10 Foods You can have Outside When on A Weight Loss Diet
Do you feel stuck while eating out when on a weight loss diet? Or you don’t know what food choices to make when eating out? Well, we have the answer for it.
When it comes to food outside, “healthy” basically means food that offers you a decent combination of macro-nutrients without going overboard on calories or potentially harmful things (like sugar, fats or sodium). The key here is moderation with some health benefits if possible. With all that in mind, here are the parameters for the foods below:
• Low in calories: For lunch, that means about 500 calories or less.
• Protein, to help you build muscles: Each of these meals has at least 10 grams of protein (ideally more!).
• Low in sodium (or at least not HIGH in sodium): We aimed for less than 1,000 milligrams of sodium per meal (which is high already, yes). But some of the options are a bit higher than that for anyone with high blood pressure which is definitely not ideal.
• Low in sugar (or at least not HIGH in sugar): Each of these meals has less than 20 grams of sugar.
• Zero trans fat: Trans fats are related to cardiac diseases and hypertension, so each of these meals comes with 0 grams trans fat.
Note: Assuming that one is not ordering sides or any sugary drinks. One should combine these meals with just water and try not to add a side of fries or aerated soft drinks, then you can get a decent lunch without overloading on things.
Obviously one should eat whatever one wants to eat. It is just a helpful guide to people who are trying to make healthy decisions about their food.
1. Subway: It’s easy to eat healthy at Subway as long as you customize your orders. That means choosing more veggies, less spreads and forgoing cheese in some cases. Example: Six-inch Turkey/ Chicken tikka/ Paneer tikka etc.Â
2. Taco Bell: Taco Bell has some items that keep the serving sizes in check, but the thing you should watch out for is the sodium content. Lots of food on the menu comes with over 1,000 milligrams of sodium. What we chose is just barely under that limit, Shredded Chicken Burrito with 400 calories, 16 g protein, 18 g fat (4.5 g saturated, 0 g trans), 960 mg sodium, 45 g carbohydrates (3 g fiber, 3 g sugar).
3. Grilled Chicken Wrap: Picking grilled chicken over crispy is always the wiser choice when it comes to managing your weight. In around 250-300 calories you get a high-protein and low-sodium meal that has less fat in comparison.
4. Spinach Egg White Feta Wrap: It contains whole grains, has a great mix of protein, fats, and carbs, packs 6 grams of filling fiber and sneaks in some vegetables too.
5. Whole Wheat Pasta: Whole wheat pasta like spaghetti is made from flour that contains the entire grain kernel, the germ, endosperm and bran. Whole wheat pasta is rich in many nutrients essential for the human body and is high in dietary fiber which promotes regularity and may help lower cholesterol and aids in cancer prevention.
6. Paneer Tikka: Paneer is made from milk, hence filled with benefits of milk. Loaded with energy along with vitamins, protein, omega-6 fatty acid and antioxidants contents.
7. Smoked Salmon: It is packed with omega-3 fatty acids which are a group of essential polyunsaturated fats. These fats are considered essential because the body cannot synthesize them so they can only be obtained through food.
8. Sushi Roll: When it comes to lower-calorie foods, it’s hard to beat Japanese-especially sushi because it’s not deep-fried or smothered in sauce and most types of sushi have no added fat. It is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids as it is also fish based.
9. Bruschetta: Filled with vitamins and minerals as benefits of tomatoes to help maintain stability in the body, antioxidants like Flavonols and Carotenoids present in tomatoes are known to fight cancer, support good heart health and maintain bone strength. Benefits of tomatoes are maximized when slightly heated with fats.
10. Hara Bhara Kebabs: Its high in calcium, iron, vitamin A and C prevents cancer because of chlorophyll in spinach and it improves vision and prevents age-related macular degeneration, cataracts. It has a good amount of beta-carotene which cures itching and dry eyes.