What To Look For

When you ask for food nutrition facts, many restaurants will provide you with a sheet of paper or a card stating the calorie content of the various foods on the menu, the fat, sodium and even the carbohydrate content. If you’re trying to eat low fat, you will see right away which foods you should eat and which ones you shouldn’t. Keep in mind that condiments and sauces can add calories, fat, sodium and even carbs to any menu item. Even salads may look fattening on the food nutrition facts, but usually that is because they are including the dressing in the total.

How to Order Without Nutrition Facts

When there are no available food nutrition facts, you can still make a smart ordering decision if you now some basic facts about nutrition. For example, your best choice while trying to lose weight is not going to be a double bacon cheeseburger. Instead, you might want to choose a chicken sandwich, not fried, and a baked potato or even a salad with just a little bit of dressing.

You will find the majority of restaurants do provide food nutrition facts. If they are not in the open, you will just have to request a copy. Some restaurant owners may not leave the food nutrition facts on the table out of fear too many people will choose not to order the more fattening options. It is reasonable to assume that if most people know how much fat was in an entrée, they might reconsider ordering it.

Obtain Nutrition Information

Ask for the restaurant nutrition information if you do not see it on the table. This is the best way to decide what you will order. Almost all restaurants, whether sit down or take out, have this information available now that more people are asking for it. If a particular restaurant does not offer restaurant nutrition information, then you can still make good nutrition choices if you know even the most basic information about nutrition in general.

The Good VS. The Bad

If an item comes smothered in cheese or butter ask for these items on the side and stay away from items that are fried or that come with a lot of condiments and sauces already put on. These types of foods are very fattening, they can be very high in cholesterol and they can pack many calories into one meal. Some restaurant meals actually have enough calories to feed you for the entire day. And it’s all packed into one meal!

Good restaurant nutrition choices include things such as salads (watch the dressing), grilled chicken sandwiches, stir fry items and anything that involves more natural ingredients. A lot of times there will be a section in the menu for these healthy options, or another menu to choose from entirely. These menu sections often have distinguishable subtitles, like “Heart Healthy” or something similar.

If you can educate yourself on nutrition before going, you can stay on plan even when your favorite place doesn’t have many options for sound restaurant nutrition.