56 Part I: Eating Right with Every Bite
- Leave toppings like bacon, cheese, and croutons off salad.
- Drink water instead of high-calorie beverages like sweet tea, sodas,
or juices. Remember not to drink with meals.
✓ Avoid the value meal. Face it, if it’s in front of you, you’ll be tempted to
eat it. Even better, ask for the kid’s meal (the card we discussed above
could come in handy). Or, of course, you can share something with
someone else.
✓ There is nothing wrong with just eating the meat out of a sandwich.
You can always discard one (or both) pieces of bread.
✓ Eat just until you are satisfied. One of the authors has a friend who
pours salt (lots of salt!) on her food after she has reached the point
where she is satisfied so she won’t eat anymore.
Good choices for a variety of restaurants
At some point, you’re going to find yourself at a restaurant wondering what
you can eat. This section gives you some ideas of foods to look for that will
be healthier and good for weight control.
Burger joints
A typical burger chain meal for most people is a hamburger, french fries, and
a soda. Instead of the meal you might have once had, eat one of the following:
✓ Regular single patty burger
✓ Grilled chicken sandwich
✓ Veggie burger
✓ Grilled chicken salad with low-fat or fat-free dressing
✓ Egg on English muffin with lean ham or Canadian bacon
✓ Grilled chicken strips
Chicken restaurants
What if you’re off to a fried chicken restaurant? Skip anything that has the
words fried, original, or extra crispy in its description and go for
✓ Skinless chicken without the crunchy stuff
✓ Grilled chicken without the skin
✓ Grilled chicken salad with dressing on the side and without croutons,
cheese, or bacon
✓ Side salad (not coleslaw — it’s loaded with fat and sugar!)
