Eating out is practically unavoidable for a modern family. Between your own career obligations and then ferrying the kids around, you can’t possibly be expected to cook at home every night of the week. Still, you want everyone to eat as healthy as possible, so knowing ways to find healthy options for family dining is crucial information.
5 Ways Your Family Can Dine Healthy
EatRight.org points out that restaurant food is supposed to smell, look, and then taste great. Nutrition can fall by the wayside, but there are things you can do to help your family dine out in more healthy ways than before.
- Look Things Up: Most restaurants have their menus available online. These menus often list ingredients or other nutritional information you can use to make healthy choices. Even establishments not known for healthy food will usually have a few options. Looking such things up in advance makes it more likely you pick something better for you.
- Go Double Appetizer: You may hear a lot of people tell you to split a plate with people, but that can lead to some tussle if you don’t both want the same thing. A better tactic might be getting two appetizers instead of an entree. The full plates most restaurants provide are more food than you really need in one meal, but a pair of appetizers could be just right. If you’re still hungry after them, just flag your waiter down for a side dish of something to top you off.
- Don’t Let Anyone Enter Hungry: Yes, you’re going to eat and everyone eats to take care of hunger. However, there’s being ready for a meal, and then there’s starving so bad you want to eat the table before the food arrives. Try to make sure everyone in your family has a healthy snack sometime in the few hours before dining out.
- Teach Your Kids Vocabulary: Menus have words your kids should learn. Steamed, broiled, and grilled meat dishes with less fat. Other descriptions are less healthy, including smothered, creamy, rich, alfredo, breaded, and fried.
- Ask About Off the Menu Items: Most restaurants have things they can make that aren’t on their menu. Always be willing to ask your server if the chef or cook can steam veggies and grill chicken. That’s about as healthy a plate as you can get.
What Makes a Sushi Restaurant Great?
Sushi restaurants can be great places to eat healthy since so much of the food is natural, unprocessed, and maybe even organic. If you want to know what to look for in a sushi restaurant nearby, then consider these factors:
- Staff: The staff seat you, wait on you, prepare your food, and clean up after you.
- Menu: Everyone in the family should be able to find something to eat.
- Price: An establishment that overvalues its food won’t get many repeat customers.
- Location: A great restaurant is close to where you work or live.
- Cleanliness: You should never worry about getting sick just because the place is dirty.
Why Healthy Eating Matters
Healthy eating matters because it helps you keep your medical bills low. You also get to make sure your kids grow up in good shape as they move towards being adults of their own.
You deserve good health, too. You probably need as much energy as you can get just keeping up with your kids, but you also want to be sure you’ll have health and vigor left after the kids flee the nest. You’ve got plenty of years of your own to look forward to.
Inspire by Example
Even when you know ways your family can enjoy healthier dining out, you won’t likely get everyone on board immediately. Keep choosing better restaurants, but also keep choosing healthy meals and ingredients for yourself. Your kids will follow your example more than you think, and you’ll hopefully inspire any romantic partner or other parents in the picture to do the same thing as well.
