Healthy Dining Out
You’ve changed your eating lifestyle, preparing food at home and eating whole, clean foods. You feel good. You’re sleeping well and gradually taking off the stubborn pounds. You’ve made substantial progress toward your goals and have more energy than you’ve had in years!
The last thing you want to do is sabotage all your hard work by eating like the old you.
A friend invites you to lunch. There is a business meeting scheduled around mealtime. Your favorite person’s birthday is approaching and being held at a local restaurant.
There is a way to eat for your health at most places. Follow a few simple guidelines:
- If fast food is the only option, choose a salad with an oil & vinegar dressing on the side. Drink water and focus on the person you’re there to enjoy.
- Order a meat or fish with steamed vegetables. Ask for any sauces to be left off or served on the side.
- A salad with fish or other meat on top can be satisfying and healthy. Many sugars and problematic preservatives, along with unhealthy refined oils are hidden in bottled dressings, so order an oil & vinegar on the side. Another option is to ask for a slice or two of lemon and olive oil. Squeeze the lemon, drizzle some olive oil, add salt & pepper to taste, and you have a delicious salad.
- A solid choice during an elimination phase, when your options are more limited is to eat well before the event. Order a water with lemon or sparkling water with lime at the event to enjoy and have something in your hand.
A big piece of successful eating out is to have your “why” on the tip of your tongue and front of your mind before going and at all times while out. It can be challenging at first until you practice being the new you again and again. As you continue to feel better and better and flourishing in the life you set out to attain, you will fully enjoy the healthy options while eating out. And after not too long, you will not want to eat the food that does not love you back.
Know yourself. If having it in front of you is too great a temptation, order the meal without whatever “it” is.
Practice your new mindset before the event so that when receiving questions or felt push-back, you are confident and strong in your resolve. Things like, “I am placing more of a priority on my health these days and feel my best when I eat this way,” or “I’ve decided to put some things in place so that I can still be active and feel good in my later decades; eating well is a part of this plan.”
Healthy Easy Options
