When preparing food at home, it is easier to control your calories and food quality than in most restaurants. For many of us, the real eye-opener is the restaurants that are now listing the calories of what we eat and what we were consuming before without knowing it. That burger with fries and a milkshake may actually have a full day of food calories; is it no wonder we gait weight and cannot keep it off. Now, more restaurants and diners are savvier about what they eat, the calorie count of what they eat and how much we the consumer ultimately consume. If you want variety, many restaurants have great appetizers that are ultimately smaller portions of what you want. Two of those can be your main course and with a salad, you have made your meal healthier. If you have a burger at Chili's with bacon and cheese, those fries will set you back big time so how about, steamed veggies on the side? With the increasing evidence of gut health affecting your health overall, the right proportions of nuts, fruits, and salads feed both you and the bugs in your gut that help you stay healthy. This symbiosis has been theorized to have evolved over thousands of years based on the diets from years ago which may have kept us much healthier. A number of books are now available on the subject which suggest we feed ourselves and the bugs that help us stay healthy in our gut. Read more about this idea here. The NY Times recently published this great article that offers tips on how to eat better at your favorite restaurants. Check it out here How to Eat Healthy Meals at Restaurants Most meals at American restaurants aren't healthy. They're packed with processed food and enough calories to cover two or three sensible meals. Yet it's entirely possible to eat both healthy and tasty restaurant meals. And because eating out is one of life's great pleasures, we've put together this guide to smart restaurant eating. It ranges from undeniably healthy meals — with a rich variety of foods, heavy on fruits and vegetables, light on sugar — to fast-food meals that are at least better than the alternatives if you find yourself eating at McDonald's. Every lunch or dinner here stays under 750 calories — about one-third the number many adults should eat in a day — and many meals are well under; the breakfasts are under 500 calories. We'll start with some good news: The restaurant scene has never been better. Signs of progress Healthy fast food is no longer an oxymoron. Don't be confused by Chipotle, Five Guys, and other hot chains, which serve tastier food than McDonald's but still don't focus on health. There's another, albeit the smaller, rising group of restaurants with menus that are both tasty and healthy. These chains include Chop't, Lyfe Kitchen, Maoz Vegetarian, Modmarket and Native Foods Cafe. At these, you can often eat a meal that has a reasonable number of calories, and a nice array of nutrients, without thinking too hard. Sweetgreen, which makes the grain bowl you see above, got its start in Washington, from three Georgetown students frustrated by the existing restaurant scene. read more here