We all like eating out at restaurants, but it's easy to go overboard and be lured away from your healthy eating plan. iVillage nutrition expert by Dr Wynnie Chan shows you how to make the right choices and avoid a blowout
According to a recent survey on dining out conducted by the market research firm Mintel, almost one in five adults in the UK eat out at restaurants and bars more than once a week. On average we spend between £10 and £14 per person on a restaurant meal, and between £5 and £9 for a takeaway.
Whether you fit into these categories, or just prefer the occasional meal out, it's all too easy to wave goodbye to your diet - sometimes without realising it - when confronted with a mouth-watering menu. With careful planning and smart choices, however, it's possible to stick to a low fat eating plan, thereby avoiding post-meal guilt or anxiety about all the unnecessary calories you consumed.
We've outlined the calories and fat content of some of the most popular food choices from five different types of menus, so you can make smart choices the next time you eat out. Good luck.
| Indian meal | Fat | Calories |
| Chicken korma (350g) | 51g | 669 |
| Chicken tikka (350g) | 15g | 420 |
| Chicken tikka masala (350g) | 40g | 553 |
| Chicken dhansak (350g) | 30g | 504 |
| Chicken biryani (400g) | 30g | 652 |
| Chicken dupiaza (400g) | 25g | 399 |
| Lamb rogan josh (350g) | 35g | 511 |
| Lamb balti (350g) | 35g | 536 |
| Prawn bhuna (350g) | 30g | 420 |
| Prawn madras (350g) | 29g | 389 |
| Vegetable balti (350g) | 28g | 371 |
| Vegetable biryani (350g) | 28g | 469 |
| 2 Poppadoms (60g) | 23g | 301 |
| Meat samosa (75g) | 13g | 60 |
| Onion bhaji (30g) | 7g | 109 |
| Pilau rice (180g) | 7g | 253 |
| Boiled rice (180g) | 2g | 248 |
Next page: Chinese meals
A typical meal consisting of two poppadoms, chicken korma and pilau rice will set you back a staggering 81g fat and 1,223 calories. But, if you choose dishes like meat samosa, chicken dupiaza and boiled rice (40g fat and 707 calories), you'll almost halve that total.
For your main course, select a grilled meat instead of a curry, and you will avoid the calorie-rich sauce, especially if it's a cream based one. An average portion of chicken tikka, for example, has 15g fat compared with chicken dhansak which has 30g. The added bonus is that a grilled dish usually also comes with a salad, which means you'll boost your fibre intake and help notch up your daily vegetable intake slightly.
Don't forget that sharing your dishes with friends or making a conscious effort not to polish off everything on your plate is an easy way to reduce your fat and calorie intake.
| Chinese meal | Fat | Calories |
| Sweet and sour chicken (300g) | 30g | 582 |
| Sweet and sour pork (300g) | 42g | 711 |
| Chicken chop suey (450g) | 21g | 362 |
| Chicken with cashew nuts (350g) | 30g | 455 |
| Chicken chow mein (350g) | 25g | 513 |
| Beef with green peppers in black bean sauce | 20g | 359 |
| Stir-fried vegetables (340g) | 14g | 177 |
| Egg fried rice (270g) | 13g | 491 |
| Prawn crackers (70g) | 27g | 284 |
| Sesame prawn toast (55g) | 16g | 210 |
| Crispy aromatic duck (125g) with pancakes (30g) | 32g | 506 |
| Spring roll (60g) | 10g | 145 |
| Chicken and sweetcorn soup (200g) | 3g | 133 |
| Hot and sour soup (200g) | 4g | 119 |
A meal containing crispy aromatic duck with pancakes, sweet and sour pork and egg fried rice will set you back a whopping 87g fat and 1708 calories. Making some clever swaps, such as having beef with green peppers, boiled rice and chicken and sweetcorn soup, will again help you reduce your fat and calorie intake to as little as 25g fat and 740 calories. This is because lean beef is lower in fat than duck, which has been deep fried, and the soup, also low in fat, will fill you up.
Next page: Mexican, Thai and Italian meals
| Mexican meal | Fat | Calories |
| Chicken fajitas (90g) | 6g | 113 |
| Vegetable enchilada (300g) | 21g | 434 |
| Cheese nachos (100g) | 18g | 257 |
| Tortilla (100g) | 1g | 262 |
| Tortilla chips (100g) | 23g | 459 |
| Green salad with oil and lemon dressing (150g) | 7g | 83 |
Making good low-fat choices is fairly easy at a Mexican restaurant assuming you avoid piling on the sour cream, cheese and guacamole. A meal of chicken fajitas and tortilla with a large salad, for example, has only 14g fat and 458 calories. Where possible, ask for reduced-fat cheese on the side.
| Thai meal | Fat | Calories |
| Green chicken curry (350g) | 30g | 416 |
| Chicken satay (140g)) | 14g | 267 |
| Stir-fry vegetable curry (350g) | 28g | 354 |
| Spring roll (60g) | 10g | 145 |
| Fish cakes (60g) | 8g | 200 |
| Thom Yum soup (200g) | 24g | 345 |
| Coconut rice (180g) | 12g | 353 |
Coconut milk, which abounds in Thai cooking, is high in fat and calories so try to avoid dishes and soups which use it as a main ingredient. Fish cakes, grilled chicken satay and plain boiled rice are smarter choices (24g fat and 715 calories) compared to a soup, curry, and coconut rice (66g fat and 1114 calories.)
| Italian meal | Fat | Calories |
| 400g spaghetti bolognese with Parmesan cheese (without) | 28.4g (25.1g) | 560kcals (515kcals) |
| 400g spaghetti carbonara | 28g | 556kcals |
| 230g (or a 7in) margherita pizza (cheese and tomato) | 27.4g | 545kcals |
| 60g garlic bread | 11.2g | 228kcals |
| 85g green salad with 15g oil and lemon dressing | 10.7g | 107kcals |
| 85g green salad with 15g Thousand Island dressing | 4.8g | 59kcals |
| 85g potato salad with mayonnaise | 17.7g | 203kcals |
| 100g coleslaw | 26.4g | 203kcals |
To cut down on fat, hold back on the Parmesan, as well as creamy sauces like carbonara, opting for a plain tomato sauce instead. Also, try to avoid dressed salads such as coleslaw or potato, and go for a green salad or an undressed one so you control the amount of dressing added; this will make a big difference to the amount of calories you consume. Finally, skip the garlic bread altogether, and fill up on salad or where possible, steamed vegetables.
Next page: General eating out tips
Dr Frankie Robinson, a nutrition scientist at the British Nutrition Foundation, believes it is almost always possible to make excellent savings on your fat and calorie intake when dining out. Dr Robinson offers the following general tips, which you can apply to any kind of meal:
- Try to find opportunities for increasing your vegetable intake wherever you can, such as asking for extra salad in your taco or kebab.
- When ordering vegetables, look for steamed or raw dishes, which have the highest nutritional value and are lowest in calories.
- When ordering meat or fish, choose grilled rather than fried dishes.
- Choose dry and tomato-based sauces like tomato and basil instead of carbonara, or rogan josh instead of creamy curries such as kormas.
- Choose plain boiled rice over fried rice.
- Choose oven-baked breads instead of deep-fried ones. Go for naan bread instead of puri, or have a burrito in place of a chimichanga (essentially a deep-fried burrito).
- Go easy on toppings such as mayonnaise, ketchup or sour cream and particularly oil-based ones like chutneys and lime pickle.
- Drink a large glass of water or even eat a small light snack like raw veggie sticks before going out to dinner. This will help you avoid being ravenous and stop you filling up on bread before the meal.
- Sharing dishes is a great way of introducing variety and controlling your portions.
Remember - eating out is an enjoyable event, which you can take part in even if you are on a diet. Healthy eating doesn't have to be boring. Bon appetit.