Energy Express by Marilynn Preston

School is in. Today, I am giving you gold. Today, I am teaching you the basics of Menu Yoga, how to power through your next restaurant meal without losing your cool or gaining a pound.

If you can't keep all of this in your head, take notes.

Why take this course? Because Eating Out is a minefield. Statistically speaking, the more you do it, the fatter you get. You have to learn to navigate the territory — si to salsa, no to chorizo — or you'll drown in a sea of nachos.

For starters, restaurant portions are huge, much bigger than you'd serve yourself at home. When you eat out, unwanted calories (and suspicious and toxic add-ins) are snuck in while you're busy chatting with friends or doodling on the placemat: butter poured over the rib roast; high-fructose breading on the chicken breast; buckets of white refined pasta drenched in naughty Alfredo sauces.

Don't get me wrong. I love eating out. Some of my best friends are Mexican restaurants. But the temptation to eat too much of the wrong thing is ever-present. You have to become aware, take charge, and learn how to place your order and stick to it, even if your waiter comes back and tells you you can't get the chicken tacos without the cheese. Sez who?

Menu Yoga enthusiasts pour love into their waiters knowing they need their cooperation going forward.

Here, then, just to whet your appetite for lifelong study, is a sampling of Menu Yoga postures you might try next time you dine out:

— Start Fresh. Even if you've eaten out a thousand times before, make your next visit to a restaurant a new beginning with an action plan based on these strategies. Don't worry about appearing weird to your fellow diners. I still remember a dear pal who placed his order after mine, having heard me go through my gentle requests, substitutions and on-the-sides. "I'll have a tuna salad sandwich with a glass of milk, " he told the waiter, looking right at me, "and please hold the amino acids."

— Forget Fried. You can't get more basic than this. When you see the word fried on the menu — fried chicken, fried fish, fried mushrooms — read on. If you can't resist fried foods, take the breading off.

Easy with tempura shrimps, tricky with crispy French fries. My workaround for French fries, by the way — in Menu Yoga, we accept our weaknesses — is to share an order with a friend or two, season with pepper instead of salt and limit dessert to fresh fruit or nothing.

— Order Appetizer Portions. I'm seeing this more and more, but if it's still unconventional in your crowd, be bold and give it a try. Simply ignore the entrees and make your meal choices from the list of appetizers, soups and/or salads. The portions are smaller — almost normal — and the choices are delicious and imaginative. They also cost less. Don't worry about withering looks from your waiter. He's probably doing the same thing when he eats out.

— Share or Take Home. Menu Yoga practitioners know that many restaurant entree portions are big enough to feed a family of three, plus the dog. The strategy here couldn't be easier: either share an entree or take half home. Some people have trouble leaving food on their plate and end up eating the entire meal just because it's there. The fix is to ask for the takeaway container at the start of the meal and divvy it up before you begin. Again, this may invite stares and fleeting moments of personal discomfort. Get over it. Portion control is the secret to healthy eating. Practice it every chance you get.

— Ask For It on the Side. An excellent way to control calories when you eat out is to avoid or reduce rich, creamy, cheese-and-buttery sauces. This saves zillions of calories over time: ask for all salad dressings and sauces on the side. Repeat after me: "on the side." Use a fork to control the amount you put on your food. A little of something good goes a long way if you eat mindfully, with awareness, which is the mother strategy for fine and healthy dining.

Menu Yoga class must end. Namaste.

ENERGY EXPRESS-O! THE UPSIDE OF THE FOOD STAMP BOON

"The average restaurant meal costs three times as much as one cooked at home." — NPD Group, a consumer research firm

Marilynn Preston — fitness expert, personal trainer and speaker on healthy lifestyle issues — is the creator of Energy Express, the longest-running syndicated fitness column in the country. She has a website, http://marilynnpreston.com and welcomes reader questions, which can be sent to MyEnergyExpress@aol.com. To find out more about Preston and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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