Did you know that the takeout-food rule of thumb is: the
average restaurant entrée with sides will contain approximately 1300 calories?
Yikes! That’s a lot of calories. So, what should you do?
There are a lot of ways you can keep from putting on the
pounds when choosing your takeout meals. Here are a few general strategies to
follow:
1. Choose
1 starch – fries over a burger bun for example – not both. Don’t order rice
together with noodles.
2. Replace
red meat with a leaner protein like fish, chicken, beans, or tofu.
3. Be
aware that the sodium will be ridiculously high in a takeout meal, so ask for
extra veggies to pump up the potassium which is the sodium antidote.
Below, find calorie-conscious suggestions when ordering
takeout at your favorite restaurant.
Mexican Food:
Opt for a la carte. Avoid starchy heavy combo meals or
fajita platters
Choose cheese or sour cream – not both. The better choice is
neither one. (Each ½ cup adds at least 100 calories and ¼ of a day’s saturated
fat.) Guacamole, while high in calories, is better to order than sour cream because
it contains healthy fat and not saturated fat.
Salsa or pico de gallo cuts calories and can double as a
salad dressing.
Skip the burrito tortilla. Chipotle’s tortilla has 300
calories of mostly white flour and salt.
Order individual fajitas with lean protein and veggies, and
use just one tortilla, or try tacos on corn tortillas.
Thai Food:
Order spring rolls instead of egg rolls.
Try Pad Prik King with tofu or chicken instead of Pad Thai,
or drunken noodles.
Lift your protein out of the sauce and leave most of it
behind! Be aware that creamy curries are swimming in saturated fat from the
coconut milk. Instead, try a spicy broth baeng.
Indian Food:
Avoid cream-based
entrees like chicken tikka masala.
Try tandoori, or chan masala, which is made with chickpeas,
or dal, which is a stew made with lentils.
Avoid paneer, a high fat cheese; ghee, a clarified butter;
and malai, which is cream.
Stay away from samosas, because they are deep fried.
Try raita which is a creamy yogurt meant to cool your palate,
and roti, which is a whole wheat alternative to naan bread.
Greek Food:
Scoop the hummus or
tzatziki using veggies instead of pita bread, which is mostly white flour.
Great choices to order are chicken, shrimp, or salmon kebobs,
or chicken souvlaki.
Avoid fatty beef or lamb gyros.
Chinese Food:
Skip breaded, battered, or deep-fried entrees.
Choose stir-fried options with lots of veggies and leave
some of the high sodium sauce behind. You can also transfer your dinner to a
plate to cut down on the amount of sauce you’ll eat. Try adding a side of
steamed broccoli or snap peas to your order to stretch the sauce.
Each carton of rice contains about 2 cups, so eat ½ the
carton.
I hope these tips will help you make healthy choices for
your next takeout. You can also keep these tips in mind when dining in, as
well.
If you have any questions, or if you don’t see your favorite
cuisine on this list, email me with your cuisine request, and I’ll send you
weight-saving tips, so you can enjoy your next takeout order without worrying about your
waistline. lisa@maineweightlosscoach.com.
Together, we can do this! Lisa
