Occasionally, it is fun to eat out at a restaurant. However, if you happen to be on a diet at the time, dining out can be painful. You know have to know what to look for when looking at the menus in order to keep your happiness and your diet.
The menu pictures must be avoided. The pictures are taken to make you desire the item shown. This item is hardly ever the item that you receive. The photos are made to arouse certain parts of your brain. Ignore the tempting beauty of the unhealthy pictures and focus on the words.
The food item names are often created to cause gratifying connotations. Do not let the name of the food trick you into ordering without reading.
As an example, the title Tour of Tuscany sounds more alluring than three-item combo plate. Knowing exactly what is in the dish is better for making the right choices than reading a glamorous title.
One other deception found in menus is the fact that unhealthy items are usually placed next to a healthy item. Psychological studies have found that people more often than not will choose the unhealthy item if it is placed by a more healthy option. Reading the descriptions instead of focusing on other details will also help in this situation.
Some menus advertise a wide variety of vegetables. This makes the dining party believe that they can have a healthy vegetable with any entre they choose. This is not always the case as many restaurant vegetables are covered in cheese, are carbohydrates or both.
Asking about how the vegetables are prepared, like sauted or steamed, is the best way to make sure that you are receiving a healthy side dish. Just because it is a vegetable does not mean that it is automatically good for you.
Avoiding the sampler plates is the last tip on healthy dining out. Though it might sound like a good idea due to the smaller portions, the sampler plate is more often than not a conglomeration of the fried or smothered items that possess the most calories or fat intake. Groups often make this mistake whereas a large salad would be better.
Making these smart food choices at the restaurant will help with your eating happiness.
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