With our healthy eating out guide, we can help you to make the right choices when it comes to fast food. Contrary to popular belief, not all fast food is bad for you! By following our healthy eating tips you can stay in shape and still enjoy your favorite foods.

Chinese Food

It’s true, Chinese food is full of fat and large quantities of salt. But don’t let that completely deter you as there are healthy options such as vegetable stir fries, soups, steamed foods and boiled rice dishes. When ordering, try to avoid fried food like chicken balls, spring rolls and prawn crackers. Here are some healthier options you could try:

• Chicken or Vegetable Soup

• Sichuan Chicken or Shrimp

• Stir-fried Vegetables

• Shrimp or Chicken with Garlic sauce

Indian Food

Indian food can be extremely high in fat and calories – but only if you choose the wrong meal from the menu. Instead of creamy rich foods like kormas and chicken tikka masala, go for vegetable based dishes like rogan josh or saag. Boiled rice is also another healthy food that you should try to incorporate into your meal. To keep things healthy, try to avoid fried starters like poppadums and bhajis. These delicious healthy dishes are well worth a try:

• Daal

• Tandoori Chicken

• Aloo Gobi

Italian Food

Italian cuisine is known throughout the world as being one of the very finest – so it’s unfortunate that not all of it is good for us! Pizza and pasta with creamy sauces with a lot of meat and cheese are all delicious but have a tendency to head straight towards your hips. It sounds obvious, but when ordering a pizza, maybe limit the size or share it if it’s a large one. Remember, it shouldn’t take a whole pizza to satisfy your hunger! Perhaps substitute a cream based sauce for a tomato based one, and instead of excessive cheese, maybe a healthy salad instead. The dishes below are some of the best options to keep it healthy, Italian style:

• Mozzarella and Tomato salad

• Spaghetti Arrabiata

• Spaghetti with Meatballs

Thai food

Thai food has a wide variety of different cooking styles and as there are so many, it isn’t hard to find a healthy dish to suit you. Soups are a healthy option, but steer clear of soups made with coconut milk as they are high in fat. Starters such as spring rolls and meats with satay also contain unwelcome fats. Remember, if it’s a creamy sauce it’s more than likely to contain ingredients that are detrimental to the health of your body. Stir fries with high vegetable content are always a great option and always go for boiled rice. Perhaps some of the healthier dishes below may take your fancy:

• Tom Yam Gung

• Yam Talay

• Moo Pad King

French Food

French food is renowned for its fantastic cuisine – but being fantastic doesn't necessarily mean being healthy! There are plentiful amounts of fat and butter that help make French food so tasty, and due to this, there are plenty of dishes to avoid. Beef bourguignon, duck a l’orange sauce and Foie gras are some of the biggest offenders. Go for grilled options and avoid anything that’s fried or cooked in oil. Heavy sauces with butter and cream are a big no no, but here are some healthier options that will still tantalise the taste buds:

• Mussels

• Grilled Goats Cheese Salad

• Grilled Dover Sole

• Chicken Chasseur

And finally… drink

It’s so easy to order a large soft drink, beer or wine when dining out, but they’re full of sugars and calories that are particularly bad for you. If you’ve been good during the week then a small glass or bottle won’t be the end of the world, but try to contain those cravings and instead order a fruit juice, smoothie, low calorie soft drink or even a nice chilled glass of flavoured water.

If you've given in to temptation when it comes to eating out or ordering in takeaways, do not worry, check out our 'How Many Calories' article. This article gives a breakdown of exercise tips and how many calories are burned from different forms of excercise.