Eating at restaurants can be a challenge for those of us trying to maintain healthy blood sugar readings. Restaurant food tends to have more carbs, more calories, more salt, and lower quality fats in larger quantities than what we would make at home. We came up with 5 easy ways to make sure you can still go out to eat and enjoy yourself while still staying on track with your nutrition goals.
Look to see if the restaurant has the menu/nutrition info online. Choosing something before-hand takes the stress out of ordering. This way we can focus on the conversation and the company rather than the nutritional content of each entree item.
Share an entree with a friend! Many restaurant entrees these days can serve 2-3 people.
Choose baked/steamed/grilled over fried when you can.
Ask for dressing/sauce on the side. Use "the fork method" for salads, dipping your fork into the dressing before grabbing each bite of salad. We tend to use less this way.
Ask for and extra side of steamed veggies. This is especially easy to do at most Asian restaurants and many American “steakhouse” style restaurants. Ask for a box with your meal. Place half your entree in the box. Eat the side of veggies and the half entree still on your plate. Have the other boxed half entree for lunch the next day (with extra veggies added from home).
On the Brook app, you can record the food you eat everyday. This helps make connections between your blood sugar and the food you eat, and is a helpful way to be mindful about food choices you make throughout the day. Our experts are also available to chat about food, nutrition, and blood sugar control 7 days a week.
