent food choice and have fewer carbohydrates than whole grain pasta and brown rice.

Generally, potatoes have more vitamins and nutrients than rice. A medium baked potato is about 230 calories; it provides about 3 grams of fiber if the skin is eaten and 2.3 grams if it is not.

Of course, when it comes to potatoes, it’s all about the recipe. A baked potato is fine (especially if plain). Delmonico cheese potatoes, French fries, and even mashed do not cut it on a dieter’s quest to see the scale drop.

Rice – Brown Rice is Best 

A quick note about white rice. Although a cup of white rice is about 240 calories and brown rice is 215, the issue is not the calories versus the nutritional value.

Brown rice is “unrefined” white rice. Brown rice still has the side hull and bran, which are rich in proteins, fiber, thiamine, magnesium, calcium, and potassium.

Brown rice is believed by most nutritionists to be simply better for you (although there are a few who argue in favor of white rice).

A cup of brown rice provides 3.5 grams of fiber; the same serving size of white rice has .6 grams of fiber.

And Then There’s Pasta

No pasta allowed on your diet? You may be denying yourself an enjoyable diet food. A half-cup of whole-wheat pasta is only 90 calories.

 

Obviously, a half-cup of pasta hardly constitutes a meal, but as part of, say, a chicken and vegetable stir fry, it can be not only delicious but also filling.

A cup of whole wheat has 180 calories; the same amount of white pasta is 240 calories

Let the potato versus rice versus pasta debate rage around you. Meanwhile you sit and relish a delicious medium baked potato, a cup of tasty brown rice OR a small portion of whole-wheat pasta (of course with no added high calories toppings).

Relax and know you are not only sticking to your diet, but you are doing so wisely and nutritionally.

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Dieters hear about the importance of protein – a lot. Perhaps not in the sense of holding our bodies together – but rather as a terrific diet tool.

High-protein diets can actually help dieters lose weight. Many nutritionist recommend protein with every meal, even snacks.

• If having an apple mid morning, have some peanut butter on it.
• Need an afternoon pick-me-up? Have an ounce of cheese on a rice cake or an ounce of nuts.

According to Wikipedia:

Proteins are large biological molecules, or macromolecules, consisting of one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within living organisms, including catalyzing metabolic reactions, replicating DNA, responding to stimuli, and transporting molecules from one location to another… and so on.

To simplify: The cells in our bodies need protein to function.

Without protein, our cells and organs, muscles, connective tissue, and bones would not hold together.

The protein group is large. Everyone knows about meat, poultry and fish, but also consider protein in eggs, low-fat dairy products, peanut butter, seeds, nuts and soy.

Even some vegetables have proteins.

Beans of all types (kidney, pinto, lima, garbanzo, white, and soy) are rich in protein. A serving of beans (one cup) can be 9 to 12 grams of protein. A half-cup of peas, spinach, broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, artichokes and water crest can have 2 to 3 grams of protein per serving.

Note: Veggies, which don’t contain all nine of the amino acids, should not totally replace the meat/dairy/nut/bean categories.

Why protein with every meal?

• High-protein foods burns calories.
• A meal with a protein makes one feel fuller for a longer period of time.
• Increase protein results in a dieter losing more fat and maintaining more muscle mass.
• The amino acids in protein build lean muscle.

How much protein?

A 140-pound person needs 110 grams of protein a day. To determine your protein need, multiply your weight by 0.36. Nutritionist recommend between 0.5 and 1.0 grams of protein per pound of your body weight. To determine your daily protein need, multiply your weight by 0.36 for the recommended daily amount. Then double that number.

Note: Remember to count calories. Adding proteins to your diet is good; not adjusting for the extra calories can defeat a diet effort.

Shake it up

Tired of a broiled chicken breast every night? Your body is as well. Smart dieters mix up their protein intake – chicken one night – fish the next – and even a little beef every so often. And it wouldn’t hurt to have an omelet for dinner.

Protein is a dieter’s friend. Eat and enjoy!

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