--- title: 4 Secrets to a Healthy Brunch description: Instead of overdoing it at Sunday brunch, enjoy yourself without going overboard with these savvy strategies canonical: https://time.com/4236324/brunch-diet-food-health/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-26T13:30:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:01:54.828Z og:title: 4 Tricks for Ordering a Healthy Brunch og:description: Good news: You don’t have to skip the drink og:url: https://time.com/4236324/brunch-diet-food-health/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2ff3bffe47a0e4f0/69878150cd68481cbd099e8a/time-50-healthiest-foods-grapfruit-e1516911604210.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: healthiest foods, health food, diet, nutrition, time.com stock, grapefruit, fruit, citrus og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 4 Tricks for Ordering a Healthy Brunch twitter:description: Good news: You don’t have to skip the drink twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2ff3bffe47a0e4f0/69878150cd68481cbd099e8a/time-50-healthiest-foods-grapfruit-e1516911604210.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 4 Tricks for Ordering a Healthy Brunch by [Cynthia Sass / Health.com](/author/health-com/) ## Cynthia Sass / Health.com Feb 26, 2016 1:30 PM CUT  Danny Kim for TIME by [Cynthia Sass / Health.com](/author/health-com/) ## Cynthia Sass / Health.com Feb 26, 2016 1:30 PM CUT No one wants to be that person eating cottage cheese when everyone else is tucking into French toast and sausage. But many women I know wake up on Monday with serious food remorse after overdoing it at Sunday brunch. To enjoy yourself without going overboard, use these savvy strategies. **1\. Make omelets your go-to**Omelets don’t feel “diet-y,” and you can customize them to be lean. Nix cheese, bacon and meat (eggs alone have enough protein) and add plenty of veggies and avocado for good fat. Most omelets come with both toast and potatoes—choose just one to avoid carb overload. Or swap potatoes for a side salad (some restaurants even offer this on the menu). **_Health.com:_** [_Swap Your Way Slim at Every Meal_](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20814925,00.html?xid=time "undefined") **2\. Limit yourself to one splurge**At brunch, extras can add up quickly. A piece of scone with a smear of jam, a strip of bacon from your friend’s plate— before you know it, you’ve eaten your way into a serious calorie surplus. Next time, plan in advance your one treat, like a few bites of your hubby’s hash browns. Then savor it and stop there. Sure, it’s not as much fun as nibbling willy-nilly, but you aren’t totally depriving yourself either. **_Health.com:_** [_Eat Your Way to Health and Happiness_](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20621800,00.html?xid=time "undefined") **3\. Get a side of fruit**Having an array of berries, cut watermelon or the like in front of you can keep you from digging into the muffin basket, and you’ll save a ton of calories. In addition to being chock-full of nutrients and fiber, fresh fruit is water-rich, which means there are fewer calories per bite compared with dry, pastry-type goodies. Case in point: Just one mini banana nut muffin contains about 100 calories, while a cup of cut cantaloupe (about a tennis ball–size portion) has only 50. **_Health.com:_** [_Brunch Fever? 25 Recipes That Wow_](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20697753,00.html?xid=time "undefined") **4\. Order a mimosa, hold the OJ**A flute of straight champagne actually has more calories than juice (125 versus 109), but cutting out the OJ will slash your carb intake by about 5 grams (from 8 to 3), essentially all of it from the juice’s sugar. Since you’ll be eating other starchy foods, and you may be lounging around after your meal rather than exercising, you won’t want those excess carbs, which will end up getting stored as fat. _Cynthia Sass, MPH, RD, is Health’s contributing nutrition editor, and privately counsels clients in New York, Los Angeles, and long distance. Cynthia is currently the sports nutrition consultant to the New York Rangers NHL team and the Tampa Bay Rays MLB team, and is board certified as a specialist in sports dietetics._ [_This article originally appeared on Health.com_](http://news.health.com/2015/10/16/4-tricks-for-ordering-a-diet-friendly-brunch/?xid=time "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4236324/brunch-diet-food-health/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4236324/brunch-diet-food-health/"},"headline":"4 Tricks for Ordering a Healthy Brunch","datePublished":"2016-02-26T13:30:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:01:54.828Z","description":"Good news: You don’t have to skip the drink","url":"https://time.com/4236324/brunch-diet-food-health/","keywords":["motto","breakfast","Diet & Nutrition"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2ff3bffe47a0e4f0/69878150cd68481cbd099e8a/time-50-healthiest-foods-grapfruit-e1516911604210.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cynthia Sass / Health.com"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2ff3bffe47a0e4f0/69878150cd68481cbd099e8a/time-50-healthiest-foods-grapfruit-e1516911604210.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"healthiest foods, health food, diet, nutrition, time.com stock, grapefruit, fruit, citrus","caption":"healthiest foods, health food, diet, nutrition, time.com stock, grapefruit, fruit, citrus","creditText":"Danny Kim for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4236324/brunch-diet-food-health/","name":"4 Tricks for Ordering a Healthy Brunch"}}]}] ```