Helpful hints for eating out

AVOIDING creamy sauces, keeping an eye on portion sizes and opting for boiled, baked and poached rather than fried are all ways of cutting down on calories when you’re eating out.

Nutritionist Louise Brown gave our recruits some tips and tricks to help them make more sensible choices at restaurants.

Over the past few weeks the gang have learnt how to read food labels, cook healthier foods at home and given the knowledge to know which fats and sugars are the worst kind.

Eating out can be tricky as it’s hard to know how the food has been cooked or if low-fat produce has been used.

But there are ways to minimise the damage of tucking into your favourite Chinese, Indian and Italian.

At the Chinese, go for clear soups, chop suey and stir-fried dishes rather than duck, spring rolls and prawn crackers.

At the Indian, opt for tandoori, tikka, biryani and dahl with chicken, fish and vegetables over samosas, poppadoms, bhajis and pilau rice.

At the Italian, choose tomato-based pasta dishes, salads or pizzas with vegetable toppings rather than creamy dishes, meat pizzas and garlic bread.

Louise advised the group to drink plenty of water with meals out to help you feel fuller quicker and share a starter or dessert rather than having both to yourself.

It’s also more tempting to finish all the food on your plate when you eat out as you feel it’s better value for money but Louise said we should always eat slowly and stop eating as soon as we feel full.

Alcohol can add hundreds of calories to our daily intake without us even realising so we should try and stick to a few units a day and have two booze-free days a week.

Single measures of clear spirits, such as vodka and gin, with a diet mixer are the best options with just 80 calories while alcopops can contain as much as 300 calories per bottle.