The Glycemic Index Diet for Dummies (55 page)

Part III

In this part . . .

Does it ever seem that life gets in the way of losing weight? A relative has a birthday, complete with a celebration dinner and, of course, birthday cake and ice cream. The kids have sports practice at dinnertime so you zip through the fast food drive-through. You go on vacation, to a restaurant, or to a friend's home for dinner. Here's the good news: You can continue to enjoy all of these activities without putting your weight-loss goals on hold by using the tips and strategies featured in these four chapters.

Another part of a successful, long-term weight-loss strategy is planning ahead for potential obstacles such as food cravings and the dreaded weight-loss plateau. In the following chapters, I show you how to eat mindfully and explore new ways of dealing with emotions that don't involve food. And because a solid support system is a crucial component of losing weight and keeping it off, I also show you that you can find support in a variety of forms, including friends and family, local groups, and even the Internet.

Chapter 11
:
Guidelines for Dining Out

In This Chapter

Figuring out how to make smart, healthy food choices in any restaurant

Recognizing traits of restaurants with a wealth of low-glycemic options

Recommending the best low-glycemic meal choices in a variety of cuisine types

D
ining out used to be a once-in-a-while occasion to meet up with friends and family to enjoy the ambience of a nice restaurant, some good company, and a wonderful meal. Now people are eating out more than ever before, making it more difficult to make healthy choices because you have less control over what's on your plate.

At home, you know exactly what you're putting into a recipe and can even measure how much you're putting on your plate. But in restaurants, you're really just taking your best guess because a) you can't be sure how much of a particular food item is being added and b) the dish is served on a plate the size of a trough. Although I can easily tell you that avoiding eating out as much as you can is wise, I know that doing so may not be very practical. That's why hving some good strategies in place is key.

The beauty of a low-glycemic diet is that it isn't an all-or-nothing diet. It allows some flexibility for you to eat higher-glycemic foods in moderation. In fact, research shows that using low-glycemic foods in moderation, even just one low-glycemic food choice a meal, still provides you with the benefits you're looking for, making it easier to adopt low-glycemic foods into your lifestyle. This type of moderation is also the best way to get long-term results with weight loss. (Being too strict always backfires.) In this chapter, I show you how to make smart choices while dining out and present a variety of good lower-glycemic meal options for just about any type of restaurant.

Choosing Wisely

Although it can be tricky, you
can
eat in restaurants, follow a low-glycemic diet, and lose weight. But you have to be willing to make educated choices instead of just going with whatever you feel like eating. (Of course, even when you make the best choices, restaurant meals are usually going to be much higher in calories than what you'd prepare at home — which can make trying to lose weight an uphill battle if you're eating out all the time.) The following sections present some strategies to help you make the best choices when you're dining out.

Becoming more aware of what you're ordering and how much food is on your plate can greatly enhance your ability to make healthier sit-down restaurant or fast-food dining choices.

Basing your choices on how often you eat out

Some people eat out several times a week; others prefer to dine out just a few times a year. These two groups of folks could make the same food choices while eating out, but I don't advise it.

If you find that you eat in restaurants or order some sort of takeout two or more times a week, then moderation takes on a new meaning. Indulging a little once a month is one thing, but indulging two or more times a week will sabotage your weight-loss efforts. No, you don't have to forgo eating in restaurants. That concept is no longer realistic in a society in which Americans spend 46 percent of their food dollars on dining out (compared to just 26 percent in 1970) thanks to fast-paced lifestyles and the convenience of restaurants. You do, however, have to change how you think about dining out.

For many people, going to a restaurant used to equal a special occasion where they could indulge and order whatever they wanted. This response can become hardwired into your brain, leading to an increased consumption of significantly higher calorie, fat, and sodium levels on a regular basis. It's sort of like the healthy choices you'd make at home get "turned off" at a restaurant and you order whatever sounds good without thinking about calories, glycemic level, fat, and so on. You're simply conditioned to get the item that sounds the best versus the item that's the healthiest choice. If you're eating in restaurants weekly, go ahead and pick a couple special outings each month (perhaps a birthday, a party with friends, or an anniversary) as your indulgence meals. Just make sure you're indulging only on those occasions, not each and every time you set foot in a restaurant

For those weekly convenience meals, select simple, healthy choices. (I share different low-glycemic food choices for a variety of cuisine types later in this chapter.)

Also, consider evaluating how frequently you eat out. Even though you may be making healthier selections when you dine out, keep in mind that you don't always know or have control over how the food is prepared. How much oil was added to the pan before cooking? How much cheese was used? Did they really leave off the butter on your steamed broccoli? Because of these unknowns, people still typically consume more calories, fat grams, and sodium when they dine out than their bodies really need. Eating at home or preparing your own on-the-go meal isn't always feasible, but making the effort by cutting back on how frequently you dine out can do a lot for weight loss.

Requesting low-glycemic substitutions

It's possible to follow your low-glycemic lifestyle and find choices in restaurants by asking for a few (sometimes creative) modifications. Maybe you see that the restaurant serves a lower-glycemic brown rice with one dish but a higher-glycemic potato with the dish you want. Asking the wait staff whether you can make replacements is not only perfectly okay but also a simple way to work your way through a menu.

Asking for replacements is generally no problem as long as your request seems reasonable and you're approaching it in a friendly manner.

For a pleasant low-glycemic substitution experience on your next restaurant visit, just keep these tidbits in mind:

If you don't see an item on the menu, the restaurant probably doesn't have it.
You can always ask for the item anyway, but don't expect the restaurant to provide you something it doesn't carry.