When clients come to me and are looking for easy ways to lose weight or decrease salt in their diet I have one main recommendation: LIMIT EATING OUT! I generally advise to my clients that the more you eat out, the harder it is to stay slim and have a well balanced diet. Most restaurants are going to add more butter, oil, and salt to foods, sometimes unbeknownst to you. They sneak butter in places you would not guess... everything is made better with butter!
However, I am guilty of eating out for dinner at least once or twice a week, on average. I find eating out enjoyable and I don't want to deprive myself of fun social situations. This is something I stress with my clients as well: you cannot become a hermit in order to control your eating... that is the sign of a more serious problem. So, you have to learn how to make good choices when you do eat out. Hence, I decided to start a series of blog posts entitled "My Healthy Pick at: ______" where I go around to local restaurants and give my recommendations for more healthy items at these institutions.
My first healthy pick is from a place I rarely eat at, simply because my friends prefer the right hand side (Teresa's Next Door) for the ambiance, nice bartenders, and the fact that the draft beers are on that side. The left side (Teresa's Cafe) is lovely, but it is a different (Italian) food menu, vibe, and you don't have as quick access to the beers. However, I had several clients say they had no idea what to order at Teresa's Cafe, so I decided to go investigate and come up with a recommendation for them at that location.
Upon reading the Teresa's Cafe menu, I decided something that I would enjoy, but would be healthy is their "Roasted Veggie Salad". However, this is lacking a protein... so I decided to add scallops. In hindsight, I only received 3 scallops, so for that price I should have opted for roasted chicken breast and hopefully received a little more protein. I asked for the dressing on the side (as I always advocate!), and found I didn't even need it. The roasted vegetables had oil and salt and were flavorful enough. I found that I couldn't even finish the meal as it was an ample serving of veggies, definitely Wayne Nutrition approved! So, next time you are at Teresa's Cafe in Wayne, and looking to order healthy, try the Roasted Veggie salad w/ roasted chicken breast (or shrimp!).
In the next few "My Healthy Pick at" posts, I will hopefully move to Teresa's Next Door, Christopher's, The Great American Pub, and other Wayne or Main Line/KOP spots. Stay tuned!
