|
|
(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Eating out is part of the holiday season whether it is an office party, lunch with friends or a family holiday dinner. You can work any of these events into your daily diabetic meal plan with a little planning. Let’s look at some tips to make holiday eating fun while keeping you healthy.
You walk into a restaurant, you’re shown to a table and handed a menu. Believe it or not, your key to successful eating out is right there in your hands. Read the menu carefully. Don’t be afraid to ask for special options or substitutions. Many restaurants will cater to your health needs.
Menu selections that tend to have less calories and fat are: au jus (in its own juice), baked, boiled, broiled, cooked with lemon juice, cooked in wine, deviled, fresh, grilled, julienne, lean, marinara, poached, roasted, steamed and stir fry.
Menu terms that signal more calories are: au gratin, battered, buttered, breaded, casserole, cheese sauce (mornay), cream sauce (a la king), creamy (béchamel), crispy, deep fried, escalloped, fried, in gravy, hollandaise, kiev, parmigiana, in pastry, pot pie, prime cuts of meat (heavily marbled with fat), remoulade, and rich.
All restaurants have low calorie and no calorie sweeteners. Most carry sugar-free syrups and jelly, lowfat or nonfat salad dressings, nonfat milk, and diet drinks.
Menu choices such as salads, fish, broiled lean meats, vegetables, fresh fruit, and whole grain breads are readily available. Do not be afraid to take control, ask questions, suggest substitutions, and be creative in putting together a meal you’ll enjoy that fits into your daily carb and calorie budget.
Don’t be afraid to ask — Can you split a dinner between two? Can your choice be broiled instead of fried? Can you skip the potato and order double vegetables? Can you swap French fries for salad or sliced tomato? Can the chef leave out the salt?
Avoid temptation — Stay away from all-you-can-eat buffets; it’s too temping to overeat. Don’t supersize your choice; large portions mean more carbs and calories. Take a roll and ask that the bread basket be removed from the table so you are not tempted to overdue your carb budget. Request no butter for the bread, many interesting breads taste great naked. Keep the vegetable tray and give back the chips and dip.
Make an “appetizer” a meal by ordering an appetizer as an entrée. Ask if a lunch portion can be ordered at dinner. Share a main dish and order extra vegetables
Ask for toppings “on the side” — butter, gravy, salad dressing, sauce, sour cream, syrup, guacamole and grated cheese. Use a small portion to enhance flavor but avoid piling on too much which piles on calories. Try dipping your fork into the “extra” and then spear a piece food, rather than dunking each bite.
Eat slowly. Give you body time to feel full. Enjoy the company — talk more, eat less. Enjoy the atmosphere of the restaurant.
Eat until you feel satisfied not stuffed – be mindful of how your body feels. You don’t have to clean your plate. Ask for a “doggie bag” to take home.
Dessert is not off limits if you keep the portions reasonable. Share with another person – or better yet with the whole table. Order fresh fruit. End the meal with a richly flavored coffee or interesting tea instead of dessert
Think before you drink. When it comes to alcohol, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that light to moderate use of alcohol lowers the risk for diabetes and raises your HDL (good) cholesterol. The bad news is that heavy drinking increases the risk for prediabetes and diabetes.
Here are some things to consider when adding alcohol to your diabetic meal plan. Limit alcoholic drinks to 1 a day for women and 2 for men. Always drink alcohol with food because drinking on an empty stomach can make your blood sugar drop too low. Alcohol, by itself (gin, vodka, whiskey, rum) does not require insulin to be used for energy, so it does not cause blood sugar to go up. Mixed drinks, beer and wine contain carbs and may raise your blood sugar. Light beer is very low in carb and does not need to be counted into your daily carb budget.
Regular beer has more carb. One 12-ounce bottle should be counted as 1 carb choice in your daily carb budget. If you drink daily, the calories need to be added to your daily calorie intake.
You should know: 1 alcoholic drink equals — 12 ounces light beer (1 bottle or can), 1.5 ounces 80 proof distilled spirits (1 shot glass), or 5 ounces wine (1 moderate-sized wine glass or 1 large wine glass half full).
For more information about eating and diabetes, look for The Diabetes Counter, 4th ed. just released by Pocket Books. The book is celebrating 20 years in print with over a half million satisfied readers.
© NRH Nutrition Consultants, Inc.
Jo-Ann Heslin, MA, RD, CDN is a registered dietitian and the author of the nutrition counter series for Pocket Books with 12 current titles and sales of more than 8.5 million books. The books are widely available at your local or on-line bookseller.
Current titles include:
The Diabetes Counter, 4th Ed., 2011
The Protein Counter, 3rd Ed., 2011
The Calorie Counter, 5th Ed., 2010
The Ultimate Carbohydrate Counter, 3rd Ed., 2010
The Complete Food Counter, 3rd ed., 2009
The Fat Counter, 7th ed., 2009
The Healthy Wholefoods Counter, 2008
The Cholesterol Counter, 7th Ed., 2008
For more information on Jo-Ann and her books, go to The Nutrition Experts
Subscribe to our FREE Ezine and receive current Health News, be eligible for discounted products/services and coupons related to your Health. We publish 24/7.
HealthNewsDigest.com
For advertising/promotion, email: [email protected] Or call toll free: 877- 634-9180