How to stick to your diet when dining out

While dieting does restrict your food choices, it does not prevent you from eating at restaurants. If you're on a diet and want to know the easiest way to enjoy a restaurant meal, check out these four helpful tips to ensure your meal is both enjoyable and diet-friendly.

• Scan the menu to find the items that fit within your nutritional plans, then be sure that you're the first at the table to order.
• Experts recommend ordering first in order to stick to your health plans, because people are more likely to break their diets when someone else orders unhealthy food first.
• Inform your dining companions of your plan before you go, so they will know that you'll be first in line to order when the waiter comes.

• In order to help control your caloric intake at a restaurant, order soup or salad first. Soups and salads tend to be filling, dense foods that pack in very little calories.
• Choose a salad that doesn't have fattening items like cheese or bacon, and make sure to choose a soup that is not cream-based.
• Experts believe that if you eat a salad or soup first, you're more likely to eat a smaller amount of your entree, which is likely higher in calories than your starter course.

• If you're ordering something like a salad or a sandwich, ask for any dressing or sauce to be served on the side of the meal.
• Often, a meal's main calories are contained in its sauce or dressing, since sauces and dressings are usually made with cream, corn syrup and other calorie-rich ingredients.
• If you get the sauce on the side, use your fork to dip into the sauce and then spear your food. This way, you'll only get a fraction of the calories.

• If you're ordering an entree-size portion for your meal, ask for a doggy bag and box alongside your entree.
• This way, you can cut your meal in half and box up the other half to take home before you even start eating.
• This is a psychological trick to help ensure that you don't overindulge, since it's harder to stop eating once you've already started.
• Also, boxing up half your entree is a good way to save money, since you can eat it for lunch the next day.