Believe it or not, you don’t have to derail your nutrition efforts when eating at a restaurant. There are typically options that can help you feel satisfied, meet your nutritional needs, and allow you to enjoy the social benefits of eating out with others. Here are a few guidelines and examples to help!
- Use the plate method to visually plan your meal (i.e. don’t double starch!). While nutritional information can be very helpful to look at ahead of time to plan your meal, it isn’t always available at every restaurant. When it’s not available or you haven’t had time to look, we are trying to find a meal that will give us half a plate of veggies, a quarter of a plate of protein, and a quarter of a plate of a starch. An important note to remember is that something breaded, like a chicken ball, is already counting as your serving of starch with your protein. In this case, we don’t need another serving of starch, like noodles or rice.
- Progress, not perfection. It is pretty much guaranteed that going out to eat at a restaurant is going to pack more calories than if you cooked a similar meal at home. There are sauces, dressings, and other factors that you can’t control going into the cooking of the meal. That being said, leaving the restaurant and feeling good about your choices is an important step in the “everything in moderation mentality”. In other words, just because you’re out with friends doesn’t mean you have to completely derail your entire day/week of eating.
- Skip the sugary drink – always. Water is best, diet/no-calorie soda is okay, but regular pop is a hard NO. To guzzle an extra 140 calories per CAN of pop seems extremely unnecessary, not to mention you are probably getting refills and consuming more like 400 calories. These calories do nothing to fill you up or provide nutrients, plus they are your entire added sugar budget for the day as an adult.
- Be mindful about the buffet option. While it promises the most “value”, it can also encourage us to overeat to get that “value”. If you are getting the buffet, fill your plate using the plate method and wait a solid 5-10 minutes after your first plate before determining if you are in fact still hungry for more. If you’re wanting more, get veggies and proteins!
Our favourites from Kim’s Asian Restaurant:
- Any of the stir-frys with a protein (under “Wok”) – Jenn’s favourite is Broccoli Stiry-Fry with Beef with an order of sushi or two egg rolls for the starch.
- Kim’s Deluxe Wonton Soup – this is packed with veggies and proteins! The wontons here would count as your starch – yum! This is a huge portion!
- Shared meal – Sweet & Sour Chicken Balls + Mixed Vegetables (under “Wok”)
- Summer Salad Rolls (with Chicken or Shrimp) + an order of sushi or alternative starch option.
If you’re ever looking for help with your nutrition, we are here to help! Check out our Nutrition page and reach out to set up a meeting to get started!
