Some useful information about fast foods and restuarant menus

Because fat is an inexpensive way to add flavour to foods, it generally means, the cheaper the fast food, the more likely it contains generous amounts of FAT.
When dining out if you must have a starter and deserts, then try to share them, portions sizes are usually big enough. Sharing restaurant food items with a partner is also, a good way to consume less energy and in some cases gain a little more nutrition.

Stay away from menu items that state:
Crispy & battered
Deep fried
Buttery
Dressed
Bathed
Sauteed

Be careful when ordering at some restaurants. A stir-fry full of vegetables may still contain a large amount of fat. If you find yourself getting full quickly when eating a vegetable dish, then it may be because it contains large amounts of oils from cooking process.

Choose more brown rice, the extra fiber helps fill us up quicker so less calories are eaten.

For chinese items, stay away from Pork, Duck & Spare ribs!
Instead try choosing more fish, shrimp and scallops.
Item served on a sizzling platter can be a better choice over deep fried menu items.

Want to eat more healthily at foreign restaurants?

French restaurant items of foods are generally high in fat. It is hard to find low calorie foods in a standard French restaurant.

What some french menu terms mean:
Au vapour - Steamed
En brochette - broiled
Grille - Grilled

A la creme - in cream sauce
Au gratin - with cream & cheese
En cruote - crusty pastry
Remoulade - Mayonnaise sauce

Indian foods are generally very high in fat. Many dishes are cooked in Ghee which is a clarified type of butter. Tandoori roasting is about the lowest calorie cooking method, but that doesn't always mean a Tandoori dish will be low calories. The chicken may be cooked in a Tandoori style but, if it is included in a high fat dish then it wont make that much differenceto its energy content.

When ordering from an Indian menu it may be best to choose more; Chutney, Dahl, Masala, Matta, Paneer, Pilau or Raita dishes.
Try to eat less Chickpea batter, Ghee, Korma, Molee, Poori & Samosas types of foods.

If eating out when shopping try a deli style food restaurant where most of the snacks are freshly prepared. Split an ample sandwich with a friend in order to share calories. Or eat half, then take other half home for later - spreading each meal's energy content throughout the day!

Whenever possible order from the kids menu!
Go for baked potato and/or salad based menu items.

For more ideas about losing weight healthily click onto our weight loss website!

Calories Still Count

It is becoming difficult to pick up a magazine or newspaper and not find some mention of the need to reduce dietary fat intake to 30 percent or less of calories. Numerous health and government authorities, including the U.S. Surgeon General, the National Academy of Sciences, the American Heart Association and the American Dietetic Association, advocate reducing dietary fat to 30 percent or less of total calories. Even the percent daily value of fat appearing on food labels is based on 30 percent of calories. But are Americans heeding these messages?
It appears that they are at least making some effort to reduce fat intake, according to a survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals, CSFII). This survey shows that from 1994 to 1996 the average American diet contained 33 percent of total calories from fat, down from 40 percent in 1978, which is extremely encouraging.
What is not encouraging, however, is the finding that Americans in general are seeing a heavier weight when they step on the scale. According to a survey published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the number of overweight Americans has jumped from 45 percent in 1991 to approximately 65 percent. Almost 30 percent of Americans are overweight.
Other studies support these findings. A study from the National Institutes of Health confirms that in 1992-93, the average weight of Americans age 25-30 was 171 pounds. In 1985-86, the average weight was 161 pounds for the same age group.
Why then, if the percent of fat in the diet is decreasing, is obesity increasing? After all, fat has nine calories per gram while protein and carbohydrates only have four each.
The answer may not be a simple one. Experts believe a number of factors contribute to the increase in body weight. The continuing physical inactivity of Americans has been cited by numerous researchers as a major factor. Only 40 percent of Americans exercise on a regular basis. In addition, researchers point to such symptoms of a sedentary lifestyle as a 10 percent decline in sports participation from 1985-90, and a decline in manufacturing jobs, which means fewer people move around at work.
Other factors include a decrease in physical activity caused by television, a continuing increase in the usage of automobiles, and a decrease in physical education classes in schools. And these symptoms may be here to stay. “Experts agree that the root causes of obesity in the country — a sedentary lifestyle and an abundance of food — are very difficult to change,” says New York Times writer Marian Burros in a recent article on Americans’ weight gain.
Excess caloric intake, however, is also a factor. According to the latest National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), total caloric intake by adults increased from 1,969 calories in 1978 to 2,200 in 1990.
Obviously, calories still count! Weight is determined by the number of calories consumed and the number used as energy. If more calories are consumed than burned, the result is weight gain. Merely controlling grams of fat consumed, which was popular nutrition advice in the past, does not necessarily result in a reduction in calories.
As Dr. James Hill, who is with the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, recently stated, “The idea that you can eat whatever you want as long as you don’t eat fat is totally wrong. There’s solid evidence that the composition of the diet is important, but it’s not just an issue of fat; total calories count too. So, yes, eat low fat. But don’t forget calories.”

Article taken with permission from:
www.caloriecontrol.org

For information about the amount of calories in different foods Visit our site:
http://www.weightlossforall.com/food-calories-list.htm