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It only takes 5 minutes, but my best dining out tip on this Father’s Day creates a great culinary experience while keeping my healthy life on track, even at a steakhouse with Dad. 

Look it up, lock it in, order first, and no regrets!

Before I meet family or friends at a restaurant, I take a quick 5 minutes to Google the place and review its online menu for healthy selections and all of the sides offered.  Take a few minutes to read it carefully.  Pick nutrition over so-called “value” meals, and read the way the entrée is prepared.

Then, lock in your choice with any substitutions in advance – Ditch the fries that come with the petit filet mignon, but add a plain baked sweet potato or steamed spinach offered at the bottom of the a la carte menu section, plus an extra side of steamed mixed vegetables.  (I don’t know how many times my friends or my mother have asked me, “Where do you see that?!”).

If possible, order first.  As we all have experienced at restaurants, tablemates are easily influenced by the first order and it often creates a positive or negative domino effect.  Don’t be influenced the choices of others, even when ordering last.  It’s your body.  Own it, and feel comfortable sticking with your delicious, healthy portion.

No regrets!  Since I take 5 minutes at home or work to look over the online menu carefully, I rarely experience buyer’s remorse afterwards or say the often heard quote by others in my family, “I should have ordered that….”.   My selections are fabulous and my focus at the restaurant is where it belongs — on the people, not the fried onion rings staring at me that Dad ordered.