Time and time again, I field questions from women who want to know, how do I navigate through a restaurant menu? I want to enjoy the convenience of someone else preparing my meals, but I do not want to jeopardize my health or that of my family.

This is a very valid concern, and now that some States are publishing total calories and total fat on menus, what does all this mean? There are limitations of only being able to see the total calories and total fat on a menu. What is the reference point? What is an acceptable calorie level per meal? How much fat is too much?

Here are some good reference points
For most women, 1600 calories per day is sufficient, more calories may be added to accommodate a higher activity level. But for simplicity, we will use 1600 calories.

If we divide this by 3 meals per day, this would be 533 calories per meal. If a snack is needed, we can round the meal off to 450 calories each, and allow for a 250 calorie snack. So, when looking at restaurant menus, first look for an entree that will provide approximately 450-533 calories. Easier said than done I am afraid. The Cheesecake Factory and The Macaroni Grill for example serve meals that contain 1000+ calories per meal. P.F. Chang's Lo Mein with pork contains 1,419 calories, 72 grams of total fat, and 12 grams of that is saturated fat.

There are websites available that may make restaurant calorie shopping easier. One such website created by a fellow dietitian would be www.500calorierestaurantmeals.com

This site breaks down fast food and chain restaurants according to combinations of menu items that total 500 calories or less. The website has a few other tools to locate snacks at 250 calories or less and how to choose meals appropriate for diabetics and those that may be limiting sodium or fat.

Another site I have visited is www.dietfacts.com this site contains an alphabetical listing of restaurants and the nutrition label from their most popular food items.

Next, when does fat become too much?

According to the American Heart Association, we should adhere to the following guidelines if we are over the age of 2

Limit total fat intake to less than 25–35 percent of your total calories each day
Limit saturated fat intake to less than 7 percent of total daily calories
Limit trans fat intake to less than 1 percent of total daily calories
The remaining fat should come from sources of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats such as nuts, seeds, fish and vegetable oils
Limit cholesterol intake to less than 300 mg per day, for most people. If you have coronary heart disease or your LDL cholesterol level is 100 mg/dL or greater, limit your cholesterol intake to less than 200 milligrams a day.

Lets take our 1600-calorie meal plan and break that down according to the above guidelines.
I use 29% of total calories per day from fat as a guideline. This will keep total fat below 30% of total calories

TOTAL FAT
1600 calories x 29% = 464 calories from total fat (464/9)= 52 grams of Total Fat (9 grams fat per calorie)
Per meal: 17 grams total fat, or round to 15 grams total fat to allow for 7 grams total fat for snack

SATURATED FAT
1600 calories x 7% = 112 calories from saturated fat (112/9) = 12 grams of saturated fat per day (9 grams fat per calorie)
Per meal: 4 grams saturated fat or less per meal.

TRANS FAT
1600 calories x 1% = 16 calories from trans fat (16/9) = less than 2 grams trans fat per day ( 9 grams of fat per calorie)

Cholesterol is 300 mg per day or less =100 mg cholesterol or less per meal
Another item that may or may not be on the menu would be sodium. Whenever we dine out or use convenient foods (packaged, canned, frozen, pre-cooked/re-warm items) we risk consuming more sodium than what is recommended.

Sodium recommendations are 2,300 mg per day or less. So, again we can divide this amount by 3 to have a guideline of how much sodium per meal is within a healthful allowance.

2300/3 = 767 mg sodium per meal. Again, this does not allow for snacking so we can round to 650 mg per meal, and allow for up to 350 mg for a snack. Consider though that 350mg is still a large amount for a snack. You do not have to consume the total 2300 mg per day of sodium.

So as a recap, when you are looking at individual meals for the average woman:

450-533 calories per meal
250-calorie snack/day
15-17 grams total fat per meal
4 grams saturated fat per meal- or less
0.5 grams trans fat per meal - or less *
100 mg cholesterol per meal - or less
650mg-760 mg sodium per meal- or less

* Problem with trans fat and labeling is that if a food product has 0.5grams of trans fat per serving, the manufacturer does not have to disclose this on the nutrition label. In other words, if the food item has 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving, and the package has 4 servings, and you consume all four servings, you will be eating 2 grams of trans fat.

I hope you find this helpful,

And here's to your health and wellness,

Lory Hayon, B.S., R.D.