How To Eat Out Without Gaining Weight

When you are trying to lose weight, you’ll often come across the same old advice about how to avoid temptation – stop eating out, cook at home, and tightly manage your grocery list. Although this advice works in a controlled environment, we all know that you are not a research subject and life is not a bio lab. Real life is messy and sometimes things don’t always go according to plan. Eating out is convenient if you are a single guy or gal. Plus, you won’t always have time to pack lunch for work despite your best intentions.

Eating out isn’t all about convenience either. In most cultures, social experiences are shared around food. Sharing a meal is a way to connect with the people that you love without the distractions of everyday life. Having a fulfilling social life is one factor that helps determine how healthy you are too. Supportive social networks have shown to extend life expectancy in scientific studies.

Losing weight and enjoying your social life don’t have to be incompatible if you make the right choices. According to a new study published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, educating diners about healthy food choices when dining out helped study participants lose an average of 1.7kg over 6 weeks. The 35 middle aged women who were studied maintained their frequency of eating out, and the only intervention by the researchers was a 6-week educational program called Mindful Restaurant Eating.

Although most cuisines offer both healthy and unhealthy choices, some cuisines offer a greater number of healthy options. The next time you make plans to eat out, choose a cuisine that offers the most healthy options.

Best cuisines for eating out:

• Thai – Thai cuisine is rich in vegetables, lean meats, and antioxidant-rich spices. Dig into traditional seafood soups and veggie-packed coconut curries. Steer clear of fried appetizers, rice and noodle dishes, and desserts.


• Japanese – Japanese cuisine is known for its low carb, high protein dishes and low calorie options. Vegetarians, lowcarb dieters, and seafood lovers will all find options that will please their waistlines and tastebuds. Dig into sashimi, seaweed salad, and miso soup. Steer clear of california rolls made with imitation crab, white sticky rice, and tempura.


• Greek – Greek cuisine is rich in heart healthy olive oil, as well as lamb, yogurt, and eggplant. Many greek dishes combine healthy herbs, vegetables, and protein to create aromatic and savory options. Dig into stuffed grape leaves, lamb kabobs, and stuffed tomatoes. Steer clear of baklava, spinach pie, and cheese pastries.


• American (West Coast) – Also known as California fresh cuisine, the sunny central and southern west coast of the US offers up colorful and low calorie dishes. Alice Waters, founder of Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley, California, helped to shape California cuisine by emphasizing organic, fresh food presented beautifully and simply. Her tradition lives on in this decidedly unfussy way of eating. Dig into crab and avocado salads, shrimp tacos, or stop by a local juice bar. Steer clear of the fast-food burger joints that California is famous for.


• Spanish – The Spanish tradition of eating tapas (small plates) has become popular in American urban centers. Small servings allow you to have better control over your portions, but watch out for fried and carb heavy tapas. Dig into mussels, tomato-based dishes, and ceviche. Steer clear of flan, chorizo, and paella, which contains white rice.

Worst cuisines for dining out

• Pub-style – American inherited UK pub culture and put a modern spin on it. Sure, most American pubs don’t serve heavy UK classics like bangers and mash or shepherd’s pie. Our pubs do serve foods that will similarly sit like a rock in your stomach while they help to slow down alcohol absorption. Most pubs offer only one or two dishes that health-conscious eaters can enjoy, but they are typically afterthoughts on the menu and not very tasty. The worst offenders: chili cheese fries, bacon cheese burgers, and fish and chips.


• Chinese (Americanized) – What do you get when you fry chicken in transfat, then coat it in high fructose corn syrup and salt? The American version of Chinese food of course! It’s a shame that most Chinese food restaurants don’t serve authentic Chinese food, and instead fill their menus up with General Tso’s chicken. The worst offenders: sweet and sour sauce, fried egg rolls, and pork fried rice.


• Italian – Although there are lots of healthy foods in traditional Italian cuisine, most of the dishes in Italian restaurants center around wheat. Whether a dish is served on a crust (like Neapolitan pizza), over pasta, or with a side of breadsticks (I’m talking about you, Olive Garden), the waistline expanding carbs found in Italian restaurants outweigh the health benefits of most of the dishes. The worst offenders: pizza, fettuccine alfredo, and the bread basket that comes before your appetizer.


• American (Midwestern) – Sorry Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan – your favorite traditional foods are not good for people looking to keep weight off. Midwestern classics like mac n’ cheese, green bean casserole, and sausages are midwest staples. Midwestern American cuisine is influenced by the heavy foods of Polish, German, and Eastern Europe that were popular with immigrants in the mid 19th century. The worst offenders: German chocolate cake, Chicago deep dish pizza, and pierogis.

Have fun eating out this weekend, but be sure to make good healthy choices!