These ideas may help you make good choices when eating out….

Starters

• Consommé, clear soups, vegetable and minestrone soups.
• Melon with Parma ham.
• Asparagus, corn on the cob (ask for no butter).
• Olives, crudities and breadsticks with hummus or salsa.
• Seafood cocktails, prawns (without sauce), plain smoked salmon, mussels or oysters with lemon juice.
• Fruit juice, tomato juice.

Main course

• Plain roast meat e.g. beef, lamb, pork, turkey.
• Grilled or oven baked chicken, steak, cutlets, fish (ask for no butter, without sauce or a separate pot of sauce).
• Casseroles, stews, hotpots.
• Pizzas topped with vegetables and without extra cheese.
• Seafood e.g. oysters with chilli sauce and lemon, mussels with lemon or vinegar rather than butter, prawns with lemon juice.
• Pasta (unbuttered).
• Boiled rice.
• Jacket or boiled potatoes (ask for no butter or margarine).
• Plain bread without butter, margarine or garlic butter.
• Unbuttered cous cous.
• Plain boiled or steamed noodles.
• Boiled vegetables (ask for no butter, margarine or cheese sauce).
• Any salad with lemon or vinegar rather than with oil or mayonnaise.

Desserts

• Melon.
• Fresh fruit salad.
• Small portion of ice cream.
• Sorbet.

Drinks

• Still, sparkling or flavoured no-added sugar mineral water.
• Tomato juice.
• Diet coke, diet lemonade, slimline mixers.
• Try and keep to the recommended limits of alcohol. This is no more than two units per day for women and three units per day for men.

The following ideas give you healthier, tasty choices from takeaway menus….

Chinese

• Clear soups e.g. won-ton.
• Boiled rice or plain noodles.
• “Stir fry” type dishes e.g. chicken, prawn or tofu with pineapple or bean sprouts, chow mein, lemon chicken.

Indian                  

• Boiled rice, chapattis made without fat, plain naan bread.
• Oven baked dishes e.g. tandoori or tikka.
• Karia and Bhuna.
• Tomato based dishes, Raita, Dahl (boiled lentils), side salad.

Fish and chips   

• Ask if your fish and chip shop may offer jacket potatoes instead of chips, they may grill or griddle your fish without batter.
• Perhaps try to eat less of the batter.
• If having chips choose a small portion and share!

Kebabs                

• Pitta bread filled with lamb or chicken shish kebab and salad (ask for no dressing).

Burgers               

• Select burger venues that sell grilled chicken fillets without batter or breadcrumbs.
• Choose flame grilled style burger venues rather than deep-fried burgers. Try fish, Quorn or bean burgers.
• High fibre wholemeal or granary bread buns may be available.
• Salads often available but beware of high calorie dressings, try and choose vinaigrette style dressing instead.

Jacket potatoes 

• Choose chilli or ratatouille, cottage cheese, baked beans, tuna and sweet corn (ideally without mayonnaise).

Italian 

• Tomato based pasta dishes.
• Pizza made with extra vegetables and without extra cheese.
• Try a thin base pizza.

Thai

• Wok fried dishes tend to be lower in fat. Try stir-fried chicken or vegetables with tofu .
• Plain steamed rice or noodles.
• Thai salads.