Getting the Healthiest Meal on the Menu - Health Channel

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Getting the Healthiest Meal on the Menu |

When you are looking at a menu you can make small adjustments or smart choices to stay healthy. Amy Kimberlain, Registered Dietitian at Baptist Health South Florida, says it is important picking a place that will lead you to success and not just going to a fast-food restaurant, for example.

“Try to include more vegetables where they may not be just served to you, so you can try and order them to include with the meal. Now you have the control and it’s not just being served to you,” she points out.

Transcript


People are busy people are social people are going out to eat so when you don’t have the healthy fridge and healthy pantry that you’re used to at home you’re looking at a menu with so many wonderful decadent things on it you know what are just some small adjustments or just some smart choices you can try to make if you do find you’re eating out maybe a little bit more than then you wanted to maybe in a day or it even in a whole week. Right no what I would tell you Laura is that I think in this kind of day and age there are actually healthier options and so that’s kind of like kudos to the places that are opening up and now are more readily available so I think picking a place that actually lead you to success whereas if you’re going to just a complete fast-food talking bad about fast food in general but yeah you’re not gonna maybe make that better choice whereas there might be another available option with healthier options looking at a menu yeah you’re looking at a plate and trying to include more vegetables where they may not be just served to you so can you try and order them to include with the meal and start off with something like that dressings on this side that’s another huge thing where now you have the control and it’s not just being served to you including or seeing if they do have a whole-grain or maybe possibly a potato to kind of serve as your carbohydrate and then paying attention to the portion right so of that protein source it’s just a quarter of your plate I think that that helps with the allotment of looking at a plate and trying to analyze it and say did I really balance it well and at least choose from the things that were available to me and look at the quality of it but then also the quantity as well can you doggy bag some of it up and take it home right sometimes the portions at the restaurants are what are the overwhelming thing that we think that’s the size and in reality it’s not so can I just take some home and enjoy the rest for lunch as leftovers the next day so a lot of different things that we could do but I think starting with again as we’re saying one small thing looking for maybe inclusion or more vegetables I can’t talk about it enough we need more fiber.

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