How to Lose Weight Without Eating Healthy

Many people are interested in maintaining a healthy weight. However, diets can be boring and restrictive. Rather than starve yourself and eliminate tasty foods from your diet, consider ways to lose weight without dieting or eating healthy. The key is knowing when to eat and how much to eat.

Eat smaller food portions. Rather than eat an entire gallon of ice cream or a whole bag of potato chips, eat smaller portions of your favorite foods. This decreases your intake of calories, fat and carbs, which contributes to weight loss. Moderation is the key.

Slow down and enjoy your food. On average, it takes about 10 minutes for your brain to register that you're full. Eating fast often results in overeating, which causes weight gain. Eat slowly to avoid overeating.

Enjoy a meal every 3 hours. Eat four to six small meals a day to increase your metabolism and burn fat and calories. This way you're able to enjoy your favorite foods and treats and still lose weight.

Start an exercise routine. If you want to lose weight without eating healthy, you've got to exercise regularly. Exercise burns calories and helps you maintain a healthy weight. Doctors recommend at least 90 minutes of activity or exercise a week. However, if you overindulge in unhealthy foods, work out for at least 30 minutes every day.

Build muscle tone. High-impact workouts, toning exercising and weightlifting build muscles. In turn, muscles increase your metabolism and burn fat--and you're able to lose weight without eating healthy.

How to Develop Healthy Eating Habits

Developing the right eating habits can enhance your appearance, health and lifestyle. Here are some tips on how to develop and maintain a healthy eating regimen.

Always remember to eat breakfast. It is the most beneficial meal in the day, and the most important. Breakfast gives you body fuel for the day and keeps your energy levels up, and your mind alert.

Drink at least 8 glasses of water each day. This habit helps the body stay hydrated. It also helps in the processing of nutrients throughout the body. If you are in a much warmer climate you might want to drink much more.

Choose your snacks wisely. Choose snacks that are light and that give you an extra boost of energy throughout the day. If you are trying to lose weight, you might want to choose vegetables and fruits.

Have some lunch. Many people get busy in the day and forget to eat lunch, which then leads to overeating in the evening. If we skip lunch, our energy levels start to decrease and blood sugar goes down. Enjoy a light lunch.

Try to eat dinner earlier rather than late. Eating late makes it harder to digest food. It might keep you up at night or feeling full until the next morning. Eating at least three hours before you go to bed is beneficial to the digestive system.

How to Eat Healthy at Pizza Hut

About 3 billion pizzas are sold each year in the United States, with each American consuming an average of 46 slices annually, according to the website Statistic Brain. While this is good news for pizza restaurants, all those savory slices add substantial calories, fat, carbs and sodium to your diet, increasing your risk of weight gain and chronic illness. By planning for a Pizza Hut run in advance, you can make choices that won’t significantly derail your family's healthy eating regimen. Remember that the menus of chain restaurants change often, so check the website to keep current on the restaurant’s nutritional information.

Serving Strategies
Don’t go to Pizza Hut looking for healthy salads, broiled fish or steamed vegetable sides. Instead of eating at the restaurant, where you might need multiple slices to satisfy your hunger, order a pie to go, and prepare a big, leafy green salad to accompany it. Better yet, start your meal with a cup of vegetable soup for everyone. A study published in Appetite in 2007 found that eating low-calorie soup before your meal helps fill you up and lower your overall food intake. When you feel fuller, you’re more likely to stick to the serving size of one slice.

Also, skip the soft drinks, even if you have a coupon for a free liter. Instead, serve sparkling water dressed up with lemon, lime or orange slices for a refreshing natural soda.

Go for the Veggies
Many single slices at Pizza Hut average between 200 and 300 calories. Stick with the Pan, Hand Tossed Pizza or Thin ‘n’ Crispy pizza options to stay within this calorie count. Even within these varieties, meaty toppings like pepperoni will hoist you over the 300 calories per slice and almost double your sodium intake.

Probably the best all-around slice at Pizza Hut for health-conscious diners is the Veggie Lover’s Medium Hand Tossed, with 190 calories, 6 grams of fat, 3 grams of saturated fat, 26 grams of carbohydrate, 8 grams of protein and 430 milligrams of sodium. Another good choice is the Garden Party, with 200 calories, 400 milligrams of sodium, and a similar fat, carb and protein count as Veggie Lover’s.

Crust and Size
For different styles of crusts, either add or subtract calories -- for example, a Veggie Lover’s Medium Pan Pizza has 30 calories more than the Medium Hand Tossed with 220, while the Medium Thin ‘n’ Crispy has 10 fewer calories, at just 180.

Obviously, slices of large-sized pies contain more calories, fat and sodium, but Veggie Lover’s, Cheese, Garden Party and a few others slide in under the 300-calorie mark.

Skinny and Gluten-Free
Pizza Hut has a small selection of pies it calls “Skinny Slice” for diet-conscious customers. Skinny slices have between 200 and 230 calories, 6 to 9 grams of fat, 3 to 4 grams of saturated fat, 25 to 28 grams of carbs, 9 to 12 grams of protein, and 440 to 680 milligrams of sodium. The Gluten-Free Pizza, designed for those who can’t tolerate the protein in crusts made of wheat, are even lower in calories, fat and carbs: a Pepperoni slice supplies 170 calories, 8 grams of fat, 3 grams of saturated fat, 19 grams of carbs, 6 grams of protein, and 490 milligrams of sodium.

Options With Wings
If you’re watching your carbs, you can always skip the pizza and order from the wings section of the Pizza Hut menu. A two-piece serving of Baked Hot Wings comes in at 100 calories, 7 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, zero carbs, 10 grams of protein, and 420 milligrams of sodium. If you can’t imagine wings without dipping sauce, opt for the Marinara -- a 3-ounce serving contains 45 calories, no fat, 9 grams of carbs, 1 gram of protein and 290 milligrams of sodium.

How to Eat Healthy Thai Food While Eating Out

While there are many relatively healthy choices at Thai restaurants, if you don't choose carefully you could wind up consuming way too many calories and too much sodium and saturated fat. Knowing which dishes are healthiest can help you avoid this.

Soups and Starters
For the healthiest Thai dishes, avoid anything deep fried or made with coconut oil to limit fat and calories. Choose fresh spring or summer rolls, such as guay teow lui suan, instead of fried, and choose hot and sour shrimp soup, called tom yam goong or tom yum gung, instead of chicken and coconut milk soup, or tom ka gai. Papaya salad, also called som tum or som tam; the soup called gang jued made with noodles, vegetables, pork and tofu; and satay are also nutritious appetizer choices.

Main Dishes

Ask for stir-fries to be made with chicken broth instead of oil and for sauces to be served on the side to make your Thai main dish healthier. Musamun curry is one of the Thai dishes highest in fat and calories. Gaeng keow wan gai, or chicken curry with eggplant, and gaeng ped gai, or red curry chicken, are also among the less nutritious choices. Shrimp or pork panang are better choices if you want curry. Gai pad mamuang him ma pahn, or cashew chicken, is an even healthier choice. If you like beef, try num tok. Those who prefer shrimp may like goong kra tiem, or garlic shrimp, and those who like chicken may like the chicken with peanut sauce called pra ram long song. Other relatively nutritious choices include pad thai and pepper steak, or nuea pad prik.

Desserts and Drinks
For dessert, fruit ice; the sweet sticky rice called khao newo kaew; or mango with sticky rice, called kao niew ma muang, are among the healthier options. Avoid the pumpkin custard called sang kaya fug tong, the coconut ice cream and gluay kaeg, which are pieces of banana dipped in a coconut batter and fried. When it comes to drinks, stick with something simple, such as water or hot tea. Although Thai iced tea, or cha yen, is tasty enough to have made CNN's list of the "World's 50 Most Delicious Drinks," it is loaded with sugar and calories because of all the sweetened condensed milk it contains.

Making It Healthier at Home
You can make Thai dishes even more nutritious if you make them yourself at home using less meat and more produce and limit the amount of salty and fatty ingredients you add. Using herbs and spices and cooking by stir-frying with broth, grilling or steaming will help you get plenty of flavor without adding too much unhealthy fat. Add a plate of raw sides to help provide extra nutrients, recommends an article on the BBC website. These typically include foods such as bean sprouts, cucumber, apple, spring onions, eggplant and sweet Thai basil.

How to Enjoy Healthy Eating on a Tight Budget

During hard times people often have less money to spend on food, and most are on a tight budget. Even so, many people would still like to enjoy healthy eating on a even on a budget. Financial situations fluctuate, but the need to eat healthy meals is a constant. Follow these steps if you would like to learn how to eat healthy on a tight budget.

The first thing you need to do in order to eat healthy on a tight budget is to open up your cabinets and refrigerator and take an inventory of what is already there before you make your grocery list.

Sit down with a pen and paper, and plan healthy meals around the food that you already have on hand from the inventory you took in step one. Make sure that you do not plan your meals while you are hungry; people tend to overestimate the food they need when they have an empty stomach. Keep your tight budget in focus and do not get carried away.

Check online and/or in your local newspaper weekly flyers to see if there are any coupons for the foods on your grocery list. Then, take your list, and the coupons to the grocery store, and buy only the healthy foods that are on your list. Again, make sure that you are not hungry when you go grocery shopping for the same reason listed in step 3.

Get into the habit of only purchasing fresh foods that you know you will use. Fresh fruits and vegetables are healthy, but they are a detriment to your budget and they do your health no good if they spoil before you can eat them.

How to Avoid Junk Foods

Junk food can have a terrible effect on your body. There are countless cases of people eating themselves to obesity. Why do they do this? Think of it like a drug: It makes them feel better in the moment, so they forget the future costs. Consider this piece of information published on the health site Mercola, quoting a Yahoo! News piece. "Research has shown that almost one-third of the U.S. diet consists of sugar-filled cans of soda and bags of potato chips." So how do you stop doing eating bad foods? Dieting is never easy, no matter what certain infomercials say. However, there are painless ways to diet and avoid junk foods. Start by understanding why you like them so much.

Understand your thinking. Maybe chocolate does help your mental thinking for a moment. It’s apt to make you smile. So how do you avoid junk foods like chocolate? Find healthier eating escapes at all times of the day as junk food eating is often based on impulse. Bread is good and you can add peanut butter to have a healthy, high protein snack that can replace a chocolate candy bar.

Act. Do you find yourself eating late at night? This actually isn’t a bad thing; the myth of eating late at night and gaining weight has been discounted in many studies. But what are you eating? Are you more apt to go to the ice cream carton to fill up? You can stop this junk food habit by either deciding to cut out late night eating or replace the food you eat with healthy alternatives, such as fruits or even a large glass of water to fill you up. Yogurt is a good alternative to ice cream. Cookies can be traded in for the popular “100 Calorie” snack packs. Look to canned fruits next, which are much healthier than downing ice cream and potato chips. A nice vegetable mix can do wonders for your health. Look at the sodium contents of vegetables, because certain products like creamed corn are far from vegetables.

Consider the costs. Obesity can lead to countless health problems at the cost of your quality of life and even your life itself. The monetary cost of junk foods adds up, too. A good strategy is to write down your expenditures on junk foods from morning to night: That candy bar cost you a dollar, the bag of chips a few more, a half a carton of ice cream and so on. This financial reminder gives you another reason to quit. Bread and butter is far cheaper and healthier than consistently downing soda, sugar and bags of chips. Often, if you choose the right foods, you will be saving money from the start.

Other escapes. There are other escapes for you to do than snack. So how do you avoid filling your spare time with junk food? Junk food addiction is a battle of the mind in many ways, and where you think you need something, you really don’t. Read a book, do a craft, go for a walk, talk on the phone or write in a journal when you would usually head to the pantry.

Defeating impulses. The last hurdle is fighting the impulse. If you sense an impulse coming, examine it as you would any other irrational thought. Will this item truly make you happy? The next time you decide to take one box of cookies to bed, consider this strategy of eating right. Avoid your impulses—they are the enemy. Junk foods may hurt your wallet, but high starch and saturated fat does more than just add to your belly—they tend to lower life spans.

Why Eat Healthy Foods?

The typical American diet includes too much animal proteins and processed foods and neglects to include enough plants and whole foods. In the long run, this can have very real health consequences.

What is a Healthy Diet
Healthy diets emphasize fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean animal proteins, like chicken and fish, and low fat dairy. Healthy diets discourage overconsumption of red meat, trans fats and saturated fats, sugars and processed foods.

Benefits for the Heart
Eating unsaturated fats and fiber has been shown to lower cholesterol, blood pressure and your overall risk of heart disease. The April 2009 issue of The Archives of Internal Medicine published a complex survey of almost 200 studies and 1 million participants. The researchers confirmed that a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and unsaturated fats contributes to improved heart health.

Fight Obesity
People who eat less calorie dense foods like fruits and vegetables tend to weigh less. Leaner cuts of meat and lower fat dairy contain less calories but still fill you up.

Cancer Prevention
Healthy foods, particularly richly colored fruits and vegetables, contain antioxidants which fight free radicals that can cause cells to mutate and become cancerous. The American Heart Association, The World Cancer Research Fund, the American Institute for Cancer Research and the National Cancer Institute all recommend a diet high in fruits and vegetables to maximize antioxidant intake.

Whole Foods
Popping a vitamin and bunch of supplements will not be as effective as a healthy diet full of whole foods. The body better digests and breaks down the components in whole foods and can make better use of them.

How to Eat Cheap and Healthy

In the quest to make healthier food choices and save money while doing so, you might envision your meals as spartan affairs, drab and as inspiring as gerbil food. However, that need not be the case. With a little planning and cost-cutting ingenuity, you can dine on nutritious fare for cheap -- without sacrificing palatability.

Stock a Nutritious and Budget-Friendly Pantry

As the foundation of a cheap and healthy eating regimen, the well-stocked cupboard encourages you to make healthy meals on the fly using ingredients you already have.

Two strategies that The Kitchn cooking website uses to stock up on cheap and healthy food include buying produce in bulk when it's in season and freezing it, and stocking up on healthful foods when they are on sale.

By buying produce in season, you get fruits and vegetables at the peak of their freshness, when they are most abundant during the year and lower in price. Freezing them in quantity ensures you can incorporate these nutritious ingredients into meals any time of the year. Moreover, bulk shopping during sales, such as buying 10 packages of frozen vegetables for $10, locks in a favorable price point over a number of meals.

Choose Foods With Nutritional Bang for Your Buck

As Real Simple Magazine notes, healthy food choices don't have to be expensive. Certain healthy foods can be had for pennies on the dollar per serving. These include:

Oatmeal, which can help lower cholesterol and stave off heart disease, at 18 cents per half-cup serving.
Oranges, which provide vitamin C, fiber and folate, at 84 cents each.
Kiwis, which replenish the body with potassium, vitamin C and vitamin E, at 50 cents each. 
Chick peas, full of protein and fiber, at only 31 cents per half-cup serving.
Even certain so-called superfoods can be under $1 a serving, as Eating Well Magazine notes.

Black and green tea, at 10 cents per bag, can help boost immune system and reduce the risk of heart attacks.
Kale, at 60 cents per cup, contains vitamin K for bone health, vitamin A and lutein for eyesight.
Almonds, at 18 cents an ounce, provide vitamin E, calcium, fiber and folate.
Eggs, at 17 cents each, are protein powerhouses with vitamin D, lutein and xeanthanin, which prevent macular degeneration.
Swap Out Expensive Purchases

When committing to a healthful lifestyle, you may have to make some adjustments in your shopping and cooking habits. In lieu of expensive cuts of meat, substitute cheaper -- yet more flavorful -- cuts, such as chicken thighs and less expensive cuts of beef. Although the tougher and more sinewy parts of an animal may require longer cooking times and techniques, the payoff is a smaller grocery bill and the joy of experimenting with different foods and styles of cookery.

If you have a large freezer, buying a whole carcass or bone-in parts, is one way to have your meat economically -- and eat it, too.

Extend a Dish With Healthful and Cheap Add-Ins

Eating healthy for cheap is not about skimping, but rather about turning to healthy options that create a sense of abundance and provide solid nutrition at low cost. Whole grains such as brown rice and wheat berries round out your meals inexpensively, while bolstering your fiber intake and making you feel fuller longer. Quinoa, the ancient grain, can be eaten on its own or as an accompaniment to a main dish, as a high source of protein. To stretch out or replace a meat dish, add a variety of mixed beans to pasta.

Reinvent Leftovers

Eating healthy and cheap does not consign you to a life of bland leftovers. If you don't like the idea of eating the same food over a succession of days, create entirely new dishes by reinterpreting precooked ingredients. Steamed vegetables you make for dinner one night can be transformed into sandwich toppings for the next day, then frozen for soup on another day and chopped into a rice medley for dinner later in the week.

Tip :

Make leftovers work for and not against you by keeping a conscientious eye on the contents of your freezer and eating what's there. Label all your stored items to identify them easily and portion-control them individually to reduce waste and avoid overeating.

How to Eat a Healthy Balanced Diet

Eating a healthy, balanced diet is important for sustained energy and illness prevention. Eating healthy is not about cutting calories or strict dieting; it's about ensuring your body gets the nutrients it needs to thrive.

Avoid cutting calories, but do not consume too much. Healthy and active adults need approximately 2,000 calories a day. The more exercise you do, the more calories you need. Use a daily calorie calculator (see Resources section below) to determine how many calories you need each day.

Add fruits and vegetables to every meal, and even to snacks. For example, add bananas to your cereal at breakfast, eat a salad and an apple with lunch and have tomatoes and canned peaches with your dinner. This can help you get the recommended three to five (or more) servings of fruits and vegetables.

Try new foods. Make an effort to pick out something new at the grocery store every week. Browse the produce section and choose a fruit you have never had before. This can help give you a healthier, more balanced diet so you're not eating the same things all the time.

Check your portions. More appropriate portions can make a huge difference. One way to check portions is to read the nutrition label and see the recommended serving size. (See the link in the Resources section below for appropriate portions.)

Cut out excess sugars, salts, caffeine and alcohol. These (in excess) are toxic to the body and will deplete nutrients. Eat a healthy well balanced diet and enjoy your foods and drinks containing these toxins in moderation only, or cut them out altogether.

Clean your home of junk food. If it isn't there you are less likely to eat it, especially at nighttime. When you are able to cut out junk foods (sugary, salty snacks) you will eat what is available in your home, which should be healthy choices such as fruits, vegetables, pretzels, and crackers.

Balance your diet with proteins and carbohydrates. Include meats, beans and fish for protein. Avoid cutting out carbohydrates, as you need these for energy. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains and pasta contain needed carbohydrates.

How Does Greasy Food Affect Health?

Fried chicken, french fries, greasy pizzas, burgers and any other foods dripping with oil should be consumed in moderation to avoid increasing your risk of disease and unhealthy weight gain. Steaming, baking or roasting, broiling and grilling food are healthier, less greasy options for preparing meals. The health effects of greasy food not only depend on how greasy it is but also on whether you use saturated or unsaturated oil.

Increased Risk of Obesity
Foods fried in oil, often called grease when it appears on the food, are higher in calories due to the high caloric content of oil. For example, 100 grams of fried chicken has about 60 more calories than 100 grams of roasted chicken. The "greasiness" of food depends on the way you cook it and how much oil you use. Using just a little oil in a pan to sauté food makes food a little greasy, shallow-frying makes it more greasy, and deep-frying makes it especially greasy and high in calories. When you eat more calories than you burn in a day, your body stores the extra energy. Continuing this pattern over time causes weight gain, which can lead to becoming overweight or obese.

Reduced Nutrient Intake
A study published in the "Journal of Zhejiang University" in 2011 found that stir-frying bamboo shoots in oil increased their fat content by over 500 percent. Meanwhile, it lowered their protein and amino acid content. Another study published in the same journal in 2009 found that compared to all other cooking methods, stir-frying with oil caused significant losses of vitamin C and chlorophyll in broccoli. Because frying foods decreases their levels of micronutrients, eating too many fried foods could potentially cause nutrient deficiency.

Higher Triglyceride and Cholesterol Levels
Food could be fried in a saturated or unsaturated fat. Saturated fats, which are solid or semi-solid when stored at room temperature, include shortening, stick margarine, lard, coconut oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil. Unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature, including vegetable-based oils and soft margarine. If you fry your food, it's healthier to do so in an unsaturated fat. Saturated fats increase your cholesterol levels, whereas unsaturated fats can improve cholesterol levels. The American Heart Association recommends limiting your intake of saturated fats to no more than 6 percent of your total daily caloric intake to maintain healthy cholesterol levels. In a 2,000-calorie diet, this is about 12 grams of saturated fat.

Increased Risks of Heart Attack and Stroke
Because heavily consuming greasy foods that were cooked in saturated fat raises cholesterol levels, your risk of both heart disease and stroke is elevated. Too much saturated fat causes plaque to build up in your arteries over time, blocking blood flow and putting you at a high risk for heart attack and stroke.

10 Ways to Keep Your Heart Healthy

The heart is a vital organ in the body and is needed to stay alive. It is important to take care of it to maintain a long, healthy life. There are a variety of ways to keep a strong heart, most of which are a part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Learn Family History
Family history is a large factor in heart health. If a you have a relative, such as a parent or sibling, who suffered a heart attack before the age of 60, and also a second-degree relative, like an aunt or uncle, who had a heart attack, you are 10 times more likely to suffer from a heart attack than someone who has no heart disease in their family, according to an interview with Dr. Emily Senay on CBS News. It is important to learn your family's heart history.

Healthy Diet
A diet high in fiber and omega-3 fatty acids and limited in refined sugars and trans fats will lower cholesterol and contribute to a healthier heart. Eating a variety of fruits and vegetables can help control weight and blood pressure, according to the American Heart Association. Eating fish, such as salmon, that is rich in omega-3 fatty acids will help lower the risk of death from coronary artery disease.

Take Vitamins
Vitamins are an essential part of maintaining heart health and contribute to the well being of the cardiovascular system. According to the Mayo Clinic, vitamins B6 and B12 help prevent clogged arteries. While many vitamin-rich foods may contain these, it is a good idea to at least take a daily multivitamin.

Limit Alcohol
In moderation, some studies have shown alcohol to increase good cholesterol, therefore being beneficial to the heart. However, excessive alcohol consumption can lead to high blood pressure and heart failure, according to the American Heart Association.

Sleep
Not only will sleep improve your mood and ability to function, it is also increases heart health. According to U.S. News & World Report, there was a sleep study done with middle-aged adults, and those who got an extra hour of sleep at night had a lower risk for artery-clogging calcification that can lead to heart disease.

Reduce Stress
Life can become fast-paced and stressful all too easily, therefore, it is important to take time every day to relax. People who are in stressful situations have a tendency to not exercise, overeat or start smoking. Also, according to the American Heart Association, stress can be linked to high blood pressure.

Don't Smoke
Smoking can lead to a number of health issues, including heart disease. Your risk of heart disease increases drastically with the number of cigarettes smoked.

Control Weight
According to the American Heart Association, obesity can lead to high cholesterol, high blood pressure and insulin resistance, all of which heighten the risk of cardiovascular disease. Having more fat, especially in the waist area, there is a higher risk for health problems such as high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke and heart attack. Someone is considered obese when her weight is 20 percent or more above the normal range.

Exercise
Physical inactivity is a major risk for cardiovascular disease, according to the American Heart Association. Exercise increases heart rate and builds strength and endurance. It is important to exercise five times a week for about half an hour each time. However, it is also very important not to push your body too far, because that can result in adverse effects on the heart, such as high blood pressure.

Know Your Numbers
It is important to have routine doctor's visits to check numbers such as blood pressure and cholesterol. According to the American Heart Association, total cholesterol should be less than 200 mg/dL and blood pressure should be less than 120/80 mmHg. High blood pressure is the single largest risk factor for a stroke.

Healthy Food Choices in a Chinese Restaurant

Chinese food is one of the healthiest food choices available. Jeffrey Nevid, author of the book, "Health in the New Millennium," encourages restaurant patrons to eat Chinese food the "Chinese way, not the American way." Traditionally, Chinese families eat a lot of rice, with some fish, meat and vegetables. Westernized Chinese food is unhealthy and includes dishes that are heavy in meat and sodium, as well as deep-fried foods. Fortunately, it is easy to make healthy food choices in Chinese restaurants.

Avoid Deep-Fried Foods
Traditional Chinese food is not usually deep-fried. Avoiding deep-fried foods will help keep your meal healthy and authentically Chinese. Westernized versions often include deep-fried options to satisfy American taste palates. Fried foods are made with excess oil and carbohydrates, which make deep-fried dishes especially fattening. It is easy to replace fried options for healthy dishes. For example, instead of fried wontons or egg rolls, order steamed dumplings. Or, ask for non-fried versions of the deep-fried dishes.

Order More Vegetables
Many of the calories in Chinese dishes come from meat. To avoid these extra calories, order dishes that favor vegetables over meat. If you have a favorite meat dish, ask them to use less meat and more vegetables. Order steamed vegetables as a highly nutritious option. Steamed vegetables aren't stir-fried with oil. Though some stir-fry dishes may contain less oil, the lack of oil in steamed vegetables makes the dish healthier. Consequently, they are low in fat, calories and sodium. Moreover, favoring vegetables over meat makes it easier for you to cut down on eating high-calorie meats.

Order More Rice
Eating a higher rice-to-entrée ratio helps to lower the sodium and fat content in your portions. Nevid suggests a 1-cup-entrée-to-1-cup-rice ratio when eating. Moreover, order white or brown rice instead of fried rice. Fried rice is stir fried with oil, and contains many more calories than plain white or brown rice.

Order Family-Style
Family-style is when different entrees of larger portions meant for five to six people are shared around the table. Ordering family-style gives you the freedom to order a balanced meal, and to limit excess food intake. When ordering separate dishes, restaurant patrons are limited to the nutrients on their own dish. Instead, order a balanced meal to share with friends and family. Include vegetable, meat and rice dishes. When ordering separate dishes, restaurant-goers often eat directly from the entrée plate, which increases their intake of high-calorie sauces that make a large percentage of calories in a Chinese meal. Moreover, Chinese entrees are very generous, and eating too much food on your own is excessive. Eating family-style encourages people to take small amounts of food each time. Transferring portions to your rice bowl keeps the majority of high-calorie sauces on the plate, and prevents you from overeating.

How to Get Your Kids to Eat Healthy Foods

Children are born with a predisposition to prefer sweet, salty and savory tastes, so getting them to eat the flavors associated with many healthy foods will take time, persistence and positive experiences. With your patient guidance and their personal involvement in choosing and preparing healthy food, kids of all ages can re-wire their taste buds to like and even prefer healthier fare.

Introduce Foods Slowly
Pressuring or bribing your child to eat something they are unfamiliar with or don’t like the taste of is not the path to success, according to USNews.com. Instead, start when they are young, offering positive opportunities to try new foods, one bite at a time. And since kids might need at least five to ten exposures to a new food to begin to like it, be patient with the process. Also, pick a time of day when they are hungry enough to eat the only choice in front of them, such as an afternoon snack of hummus and crackers. For older kids, have healthy food choices ready to grab as they head out to school or sports activities, giving hungry tweens or teens the chance to make their own decisions on which new foods to try.

Model Good Behavior
Kids look to parents to show them how to behave, and the area of nutrition is no different. According to Parents.com, your non-healthy eating habits can lead your kids to believe this is normal and therefore send the wrong messages about food. On the other hand, if your kids see you trying new vegetables, fruits or whole-grain bread, they’ll learn it’s OK to venture into new food territory and that they may even find some new favorites. Other ways to be a good role model: let your kids see you reach for a healthy snack and opt out of super-sizing.

Get Kids Involved
Kids who help plan, shop for and prepare healthy meals will show more interest in eating them too. Work with your kids to come up with a list of easy, healthy and delicious food ideas for snacks and meals. Take them with you when you go grocery shopping or to the local farmers market. Use these trips as an opportunity to talk about reading nutrition labels, choosing ripe produce and the benefits of fresh versus pre-packaged foods. When you get home, have them help you make the meal. Young children can open packages and wash produce, and as they get older, they can mix up a salad, cut vegetables and help bake or cook.

Make it Fun
Kids are all about having fun, so make eating healthy fun too. Registered dietitian Julie Burns, on Parents.com, suggests giving food silly names, such as calling broccoli florets “baby trees,” or using cookie cutters to create mini anything and everything. Show your kids that desserts can be a part of a healthy diet and fun as well, by creating frozen yogurt pops or fruit parfaits. When eating healthy is fun, kids will learn to see it as a natural part of their everyday lives.

How Does Greasy Food Affect Health?

Fried chicken, french fries, greasy pizzas, burgers and any other foods dripping with oil should be consumed in moderation to avoid increasing your risk of disease and unhealthy weight gain. Steaming, baking or roasting, broiling and grilling food are healthier, less greasy options for preparing meals. The health effects of greasy food not only depend on how greasy it is but also on whether you use saturated or unsaturated oil.

Increased Risk of Obesity
Foods fried in oil, often called grease when it appears on the food, are higher in calories due to the high caloric content of oil. For example, 100 grams of fried chicken has about 60 more calories than 100 grams of roasted chicken. The "greasiness" of food depends on the way you cook it and how much oil you use. Using just a little oil in a pan to sauté food makes food a little greasy, shallow-frying makes it more greasy, and deep-frying makes it especially greasy and high in calories. When you eat more calories than you burn in a day, your body stores the extra energy. Continuing this pattern over time causes weight gain, which can lead to becoming overweight or obese.

Reduced Nutrient Intake
A study published in the "Journal of Zhejiang University" in 2011 found that stir-frying bamboo shoots in oil increased their fat content by over 500 percent. Meanwhile, it lowered their protein and amino acid content. Another study published in the same journal in 2009 found that compared to all other cooking methods, stir-frying with oil caused significant losses of vitamin C and chlorophyll in broccoli. Because frying foods decreases their levels of micronutrients, eating too many fried foods could potentially cause nutrient deficiency.

Higher Triglyceride and Cholesterol Levels
Food could be fried in a saturated or unsaturated fat. Saturated fats, which are solid or semi-solid when stored at room temperature, include shortening, stick margarine, lard, coconut oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil. Unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature, including vegetable-based oils and soft margarine. If you fry your food, it's healthier to do so in an unsaturated fat. Saturated fats increase your cholesterol levels, whereas unsaturated fats can improve cholesterol levels. The American Heart Association recommends limiting your intake of saturated fats to no more than 6 percent of your total daily caloric intake to maintain healthy cholesterol levels. In a 2,000-calorie diet, this is about 12 grams of saturated fat.

Increased Risks of Heart Attack and Stroke
Because heavily consuming greasy foods that were cooked in saturated fat raises cholesterol levels, your risk of both heart disease and stroke is elevated. Too much saturated fat causes plaque to build up in your arteries over time, blocking blood flow and putting you at a high risk for heart attack and stroke.