On our journey to shed pounds, one tip that is typically given to help reduce calories when eating out at restaurants is to pass on the bread basket. Yes, that makes perfect sense, but the bread basket is one of the fun parts of the meal. I love breads, and I cannot totally give up on the bread when eating out so here are some things I do to still enjoy the bread yet keep my overall calorie count from going over board.
- Ask for a half full bread basket. This is especially handy if there are only two of you at the table. Sometimes, restaurants can put 6-8 pieces of bread in one basket, and that's almost a whole loaf. With a half basket, you get to enjoy but won't have too much.
- Eat just one piece, and then ask the waiter to take the basket away or ask for a to-go box and put the remaining bread in the box to take home to share or freeze to eat later. If the bread is not on the table any more, you won't be tempted to eat more than you need.
- Order your dinner with vegetables and a protein only and skip a second carb like pasta, rice, or potato. Meals start to get too heavy calorically if you eat two carbs at the meal, bread + pasta, bread + potato etcetera, and that goes for dessert too. This also gives you an opportunity to choose. You can decide which you want more, the bread or the other carb or dessert. With choices, you won't feel like you're being totally deprived.
- Ask if there are any whole wheat or organic breads available. Odds might be slim but you never know what they got back in the kitchen. Also ask if they make their breads on site, and what the ingredients are. There won't necessarily be a caloric savings, but if you're going to eat bread, you might as well eat a higher quality bread that contains as few additives and preservative as possible.
- I know some restaurants in my area that will put like 2-3 different types of breads in the basket like sourdough, french, or pumpkin. Ask the waiter to give you only one kind of bread, and nix any of the pumpkin or carrot type breads because those are really more like cake.
- Instead of butter, try dipping your bread in a little olive oil with some balsamic vinegar. With the olive oil, you'll get the healthy MUFAs (mono-unsaturated fats.)
