Numbers Game: Answer

A standard pad thai entreé at a restaurant contains 1,350 calories.

Woah -- that's equivalent to six slices of a 12 inch Domino's cheese pizza.

Although the obscenely large portions of pad thai usually doled out at restaurants are behind this obscene figure, the main culprit is the large amounts of oil that go into making the dish.

As delicious as Thai cuisine is, options range from healthy to heinous.

Accompanying pad thai in the "tread carefully" category are spring rolls (deep-fried and offering very little nutrition), soups made with coconut milk (on average providing 450 calories and a day's worth of saturated fat), entrees made with curry (the presence of coconut milk quickly adds calories and saturated fat), and meat dishes labeled "crispy" (think additional fat and calories).

Fortunately, Thai restaurants also offer several healthy and delicious options.

Summer rolls are my favorite appetizer. Wrapped in a soy paper sheet and filled with carrots, basil, grilled tofu and chopped peanuts, they are a refreshing low-calorie treat.

Chicken or tofu satay (basically grilled and skewered) is another smart appetizer choice. However, watch the accompanying peanut dipping sauce, as it is higher in calories than other varieties.

When it comes to entrees, look for grilled, baked, or steamed chicken, shrimp, fish, or tofu with vegetables.

Any of the above in their stir-fry versions is still better than any sort of curry, but will definitely contain more oil than the choices just mentioned.

If the dish comes in a sauce, ask the waiter or waitress to order it "light on sauce". This could save you as much as 500 milligrams of sodium and 150 calories.

If your dish comes with a rice, ask for brown -- extra fiber always helps.

Even conventional white rice is a healthier choice than the fried counterpart, which contains 250 calories per cup!