You can eat out even when you are on a diet! Recommended menu and how to choose

Points on how to choose a dining out menu during a diet

Even if you are on a diet, there are times when you can’t refuse to eat out, such as eating out with your family, taking a break with friends, or drinking parties at work. In such a case, let’s devise a menu selection and enjoy a delicious meal.

From here, we will introduce the points of how to choose the eating out menu during the diet.

Make a habit of being aware of calories and nutritional balance

If you are on a diet, you can control the amount of food you eat at home, but it is difficult to do so when eating out. Depending on the restaurant, the amount of rice served may be double what you would eat at home, so you may end up with a calorie surplus.

For women in their 50s who are on a diet, the daily calorie intake is about 1500 to 1600 kcal.

In addition, it is important not only to keep calories low during dieting, but also to maintain a nutritional balance. If you eat only the same food, your nutrition will be biased and your metabolism will be out of balance. When metabolism is not performed properly, lipid accumulates and becomes fat.

When you are on a diet, you tend to focus only on calories, but don’t forget to be conscious of your nutritional balance.

Choose between steamed or grilled

Eating out has a wide variety of choices in terms of restaurant genres and menus, but when eating out on a diet, it is recommended to choose steamed or grilled dishes.

Deep-fried foods and stir-fried foods use a lot of oil, so the calories are high. It is a good idea to choose a healthy menu that does not use oil, or even if it does use a small amount of steamed or grilled food.

Avoid bowls and noodles

Rice bowls such as tempura and katsudon, and a la carte dishes such as ramen tend to be high in fat and sugar and low in dietary fiber.

Also, in the case of rice bowls, there is a large amount of rice, which can lead to too much sugar. If you really want to eat a bowl of rice, you should reduce the amount of rice and add a small bowl of salad, vinegared dish, or miso soup instead.

Combine single item menu

If possible, do not order the set menu as it is, but combine it with the a la carte menu. Although it depends on the content of the menu, set menus tend to have more carbohydrates and fats and less vegetables.

If it is a combination of a la carte menu, choose staple foods such as multigrain rice and rye bread that can prevent a sudden rise in blood sugar levels, choose boiled fish and other low-fat main dishes, and side dishes such as salads, sautéed spinach, and vinegared dishes. You can get vegetables by adding.

In the case of Japanese set meals, the staple food, main dish, and side dish are often well-balanced as described above, and in that case, a set menu is also acceptable. To avoid overcooking the rice, ask if you can reduce the amount when ordering.

use less dressing

Salads, which are full of vegetables and contain dietary fiber and vitamins, are a standard diet item and should be eaten actively. However, some dressings can lead to excessive calorie intake.

Although you don’t have to be overly sensitive, it’s recommended to use as little dressing as possible to avoid not only taking in too many calories but also adding too much salt.

Choose protein-rich main dishes

Protein , which is the basis of body tissues such as muscles, skin and internal organs, is a nutrient that you should actively take in your diet. People lose muscle as they age, so it is important to take in enough protein to prevent muscle loss during dieting.

However, protein is high in fat depending on the part. If you’re going to take protein, you should choose a part that has as little fat as possible.

Also, fish is better than meat . Fish contains amino acids that are effective in burning fat and improving metabolism, and is also rich in EPA and DHA, which are effective in preventing blood clots and lowering blood pressure and bad cholesterol.

Add salad or soup to prevent overeating

If you’re worried about overeating, make good use of healthy side dishes such as salads and soups.

While ingesting dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals, you can prevent excessive intake of carbohydrates and fats. You can expect the effect of adjusting the nutritional balance that tends to be biased during dieting, and you will be able to get a sense of satisfaction because your stomach will swell.

If you drink alcohol, choose one with less sugar.

It is sometimes said that “drinking alcohol makes you gain weight, so it is not good to go on a diet”, but it is okay to drink moderate amounts of alcohol that does not make you gain weight .

Calories in alcohol are called empty calories and are not stored in the body. Therefore, when choosing alcohol, it is important to pay attention to “sugar” rather than calories.

There are two main types of alcohol: fermented alcohol and distilled alcohol.

Whiskey, brandy, vodka, gin, and shochu, which are classified as distilled spirits, do not contain carbohydrates, so they are less likely to gain weight and are recommended for those on a diet. If the warimono contains sugar, the amount of sugar will increase, so use a sugar-free one.

However, alcohol has the effect of increasing appetite and paralyzing the satiety center. Be careful not to overdo the calories when drinking alcohol.

By genre! Recommended menu for eating out while on a diet

From here, we will introduce recommended menus for eating out during dieting by genre of shop.

Japanese food/set meal restaurant

Japanese food and set meal restaurants have many menus that are relatively healthy and nutritionally balanced. There are restaurants where you can eat less rice or change to multi-grain rice or brown rice, so it can be said that it is suitable for eating out while on a diet.

Sashimi set meal, boiled fish set meal, and grilled fish set meal are recommended.

restaurant

Western food tends to be higher in calories than Japanese food.

Recommended menus include salads, sautéed spinach, caprese, carpaccio, and grilled meat and fish. Be careful with pasta and pizza, as they are high in calories.

When eating steak, it is recommended to choose lean meat that is low in fat and high in protein, and add a salad to balance the nutrition.

Chinese cuisine

Chinese food contains a lot of oil and is said to be unsuitable for dieters. Stir-fried vegetables with plenty of vegetables, green pepper meat string with protein, double-cooked meat, and mapo tofu with protein-rich tofu are also recommended.

Avoid a la carte dishes such as tempura rice, fried rice, ankake yakisoba, and ramen, which are mainly carbohydrates and fats.

Izakaya

Izakayas with many snack menus have a wide variety of healthy menus such as yakitori, cold tofu, sashimi, edamame, seaweed salad and thick omelet.

It is recommended to choose a menu that combines protein and vegetables, and to choose alcohol such as a highball.

fast food

Fast food with many junk menus is characterized by many high-calorie menus. If you order a set menu without thinking about anything, you can easily ingest nearly 1000 kcal.

When eating out at fast food, order a single item instead of a set, and avoid French fries as they are high in calories. We recommend adding salads, soups, and high-protein chicken nuggets.

Cafe

One thing you should be careful about when eating out at a cafe is sweet drinks. Drinks with a lot of sugar are high in calories, so avoid them, and black coffee or straight tea without sugar or milk is recommended.

Recently, it seems that there are also places that offer healthy sweets that are recommended for people on a diet, made without using butter or cream. On the cafe menu, one plate lunch with various ingredients such as vegetables, meat, bread and rice is perfect for dieting.

convenience store

Convenience stores have a wide variety of menus, but before you stop by the bento corner, let’s choose salads and soups first. After that, if you choose a side dish such as salad or small packs of grilled fish, salad chicken, boiled eggs, etc., you can create a well-balanced menu suitable for dieting.

During the cold season, we also recommend oden with healthy ingredients such as daikon radish and konnyaku.

Points to note when eating out while on a diet

Here are some points to keep in mind when eating out while on a diet.

eat from dietary fiber

When dieting, the order in which you eat is important. First of all, let’s be conscious of “vege first” ingested from dietary fiber. If you suddenly start eating carbohydrates, your blood sugar level is likely to rise rapidly.

Start with salads and vinegars, then soups and protein-rich main dishes, then carbohydrates.

fill your stomach before eating out

When you go out to eat with your family, friends, or acquaintances instead of alone, you may not always be able to choose a healthy restaurant. If you’re worried about eating too much, it’s a good idea to eat something small to fill your stomach before you go out to eat.

By eating something light, you can prevent overeating and prevent blood sugar spikes. As a food that fills your stomach, it is important to choose foods that do not raise blood sugar levels.

Dietary fiber-rich foods such as vegetable sticks, protein bars, nuts, and high-protein, low-fat foods are recommended.

Limit eating out to twice a week

Eating out frequently can easily lead to a calorie surplus, and the energy that could not be consumed will be accumulated as fat.

It’s OK to eat out even if you’re on a diet, but it’s best to limit the frequency to about twice a week. Twice a week, if you overeat or drink too much, you can control it by adjusting how much you eat the next day.

Lunch is recommended if you eat out while on a diet

Food menus often contain a lot of fat and sugar. Nighttime is a time to sleep and rest, and activity does not burn calories as during the day.

If you are on a diet and want to eat out, lunch is recommended. During the daytime, you can use the lipids and carbohydrates you ingested as energy to move your body during subsequent activities.

There is a protein called ” BMAL1 ” in the body that promotes the synthesis of fat. BMAL1 is more active at night than during the day, so be careful not to take in too many calories when eating out at night.

Hold down the points and enjoy eating out while dieting!

Even if you are on a diet, you can eat out if you pay attention to the menu. If you continue to be patient just because you want to lose weight, you will get stressed and lead to setbacks in your diet, so it is also important to enjoy eating out and take a break.

However, eating out too often can lead to a calorie surplus, so it is safe to aim for about twice a week. Let’s enjoy eating out while on a diet by holding down the points you want to be careful about.

Supervisor profile: Haruka Suita

Deputy director of LIGHT CLINIC. Launched LIGHT CLINIC , a diet specialty clinic, with the aim of spreading obesity treatment with a view to health in the next 30 to 50 years . We provide total support for dieting, from consultation on internal medicine treatment, diet treatment to diet and exercise guidance, so that you can diet healthily.