Eating out and takeaways: The healthy, low calorie way

Chinese 

Out in the Orient they tend to cook very healthy dishes, with most of their diet made up of plain boiled rice, or noodles with lots of vegetables, meat and fish. However, with the Western world posing more and more of an influence, meals are becoming usually tends to be high in calories and saturated fat.

So the next time you’re dining out far east skip your usual starter of prawn toast, seaweed, ribs and prawn crackers and go for soup instead.  If you’re a special fried rice fan, swap your usual rice for plain boiled rice and you’ll save over 300 calories. Avoid crispy fried duck, as this choice is particularly calorific as the duck is served with its skin on. This is the fattiest part.

Just 2 small pancakes weighs in at around 400 calories, and with the overly generous portion sizes that restaurants serve, it’s easy to eat lots of these. If you just can’t say no to pancakes, fill yours with cucumber and spring onion, and just a tiny portion of duck. And when choosing your main, steer clear of battered, deep fried dishes such as sweet and sour balls and go for noodle based meals like chow mien instead.

Indian 

Spicy foods are thought to kick-start a sluggish metabolism, however choosing badly at the Indian can cause you to eat an entire days worth of calories in 1 sitting. Here’s how to avoid doing so!

To start your meal, avoid the bhaji’s and samosas and go for one poppadom topped with raita. This is a mixture of cucumber and yoghurt.  Tomato sambal is also good. This is chopped tomato and onion.  When it comes to your main meal, go for a dry dish like Tikka or Tandoori, or if you’re having a curry sauce, eat the meat and only a small amount of the sauce, as this is often the most fattening part.

When choosing your curry, jalfrezi, dopiaza or dhansak are the lowest calorie options as they are tomato, vegetable and lentil based. Try to avoid the cream, coconut or nut based curries such as kormas, massalas or passandras as these are very high in calories and saturated fat. When it comes to rice, always choose plain over pliau and if you’re having a naan bread, go for the plain version, share it and skip the rice.

Italian  

Despite the Mediterranean diet being one of the healthiest in the world, make the wrong choice and your Italian meal could pack a few pounds onto your body. Tomato based pastas are a good choice of main, but you should avoid the cream or cheese based sauces. If you’re watching your portion sizes you could ask for a starter sized pasta portion than a main to lower your calorie intake.  Crispy, thin based pizzas are also a healthy option as long as you choose a plain, vegetable or lean mat topping such as chicken or ham. Steer clear of any processed meat toppings such as salami or pepperoni. A typical pepperoni pizza weighs in at 1050 calories compared to a margarita which is a lighter option at 800 calories.

Fast food 

The drive through isn’t always the worst option as long as you never supersize, avoid the salads dripping in high calorie dressings,  don’t ‘double-up’ your burger, go for diet soft drinks and cut out the extras such as onion rings, wedges and fries. The best option? Go for a kid’s meal with a plain burger (which means no cheese!) with water and a fruit bag if the option is available. You are also advised to limit how much BBQ and tomato ketchup you eat with your meal as these are shockingly high in sugar and calories.