Places to eat 2

''Eating at home''

Saving money by NOT dining out has it’s obvious advantages to put cash back into your pocket. But what are the other benefits of making a choice to cook at home instead of paying a premium to eat at a restaurant.

1. Healthy Lifestyle – After saving money, the greatest benefit from dining in compared to eating at restaurants is promoting a healthy lifestyle. Overall, cooking at home is much healthier than dining out. While some restaurants now offer healthy entrees and choices, the options are limited. Food consumed at restaurants typically has a lot more calories and fat than food you have prepared at home.
2. Lower Health Care Costs – Going a step further on promoting a healthy lifestyle – eating in can lower your overall health care costs. Consumption of fatty and high caloric foods overtime can lead to diabetes and heart disease, among other health issues. If you can eat meals at home and adopt a healthier lifestyle, you are less likely to develop health conditions. Reducing the risk of developing diabetes or heart disease will actually save you a lot of money in the future on health care related costs and prescriptions!
3. Family Time – An important benefit for any family with children. Eating at home instead of at a restaurant gives the entire family time to talk about their day. If you are constantly on the run and are always eating out – you lose that quality time to communicate with your loved ones. Cooking at home gives you a chance to connect and talk about school with your children and discuss your days events with your spouse.
4. Knowing What You Eat – This is a big one as some people have food allergies. Do you ever get worried about who is cooking your food and are they doing something with it they shouldn’t? Even if you can find something on a menu that does not contain peanuts, eggs, or milk – the food still has to be handled and prepared by humans. Humans make mistakes and they also do things they shouldn’t sometimes. Cooking your own food at home alleviates any doubts as to what you are truly eating!
5. Reducing Temptation – Anyone on a diet dreads dining out with family and friends. The temptation to order fried or high caloric foods is outstanding when you eat at restaurants. There is just something about eating out with others and the atmosphere at most restaurants that makes it difficult to eat healthy. While many people on a diet are able to avoid these temptations, it is better to avoid the situation entirely. Eating at home more reduces these situations where you may be tempted to order something unhealthy!
6. Increase of Energy – Another result of living a healthier lifestyle – eating at home can increase your overall energy levels. Since you are eating healthier foods, you are likely to be more active and have more energy compared with a sedentary lifestyle.
7. Education – Eating at home is an excellent opportunity to educate your children on topics about saving money and eating healthy. If you raise your children in an environment where most of their meals come from a restaurant, more than likely they will end up living that way. As mentioned earlier – dining in promotes a healthier lifestyle which is another important thing to teach your children.

Make Money – Not only will you save money by eating at home, you can actually make money! I am not saying that you should never eat out at restaurants. However, there seem to be a lot more benefits from eating at home which always seem to win out in our household.

'' Eating in canteens''
Schools should consider "lock-ins" at lunchtime to stop pupils from buying junk food, the School Food Trust said today, but school leaders called the proposals unworkable.

A survey by the trust, set up by ministers in 2005 to encourage schoolchildren to eat more healthily, found secondary schools have an average of 23 fast-food outlets within a mile of their building.

Many pupils are not benefiting from the new nutritional standards found in school food because they prefer junk food, which can reduce their ability to concentrate and learn during the afternoon, it said.

The trust wants to see schools look into the feasibility of adopting a "stay on site" policy restricting pupils to school grounds during lunch times.

This policy was popular with 90% of 1,014 parents it surveyed, while 67% agreed that children would eat more healthily if they were not allowed to leave school at lunchtime.

''Eating in fast-food restaurants''

There are some good reasons for eating fast food. It's convenient, inexpensive, and appeals to older folks as much as the little ones. And sometimes, when you're at the mall, on the road, or have to grab and go, it may be the only, or the easiest, option available. But health food it's not. A single fast-food meal can easily pack more calories, fat, and sodium than most people should get in a day. That's why you need a survival plan when you venture into the fast-food jungle. Don't be too reassured by the efforts of some restaurants to become more healthful. For example, Wendy's ditched the "biggie" language for its fries and drinks but didn't actually cut portion sizes. In fact, its drink sizes increased—a large soda is now 40 ounces, more than the amount in three 12-ounce cans of soda. Similarly, the growing concerns about trans fats, which simultaneously raise LDL (bad) cholesterol and lower HDL (good) cholesterol, have prompted some chains to swear off trans fats. But Consumer Reports tests have continued to detect the substance in the french fries served at some fast-food franchises. And while most chains offer at least a few token healthful items, such as Burger King's BK Veggie Burger, far more typical is its new BK Quad Stacker, "a mountain of meat and cheese" that features four hamburger patties, four slices of cheese, and eight slices of bacon, all slathered with a Stacker sauce that's loaded with sugar.