When having to eat at a restaurant all you have to do is use a little common sense.  I don’t know how many times I have had people tell me about the terrible meal choice they made when eating out.  “I had to go to McDonalds so I had the chicken nuggets, it’s chicken!”   I guess it is … in name. 

There are certain things we want to stay away from and there are certain things that we should be drawn to when looking at a menu.  Lets cover cooking terms that you should stay away from.  Deep fried, pan fried, sautéed, battered and breaded to name a few.

We also want to keep clear of most starches, unless you are taking in a fair amount of daily calories and have starches in your present diet.  Foods like potatoes, pasta, rice and breads are all higher GI starches that can ruin your diet if you are trying to get or stay lean.

Many protein sources in restaurants are pretty bad too.  Most cuts of beef you will find are quite high in fat.  The same goes for cuts of pork and any foul with skin or dark meat.

Then there are certain things we should look for on a menu.  Cooking terms you should be looking for are grilled, steamed, broiled, poached and baked for example.  These techniques will generally be a way of preparing food without having to add fat.

As far as good carbohydrate choices go, look at mainly vegetables and fruits.  If a meal comes with vegetables and rice for example, you can often substitute the rice with more vegetables.  Just make sure they aren’t drowning in a sauce or butter.  The same goes for any salad you may order.  Make sure your dressing is served on the side.  Many dressings can contain as much as 12 grams of fat per tbsp, and you would be surprised how much dressing can be poured over a salad.

With protein sources, you want to look at leaner cuts of beef, sirloin is probably you best bet in a restaurant.  Skinless chicken breast and fish like salmon (which is high in omega 3 fatty acid) are good choices.  Most seafood for that matter is, lobster, shrimp and scallops for example are quite lean on their own.  You want to make sure with any meat that you cut off all visible fat.

When it comes to eating out an easy way to stay on track is to think of your present diet, the amount of food you would generally eat per meal and the type of food for that specific meal.  Lets say you are out for dinner and you would normally have a meal of chicken and vegetables at home.  You can order a meal like that almost anywhere.

If you must go to a fast food joint look at their lighter menu.  Many places offer chicken salads or grilled chicken sandwiches.  Again, look out for mayo and sauces on these sandwiches.  Even though you can get something fairly clean, I think you should try to stay clear of most fast food restaurants.

If you are going out to eat, use your head and make a logical choice, there is no reason to sway too far from your diet even when eating out.