Local restaurateurs maintain that eating out does not have to equate to blowing one’s dieting goals.

In fact, Lisa Martin, who is the co-owner of Martin’s At Midtown’s, said her restaurant offers a plethora of healthy eating options.

“We put a protein plate on the menu about six to nine months ago,” Martin said, in an effort to appeal to those interested in a low carbohydrate and low sugar diet.

The entrée includes two kinds of meats and an olive salad.

Also on the menu for patrons who are interested in a low carb/low sugar option are the sautéed salmon, roasted chicken and grilled pork chop entrees. These dishes come with sides, which can include grilled vegetables.

“And a customer always has the option to make any of our sandwiches into salads,” Martin said.

Martin’s At Midtown also offers entrees for vegetarians.

“We have an eggplant sandwich made with Mediterranean eggplant,” Martin said.

Healthy choices can also be found at Rusty’s Riverfront Grill.

“We sell as much grilled seafood and steak as anything fried,” Rusty’s Riverfront Grill owner Rusty Larsen said, with entrees including grilled grouper, grilled tuna and grilled chicken.

And Ebony Smith, who works as a hostess and server at the Washington Street restaurant added that any of the restaurant’s fried entrees listed on the menu could also be broiled, grilled or blackened,

Patrons are also given the option to request that no butter and less salt be added to their selections.

“Asparagus and green beans are favorites. We sauté them in butter,” Larsen said, but if a patron requests them to be cooked without butter, the special request is honored.

Salads can be substituted for most sides, Larsen said, and they can be served with fat free dressings or oil and vinegar.

Billy’s Italian Restaurant is a go-to –place for pasta dishes, but the Outlets At Vicksburg eatery also specializes in salads.

“We have an extensive salad menu,” owner of Billy’s Italian Restaurant Brady Ellis said.

The menu includes a grilled Caesar salad, an antipasti dish and Billy’s Supreme Chicken Salad.

“This is one of our most popular salads,’ Ellis said.

Billy’s Supreme Chicken Salad is one of the restaurant’s own special recipe and includes mixed greens garnished with tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, olives and pepperoncini.

Dining out does not have to prevent one from staying on a diet plan and eating healthy.

According to a Reader’s Digest website there are 20 tricks one can practice in an effort to maintain a healthy lifestyle when eating out.
1 — Ask for it your way

“Just assume you can have the food prepared the way you want it,” says Michael F. Jacobson, Ph.D., executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and coauthor of the book Restaurant Confidential.

“Very often, the restaurant will cooperate.”
2 — Ask to triple the vegetables

When ordering, ask for three or four times the normal serving of veggies, and offer to pay extra.

“I’ve never been charged,” says dietitian Jeff Novick, R.D., director of nutrition at the Pritikin Longevity Center & Spa in Aventura, Florida. “And I’ve never been disappointed. I get full, not fat.”
3 — Ask how the food was prepared; do not go by the menu

Cholesterol-free does not mean fat-free and lite does not necessarily mean light in calories or fat.
4 — Order from the healthy, light, low fat entrées on the menu

Most chains will list the calories and nutritional content of foods.
5 — Beware of the low-carb options

Low-carb doesn’t mean low-cal.
6 —Ask to box half your entrée before it ever gets to the table

Or split an entrée with your dining partner. A CSPI survey found that restaurants often serve two to three times more than food labels list as a serving.
7 — Try double appetizers

If there is a nice selection of seafood- and vegetable-based appetizers, consider skipping the entrée and having two appetizers for your meal.
8 — Order a salad before ordering anything else on the menu

Scientists at Pennsylvania State University found that volunteers who ate a big veggie salad before the main course ate fewer calories overall than those who didn’t have a first-course salad.
9 —But remember: Salads should not be fatty

Avoiding anything in a creamy sauce (coleslaw, pasta salads, and potato salads), and skip the bacon bits and fried noodles.
10 —Watch the add-ons to vegetable salads

Even salads that are mostly raw vegetables are a problem if they’re loaded with cheese and meats.
11 — Do the fork dip

Get dressing on the side, in a small bowl. Dip your empty fork into the dressing, then skewer a forkful of salad.
13 — Read between the lines

Any menu description that uses the words creamy, breaded, crisp, sauced, or stuffed is likely loaded with hidden fats. Other words to beware of include buttery, sautéed, pan-fried, au gratin, cheese sauce, scalloped, and à la mode.
14 —Ask the waiter to skip the breadbasket

If you must have something to munch on while you wait for your order, ask for a plate of raw vegetables or some breadsticks.
15 — Skip the fancy drinks

Forget the margaritas, piña coladas, and other exotic mixed drinks that include sugary additions that only add calories. Opt instead for a glass of wine, a light beer, a vodka and tonic or a simple martini.

16 — Top a baked potato with veggies from the salad bar
17 —Order fish

Just make sure it’s not fried, and nix any sauces, or ask for them on the side.
18 —Drink water throughout the meal
19 — Always dress up to go out

One should View eating out as an event or a treat, rather than a way to get an everyday dinner because that can be good from both a health and a cost standpoint.
20 — Skip the dessert

One can always have some sorbet or even a small piece of chocolate at home.