Eating out is a way to grab a quick convenient meal or to socialize with family and friends. Too often in the past, eating out meant abandoning nutritious food. But today, taking a break from the kitchen need not be a perilous trip into a nutritional wasteland.

More restaurants are offering healthy menus featuring grilled meats, tasty soups, bread made from whole grains, and creative salads.

Use these tips to eat healthy away from home:

• Check the menu online. Before you even leave the house, check the restaurant's menu online and know what you're going to order before you arrive. If there are no healthy options, choose another restaurant.

• Don't eat an entire entrée. Split it in half and package it before you begin eating — or asked for half to be boxed in the kitchen —so you won't be tempted to overeat. Or order an appetizer-sized version if possible.

• Skip sweetened drinks. Sweetened colas and tea add hundreds of empty calories. Even a glass of orange juice at breakfast starts your day with unneeded calories and sugar.
Choose unsweetened tea, coffee, club soda, or water flavored with a dash of lemon. Avoid artificially sweetened drinks, since recent studies show they can actually stimulate your appetite.

• Choose an appetizer instead of an entrée. As entrées have grown in size, so have appetizers. Today, an appetizer may be the size of an entrée in the past. Not only will an appetizer be less expensive, the calorie count will be much more reasonable than an entrée as long as you keep an eye out for accompanying condiments, which can be high in calories.

• Avoid the words creamy, crisp, breaded, or stuffed. All are key words for hidden fats.

• Choose condiments and salad dressings carefully. Ketchup is high in sugar, and mayonnaise is high in fat. Skip them and use mustards and other condiments, such as vinegar, which pack a lot of flavor into few calories. Choose olive oil and vinegar over a creamy, high-fat dressing, and use lemon on your fish instead of high-calorie tartar sauce.

• Beware of bread. If you're served bread with your meal, try to order whole wheat, and limit yourself to a small amount. Watch for other large amounts of calorie-laden dough, such as thick-crust pizzas and bagels.

• Go heavy on the vegetables. Vegetables are filled with vitamins and minerals as well as fiber which helps fill you up. Start meals with a salad, and limit the amount of dressing you eat by asking for it to be served on the side. Choose main dishes that include vegetables, such as stir-fries and kebobs. Some experts say your plate should consist of at least 50 percent vegetables.

• Go ethnic. Some ethnic foods tend to be healthier than others. Japanese, Greek, Indian, Thai and Mediterranean dishes tend to be healthier than other ethic choices because of their tendency to feature grilled meats and plenty of vegetables.

• Pick whole grains. Whole grains, such as brown rice and oatmeal, are loaded with filling fiber.

• Go vegetarian. Skipping meat and concentrating on vegetables is not only a healthy, nutritious option, you can eat bigger portions.

• Choose fruits for dessert or lower-calorie sorbets or gelatos.

• Skip buffets. The all-you-can-eat encourages overeating, so walk past the buffet and order from the menu.