eating out

If you've recently eaten at Panera Bread, a 50-year-old restaurant chain with more than 1,400 locations, you may have noticed the calorie counts on the chain's menu. Some of the information could cause your jaw to drop:

• 430 calories fro a cinnamon crunch bagel
• 720 calories for a Smokehouse Turkey panini
• 1040 calories for a Italian Combo sandwich

If the fact that one sandwich can have 1040 calories (not including the drink and potato chips) seems shocking, get used to being shocked. The new health care reform law will require restaurants to own up to the calorie counts of the food on their menus. Panera is just ahead of the curve.

A few municipalities—most notably New York City—already require restaurants to display some nutritional data on their menus, an effort to educate consumers and allow them to make healthier eating decisions.

So far, the evidence is mixed as to whether menu calories will make a difference in eating habits. In New York, researchers found that people weren't ordering less calorie-laden foods from restaurants but they were visiting cafes less often—which could be a sign of calorie-conscious decision making or the bad economy.

Some people are glad to see calorie counts: It makes it easier to eat out with diabetes or stick to a weight-loss diet.

But calories don't tell the whole story about nutrition. In fact, restaurants need to provide much more information before consumers can make a true "healthy" choice.

For example, some salads may have more calories than a cheeseburger. But that doesn't make the burger a healthier pick. The salad may have has less saturated fat and sodium, along with more fiber and nutrients.

Restaurants, already bristling at putting calorie counts on their menus, aren't likely to voluntarily add information about saturated fat, sodium or dietary fiber. But as a consumer you can still use the calorie information to make good eating decisions. Here's how:

1. Make an educated guess as to where the calories are coming from. Not all high-calorie foods are created equal. Some fruits, for example, are high in calories but contain important nutrients. A salad could get a lot of their calories from added fruit. On a hamburger, the calories are coming from the bun, the condiments and all the unhealthy saturated fat.

2. Cut the calories in half by reducing portion size. Restaurants often serve gigantic portions. Either order a smaller serving (the half-sized Italian Combo sandwich at Panera Bread only has 570 calories) or ask the restaurant to put half your order in a take out box. Find more tips on how to eat out without gaining weight.

3. Use common sense when comparing items. You don't have to be a registered dietitian to know that green leafy vegetables are better for you than a burger and fries, even if the salad has more calories. Salads become nutritional hazards when you add lots of toppings and creamy dressings. But you can make a restaurant salad healthier by opting for a vinaigrette and skipping the croutons and cheese.

Finally, you can learn more about a restaurant's menu before you dine. Many big chain restaurants put their nutritional information online. As Everwell's registered dietitian says, the more you know, the more you can eat.

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"Eat out less if you want to weigh less."

You may have heard someone spout this weight-loss tip as conventional wisdom. While restaurant portion sizes can tip the scales and dishes are often gussied up with more cheese, fat and salt than you might use in home cooking, you don't have to give up dining out to maintain your weight.

It's like telling people leave their cars in the garage if they want to avoid getting into an automobile accident.

To improve highway safety we need driver's education. The same goes for safely navigating a restaurant menu. We need more diners' education. Here are some rules for the road ... ahem ... menu:

Map Out Menu Choices
Read the menu and listen carefully when servers list the specials. Check out the menu online to help you plan a safe route. That's what Nicole Jones, who founded a dinner club group that eats out in Atlanta once a month, does.

"I'm a planner and if I want to splurge on a dessert I pick my appetizer more carefully," Jones says. "I even ask the waiter to bring the dessert menu before I order my entrée!"

I met Jones and her group of foodie friends at an Atlanta restaurant where she enjoyed the mussels and tiramisu. Here are their tips for eating out without gaining weight.

Signal Your Intentions
Be specific about what you want or don't want. For example, "Can you lightly brush the fish with butter?" or "Ask the chef not to salt my food."

"Every restaurant we've been to has diet friendly recommendations which are just as tasty," Jones says.

Be Aware of Surroundings
Remember where you are. Ask for balsamic vinegar in an Italian place and rice wine vinegar in a Japanese place to add non-fat flavor to foods. Béarnaise sauce at steak houses often arrives in a huge gravy boat, best kept way on the side.

Dine Defensively
Be honest when the waiter asks you how you like your meal. Don't suffer in silence. They want to work fast to make you happy.

Use Your Mirrors
Check out the room. Look around and see what other diners are eating so you get a visual on portion sizes. Way too large? Split the entrée or plan to box up half for carry-out. Spying on other tables will also let you see if an entrée "served with spring greens" is either a sizable serving of salad or a disappointing wisp of lettuce garnish. Take special note of road hazards. Jones admits the freshly baked bread served with marinara and warm goat cheese is hard to resist.

Highway Etiquette
Oh Waiter! Make eye contact, smile and appreciate your server. It's just human nature--waiters are likely to spend more time at friendly tables. Tip for good service when the server goes to the mat for your special order request. They're not doing it for their health-even if you are! Let them know they'll be rewarded ahead of time by saying, "If you help us eat a little less, we'll tip you a little more." Smaller hips, bigger tips!!

Enjoy the Ride
Make dining out a special occasion and enjoy the conversation as much as the cuisine. That's what Jones and her dining companions do. Good conversation can help distract you from the dessert menu.

Fast Food Slow to Decompose
Here's a slow food project guaranteed to boggle the mind: How long does it take for a McDonald's Happy Meal to decay? New York artist Sally Davies is trying to figure that out. After six months, she still doesn't know the answer.

Davies' burger and fries combo sits on a shelf in her apartment where it has resisted decomposition for half a year, a fact documented daily by Davies on Flikr. No word yet on how long the toy lasted.

Waiter, I Don't Want What He's Having
Food photographer Neil Setchfield has made a living out of photographing the food that other people really DON'T want to eat. The British-based photographer has a new book out, profiled here, called Yuck! The Things People Eat. Crickets? Check. Hog eyes? You betcha. Fried sparrow? Well, you get the picture.

The book may work great as coffee table fare, but you probably want to keep it off the dinner table.

Halloween Candy Survival Guide
As a kid-focused holiday, Halloween is supposed to be fun. So why do people like Men's Health Editor David Zinczenko have to spoil all the fun? Seriously, before you have to squeeze your kid into king-sized white sheet ghost costume, review his high-calorie Halloween candy no-nos.

Dining out with a dietitian is a bit like being behind the wheel of a car with a driver's ed instructor in the back seat. The pressure's on to make a good impression. While the burger and fries may be calling your name, you probably end up going for the grilled fish and steamed veggies. It's far less likely to raise eyebrows.

In her blog, Everwell's registered dietitian Carolyn O'Neil describes a recent meal with a group of fellow nutrition experts. She writes that "there were impassioned pleas for splitting entrees, sauce on the side, spinach steamed not creamed, salads sans croutons, and probing questions about how much oil is brushed on the broiled fish."

For Carolyn, the experience wasn't intimidating as it would be for most of us non-dietitians. But it did provide an opportunity to pick up some tricks for eating out on a diet. Here are five that she shares:

1. Start with soups that aren't creamy. They're usually low in calories and help fill you up.

2. Ask the wait staff to remove, or better yet, never bring free foods such as bread and chips to the table. Otherwise, you can consume hundreds of calories before you even get your main dish.

3. Choose only one starch. If you want the bread, skip the potato. If you want the chips, skip the rice and beans.

4. Never assume grilled, baked, or broiled means without butter or oil. Always ask questions of the wait staff. Most chefs add extra butter even when not necessary.

5. Share an entrée or ask the server to put half your meal in a to-go container.

For advice from Carolyn on eating healthfully at fast food restaurants, check out this video.