With so much on offer when we eat out for dinner, it can be tricky to choose healthy options. Rich sauces, creamy desserts and wine all add lots of calories! 

Here’s our top 10 tips for making healthy choices when going out for dinner:

1. Don’t go out starving hungry – a lot of people won’t eat all day if they know they are going out to dinner in order to ‘save’ calories. This very rarely works!  By the time you get to dinner you are so hungry you run the risk of making unhealthy decisions and over ordering. Eat normally throughout the day to avoid this.
2. Look at the menu beforehand – plan what you’d like to eat before you get seduced by other sights and smells.  
3. Swap fried for grilled – foods such as sausages and burgers are all high in saturated fat. If the meat is fried, as in the case of most sausages and burgers, it will contain even more fat. Lean white meats such as grilled chicken and turkey breasts are much lower in fat and cholesterol, as is grilled fish. 
4. Choose tomato based sauces over creamy ones – for example, a vegetable and tomato sauce based pasta dish contains fewer calories than a carbonara.
5. Ditch the salad dressing – or ask for it on the side so that you can use less of it. Most salad dressings are oil based and are therefore high in fat and calories. 
6. Be aware of other cooking methods – for example, choosing steamed or boiled vegetables or rice over fried versions is healthier, boiled potatoes contain fewer calories than mashed, roasted or chipped and oven baked fish contains less fat than battered and deep fried. 
7. Eat slowly and chew each mouthful mindfully - the quicker you eat, the less time your brain has to catch up with how full your stomach is and will only tell you stop when you’re bursting. 
8. Avoid buffet style restaurants – there’s far too much temptation. 
9. Dessert isn’t a given - but if you’re craving dessert, choose a fruit salad or low sugar jelly over chocolatey or creamy desserts smothered in cream or ice cream. Or share a dessert and have all the taste with half the calories! 
10. Drinks wise, sparkling wine tends to contain fewer calories than heavy red wines or beers. Or mix white wine with soda to reduce the calorie count. If you’re drinking alcohol, make sure you have water to drink whilst you’re eating. Quenching your thirst with water over wine is far healthier. Stick to low calorie soft drinks over their sugary counterparts too. 

Healthy eating doesn’t have to be a chore. Adding in a few simple swaps can make an evening out much less calorific and you’ll probably feel less full and uncomfortable too.