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Last night was an awesome night.
I have been away from North Carolina for 3 1/2 years. Away from our family and friends. One of my best friends (the girl who was the matron of honor at my wedding) still lives here in North Carolina.
The past several years we just haven’t been able to work it out when I’ve been in town due to family and had other obligations.
Tonight finally Wes and I were able to go spend time with my best friend and her husband.
It has been way too long.
When we first decided we would be going to dinner my husband automatically asked for some sort of asian type food. He picked a sushi restaurant in a neighborhood we used to live in.
Boy did it bring back memories.
We have been eating out constantly during the trip so I immediately looked up the menu to see some of the options that I had.
Sushi is one of my favorite foods. It can be a great and healthy treat but it also can be extremely high in calories. Some sushi rolls can run you up 600 calories or more.
It is possible to eat healthy at a sushi restaurant, you just have to make smart choices. Here are a few tips I have come up with along the way:
1. Avoid anything with “tempura”, “crunchy”, or “fried” in the name.
Tempura means that it is battered and fried which automatically adds a lot of calories and fat to the sushi. Deep fried rolls and crunchy rolls also have partially fried parts of the sushi
2. Avoid soy sauce.
This has never really been a problem for me because I usually eat my sushi without the soy sauce anyways, but the high sodium levels in soy sauce can bloat and make you feel terrible.
If you do use soy sauce make sure to drink lots of water as well to help out your body regulate.
3. Choose a healthier roll.
Try to choose the healthier rolls on the menu. The better rolls for you are aside from sashimi (which I am not a huge fan of) are: vegetable, tuna, salmon, shrimp, or tuna. I usually order maki sushi with either tuna or salmon.
I sometime wills put avocado in there for the healthier fats, but I watch the amount that they put in the sushi.
4. Opt for brown rice.
Not all restaurants will be able to substitute brown rice for white rice (the one I went to last night would not), but always check. Brown rice is much better for you because it contains a lot of essential nutrients that are lost when processing white rice.
White rice has very little to no nutritional value for you, so if you can always see about making this substitution.
5. Avoid the “spicy” rolls or rolls with lots of sauces.
If you see a “spicy” roll on the menu most of the times this means that it contains a spicy mayo or some like sauce. These are usually high in calories and fat.
If you are looking to watch your calories or are on a diet, this can sometimes sabotage a diet.
Sushi can be an incredibly healthy and an awesome meal. I like to stick to the above guidelines (sometimes I bend them and that’s okay too), but by keeping these in mind it helps me to make healthier choices when eating out.
Of course, the sushi was followed up with some delicious frozen yogurt.
All in all a great night of food, fun, and catching up. I love having friends that no matter how long you have been a part when you get back together it’s like nothing has changed.
Do you like sushi? What are your tips to eating healthier at a sushi restaurant?
Ah! My husband are going out for sushi tonight – these tips will be helpful when ordering! One of my other tips for eating healthy at a sushi restaurant is to pick out the pieces of sushi that I plan on eating and putting them on a smaller plate in front of me. That way I don’t keep mindlessly picking at all the other food on the table!
Love this Lauren! The sushi place we went to was buy one get one free – I ended up choosing the salmon and the tuna put about half of it on a smaller plate and then boxed up the rest to take home! It was the perfect amount and I didn’t leave feeling miserable!
LOVE sushi, yum! 🙂
It is DELICIOUS! One of my favorite meals and we just don’t have good sushi where I live! Thats why I always love getting it when I come back down!
Great tips, Sara! I love sushi and find it can be a really healthy option. I also like starting with miso soup – super nutritious and low calorie, and fills you up! Glad you had fun!
I have heard of miso soup but never tried it! I like to order edamame as a starter! Sushi can be so healthy and delicious!
You should try it! Miso has tons of health benefits, and it’s light and delicious. A good excuse to go back out for sushi soon, huh? 🙂
Great tips Sara! I actually follow all of these when I go out for sushi! I see what some people order, with the mayo-based sauces and fried everything and all of that white rice!, and I want to shake them! Every once in a while, fine….but some people eat like that all the time!!
-Sammy
Yes I agree! Every once in a while is fine but I don’t think people really realize what they are eating! Sushi without all that stuff is still SO Delicious!!
Great tips! I don’t like to have to much rice due to the sugar so i’ll often get a few pieces of sashimi (raw fish no rice). Some people have a hard time with it but don’t knock it till you try it 🙂
Great tips and well worth remembering – and really apply across the boards when eating out!
Sushi is a great reminder of how easily you can take something that is healthy and nutritious and turn it into a festering pile of unhealthy fat & salt! 🙂
White rice is one of those things that make you ask WHY? Why would they have something (like grits) so totally devoid of flavor and nutritional value when it actually takes MORE work to get there?
Another one (not Sushi) is ‘seasoned fries’ – this seems innocent enough, but what very often happens is that rather than just seasoning after cooking, the potatoes are given a light batter coating with seasoning, which helps everything stick together on the potato … but also traps oils and added calories and bad fats …
Completely agree about the white rice! There really is NO reason for it – There is no nutritional value in it and brown rice is so much better for your body!
I used to be that person that ordered all the terrible sushi, but finally learned my lesson! People hear sushi and they automatically assume it is healthy but it sure isn’t! We all need to be more aware of what we are eating and putting into our bodies! I am good at some things and not so good at others!
I LOOOOOVE sushi! It’s definitely my favorite indulgence!! 🙂