I often hear from my clients that they have the biggest challenge dining out, whether it’s a quick bite at lunch or having dinner with friends during the weekend. As I always say, nobody cares about your health as much as you do, so you need to be constantly educating yourself and taking charge. That doesn’t mean you are not supposed to treat yourself and enjoy dining out. I will provide you with small but effective tips so not only you can enjoy your meals while dining out but at the same time you can avoid unnecessarily high calorie ingredients.
Ordering a salad at a restaurant can be very tricky. I hear from so many of my clients that they eat salads for both lunch and dinner and they still feel they are gaining weight. Eating a salad can be very healthy depending on the size, toppings as well as the dressing used. Regardless of where you dine, if ordering a salad, always order it without the dressing or ask for the dressing on the side. One option you have is to add one tablespoon of the salad dressing and add some fresh lemon juice or vinegar. The other option is to ask for olive oil and vinegar or fresh lemon and add it to your salad yourself. When you add your own dressing, you can also control the amount of salt and pepper.
The salad dressings in restaurants can be really delicious but filled with lots of fat, salt and other hidden ingredients you are not aware of. When you ask for the salad dressing on the side, not only you are controlling a considerable amount of calories but you are also avoiding ingredients that are not beneficial to your health. Some of the ingredients used in salad dressings are mayonnaise, low quality oils such as soybean oil, bacon grease, duck grease, sour cream, thickeners, emulsifiers, artificial colors, artificial flavorings, etc.
