Eating out and on the road Eating Out
Eating out is a great experience and should be enjoyed without worrying about piling on the
pounds. Here are some tips to help you enjoy your evening while still keeping on track with
your goals. There is also a list of typical calorie levels of some popular take away and
restaurant foods.
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Have regular meals during the day and make sure you are on track with your protein
target. This will stop you feeling starving when you reach the restaurant. .
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Choose regular restaurants that you know will have choices that suit you. It helps to
choose what you are going to eat before you arrive.
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Skip the breads.
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Don’t be tempted to over order. Avoid the extra (or any if it’s not a cheat) chips,
potatoes and rice side orders. Restaurants are always happy to make a meal without
chips for you. Just swap them for extra veg.
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Look for dishes described as grilled, chargrilled, poached, stir fried, steamed or
cooked in its own juice.
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Half fill your plate with veg or salad
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Go for fruit based deserts or sorbets (if having a dessert!)
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Share – Sharing entrees, appetizers and desserts with dining partners is a great
idea. It allows you to sample something that you really want to have while also
helping you avoid the temptation to overindulge. If you are sharing with a friend or
your partner, your portion size is automatically reduced and there is less available to
eat. It is still important to make good menu choices,
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Order sauce and dressing on the side – If you ask for sauces and dressings on the
side, you can control the amount that you eat. Often you can use less than is
normally used and still enjoy the same taste.
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You don’t have to have 3 courses!
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Always go for high quality food.
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Avoid all you can eat buffets (for many reasons)
Chinese Tips:
• Go for steamed dishes
• Avoid rice and noodles
• Order soup
• Ask for your food to be MSG (monosodium glutamate) free.
Indian
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Tips:
Go for tandoori dishes
Avoid naan breads
Avoid rice (order a side dish of vegetables)
Italian tips:
• Avoid pasta
• Go for thin crisp pizza if having pizza
Spanish tips:
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Careful not to order too many tapas
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Pick a combination of dishes that has protein, fat and low starch carbohydrates.
Never be afraid to ring up any restaurant and ask about their food, ingredients and any
special requirements. A good restaurant will be willing to accommodate you and be happy
to speak about their food.
Calorie and Fat Counts for Popular Chinese and Indian Dishes
Calorie counts are based on typical portions from takeaways and in restaurants. This
information is a guide only, since restaurants serve different portion sizes and use different
amounts of added fat.
There is no right or wrong here and we don’t you to worry too much about counting calories
and fat, it is just to give you an idea of the amount of calories that are in popular foods.
Chinese
Prawn crackers - 385 calories, (approximately 15 calories each)
Seaweed (per plate) - 720 calories
Sesame prawn toasts - around 70 calories, 7.5g per small square
Meat spring roll (55g) - 125 calories.
Whole portion of spare ribs - 875 calories (so just have one!)
Chicken and sweet corn soup - 100 calories, 1 g fat
Crispy duck, made into 4 pancakes - 650 calories
Sweet and sour chicken - 585 calories
Sweet and sour pork (battered) - 715 calories
Chicken chow mein - 515 calories
Stir-fry beef with green peppers and black bean sauce - 375 calories,
Stir-fry vegetables - 185 calories
Szechuan prawns with vegetables - 310 calories
Chicken chop suey - 390 calories
Chicken with cashew nuts - 530 calories
Egg-fried rice - 550 calories, (73 calories per tablespoon)
Steamed rice - 410 calories, (40 calories per tablespoon)
Indian
Poppadom, plain, fried - 65 calories
Poppadom: spiced, grilled - 27 calories
Onion bhaji ( 2 medium) - 350 calories
Meat samosa (2 medium) - 335 calories,
Chicken korma.- 660 calories, 51g fat
Chicken tikka - 240 calories, 9g fat
Chicken tikka masala - 550 calories, 40g fat
lamb rogan josh - 505 calories, 35g fat
Vegetable balti - 290 calories, 28g fat
Chicken biryani - 985 calories, 44g fat
Chicken dhansak - 505 calories, 30g fat
Chicken jalfrezi or dupiaza - 415 calories, 27g fat
Prawn Madras - 400 calories, 29g fat
Pilau rice: per portion and (per tablespoon) - 290 (60) calories, 5g fat
Boiled rice: per portion and (per tablespoon) - 245 (55) calories, 2.4g fat
Chappati - 110 calories, 0.5g fat (made without fat)
Naan - 540 calories, 20g fat - but size varies a lot
Tips to help when you’re travelling
You only have to look around a train station to see the types of food that most people grab
when they are in a rush. Convenience foods such as sandwiches, burgers, crisps and sugary
snacks are readily available and are the foods of choice for today’s busy commuters. Next
time you are at the station take a second to observe these people. You will quickly realise
that “they all look like crap!” The simple highly scientific reason for this is:
RUBBISH IN = RUBBISH OUT
So how can you make sure you don’t fall in to this trap? How can you make sure that you
have stacks of energy and keep on track with your goals? How can you do this without
taking too much time out of your busy schedules? See below for easyfit’s top tips:
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Be prepared – put together a Tupperware box of high quality proteins, fruits and
veggies
Left over’s – take a box of left over’s from the previous night’s dinner
Find an M&S simply food shop and buy the best salads you can find along with some
cooked chicken or fish. See below for a map to show your which service stations
have M&S food shops
Where a letter is shown, it means the facility is only available on that side of the road (N
= northbound, S = southbound, W = westbound, E = eastbound). The maps are
generated automatically using the facilities section of the site, so if there is an
inaccuracy you can sort it out there
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Research the area you are travelling to. Check for good quality cafes and restaurants
Always have a bag of nuts and an apple in your bag – these are energy essentials
and will get you through until you find somewhere to eat a decent meal.