For people who have been on a mandatory low-fat diet for a season already, you may have your home meals down to a science. Under 5 grams of fat per meal? No problem!
But what happens when you leave your house? Now we have issues.
If you are eating low-fat for an extended period, it will probably happen that you decide to dine out at some point during that period. While many people may default to 'healthy' dining choices such as Jugo Juice, Subway or Quiznos, are those really the best option for extreme low-fat diets? The stakes are much higher than when you eat low-fat just to lose a couple inches - you don't want to risk a gallbladder attack, or an MS relapse.
As a general rule, check for online nutritional information before you go. You maybe be surprised at what you can't eat.
For example:
The Chicken Caesar Salad at Wendy's has 49 grams of fat, while the single Baconater only has 40 grams. (Both will give you an attack even from licking them, so just don't bother.)
On the entire menu at Earl's Restaurant (as of this date), there is not a single food item under 7 grams of fat. The closest they get to a gallstone safe item is their mixed green salad, without dressing, for 7.6 grams. I am unaware if they have any non-fat dressings.
At Jugo Juice, the only 'safe' food item (assuming a maximum 5-7 g. of fat intake) is their Wild Rice and Soybean (100g) on their Grab and Go menu.
What you may also find surprising is the places that you can eat at!
Example:
Joey's Only offers a range of low-fat choices - from their steamed mussels (4.7 g), to their mashed potatoes and gravy (3.8g), their Honey Bourbon Beans (0.6 g), their tossed salad meal with Thousand Island dressing (3.7 g), their Blackened Pacific Snapper (3.5 g), or even their 1/2 lbs BBQ shrimp dinner (4 g).
Swiss Chalet's 1/4 chicken meal, when you opt for the chicken breast without skin and order the fresh steamed veggies or the garden salad with the raspberry vinaigrette and no roll is only 6 grams of fat. A number of their salads are done up with the chicken breast and taste great with their fat-free dressing. (Try their Spinach salad without the tortilla strips)
Montana's Steakhouse serves their Pot Roast Soup with only 1.5 grams of fat. They also carry 2 dressings on their menu that are labelled 'fat-free' (be warned though - their fat-free italian dressing actually has 1.5 g. of fat) Oh, and their Sweet Chili Glazed Skewers only contain 0.4 grams of fat!
At Tim Horton's, some of their worst baked goods are actually their muffins, so instead, opt for a plain bagel with their light cream cheese for only 7.5 grams of fat. If that's too high for your tolerance, go with the yogurt and berries for 2 grams, or the fruit smoothies (with yogurt 1.5 g, without 0 g).
If you want to go for breakfast, hit up Cora's. They are well known for their generous portions of fresh fruit, and have a couple menu items made up entirely of fruit.
And when all else fails, go to McDonalds. For breakfast, you can get their Fruit and Maple Oatmeal for 2.5 grams of fat, their fruit and yogurt parfait for 2 grams, or their Lemon Blueberry muffin for 7 grams. For lunch, you can have their Spicy Thai Chicken Salad (w/o dressing) for 3.5 grams, their chipotle chicken snack wrap with grilled chicken for 6 grams, or one of their yogurt smoothies for 0.5 grams. Some of their menu offerings change more frequently, but McDonalds has been great about regularly having low-fat offerings on their menu.
One other place I went for a low-fat meal was to a locally owned restaurant called Glenn's Family Restaurant located just outside of Red Deer, AB on Gasoline Alley. On their menu that is filled with 'home cooked' style meals, I was pleased to find a "Dieter's Plate', which featured a lightly seasoned chicken breast, a whole bunch of fruit and a bun. It was supposed to come with cottage cheese and slivered almonds too, but I opted out of those.
Where ever you go, always check before hand to see what there is for you - or if there's anything at all! And remember you can still eat out even if you can't eat fat.
Mrs. VanderLeek
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