By Alessandra Perez
You’ve lived up to your New Year’s resolution of working out and bathing suit season is just around the corner, so to help keep that new figure that you have definitely earned after living at the gym for the past few months, stop at these restaurants for your next date night, reunion with friends or when you need a break from the regular campus fare.
Try a restaurant that offers special menus featuring low-carb and low-fat products that will help you enjoy a night of dining-out, without holding back your food cravings.Applebee’s collaborated with Weight Watchers to create a menu offering healthier options. Weight Watchers (WW). and Applebee’s Inc. began their partnership in May 2004 to create the first and so far, only official W.W. menu.
“Based on our guest feedback, we saw that they were interested in healthy options,” said Laura Tiges, a spokeswoman for Applebee’s Inc. “We decided to work with Weight Watchers to create a healthier menu and give them exactly what they wanted.”
The menu has 10 W.W. items, featuring appetizers, entrees and desserts, each with its respective value in the W.W. point system. If you are not part of any of the W.W. plans, don’t worry. Applebee’s also tells you how many grams of fat and fiber each of these items contains. Pick from the Teriyaki Steak N’ Shrimp Skewers with both 7 grams of fat and fiber, or the Tortilla Chicken Melt with 13 grams of fat and 6 of fiber, or one of their other eight options.
Danielle Heimbach, a senior English major at the University, said that restaurants that featured low-fat and Weight Watchers menus are great, but there aren’t many of them.”I wish more chain restaurants featured these kind of menus, especially Weight Watchers,” Heimbach said. “It’s so hard to figure out the points value of some meals when you are out to dinner and it would be great if it were right there.”
T.G.I. Friday’s also jumped aboard the healthy wagon. Friday’s has featured the low-carb and low-fat part of its menu for a long time now, but it has recently made the “Right Portion, Right Price” menu available in most of its locations. This menu targets the American Dietetic Association’s warning that big portions in restaurants are contributing to obesity.
“This is a significant part of Friday’s overall goal of personalizing and customizing the guest experience,” said Richard Snead, president and CEO for Carlson Restaurants Worldwide, on Friday’s official Web site, www.tgifridays.com. “No matter what your lifestyle choice, you don’t have to sacrifice taste. Smaller portions at smaller prices meet all lifestyle choices.”
The “Right Portion, Right Price” menu features more than 10 dishes between $7 and $9. Friday’s presents the new Bistro Sirloin Salad, Cedar Seared Salmon Pasta and Half-Rack of Baby Ribs, among other options.
“The Chocolate Angel Swirl Cake from the low-carb menu is my favorite at Friday’s,” said Kaitlin Griego, a junior athletic training major. “I am glad more and more restaurants are creating healthier menus. It is so hard to keep on a diet or just eat better when you have so little options, especially being a picky eater like me.”
Applebee’s and Friday’s are not the only restaurants adapting to costumers searching for lean and healthier options. Fast-food restaurants like McDonald’s and Wendy’s are adding new products to their menus. McDonald’s now offers low-fat milk for the Happy Meals, as well as low-fat dressings for salads. Wendy’s has launched its new Frescata Sandwiches as a different option to hamburgers. Sandwiches like the Frescata Italian with salami, ham, roasted peppers, lettuce and sun-dried tomato vinaigrette are part of the new menu.
Another option is Panera Bread’s low-fat dishes such as the low-fat chicken noodle soup and the low-fat vegetarian garden salad. Panera’s Web site has detail nutrition facts about every product.
For additional information about how to keep in shape and eat healthier visit www.eatright.org.