Eating Out and Staying Healthy
Eating out can be a major cause for anxiety when you’re trying to follow a strict diet. The moment someone asks if you want to go to your favorite restaurant you become a little nervous. You don’t know what is going to be on the menu. Will there be low-carb options? Can I ask them to hold the bun? Do you think I can get a salad? All of these questions are looming in your head because you feel like you can’t indulge or you’ll ruin your progress. What if you could still enjoy pizza from your favorite local pizza restaurant when your friends want to go? You will be more apt to eat healthy for the longhaul if you knew that it wouldn’t disrupt your ability to enjoy the occasional pizza and drinks. Food shouldn’t make you nervous and it shouldn’t leave you feeling guilty. A night at your favorite restaurant won’t ruin you. You can eat out and still be considered a healthy eater.
"Kenz, how do I even do that? I feel like I can’t order anything but a salad if I want to be a healthy eater!”
First of all, salads are not the only way to eat healthy. Did you know that salads at restaurants with all of their toppings and dressings can average around 1,000 calories? That’s the same amount, if not more, than what you would consume eating a few slices of pizza. You will definitely get more nutrients from the calorie-rich salad, but the calorie count may shock you if you order it as is. Check out the nutritional info for Outback Steakhouse’s Coolamon Chopped Salad. It has 830 calories, 56g fat, 70g carbs, 18g protein. Or the nutritional info for McDonald’s Premium Southwest Salad with Buttermilk Crispy Chicken. It has 520 calories, 25g fat, 46g carbs, 28g protein. A BigMac has 540 calories, and that’s without the dressing. Should you simply be ordering these calorie-laden salads because you feel bad ordering a burger and fries, order the burger and fries and eat until satisfied! The very thing that damages our relationship with food is when we begin to label foods as off-limits purely out of restriction for diet and weight-loss purposes. This will cause your body to go into a psychological form of starvation mode that will cause you to ruminate on foods you have labeled as “bad” and may eventually cause you to eat in excess out of a psychological feeling of deprivation. Don’t go down this road. If you really want that meal, then order it. Have no regrets or guilt and continue to eat as normal tomorrow morning. When you know that the pizza is always there if you want it, you won’t feel the need to overdo it or let it throw you off track.
Should you arrive at a restaurant and not be in the mood for something fried, greasy, or heavy and truly want to order something overtly nutritious that will leave you feeling rightly fueled when you leave, then do that! When I choose to do this in a restaurant, these are my five rules of thumb:
Stick with grilled, baked, or roasted meats. If it comes fried, ask if they can grill it instead!
Ask for your sandwiches or burgers to come on a whole grain/wheat bread if available. Should you want to stay away from bread, you can ask for it to come without or to be put on top of a salad or veggies. Do not do this if you’re simply labeling bread as “bad”. If you want the bread, eat the bread.
Hold the butter! You’d be surprised how much butter restaurants sneak into things. Ask that your foods be cooked in olive oil instead of butter or canola oil and that they refrain from mixing it in or topping your foods with it.
Opt for oil/vinegar based dressings and for non-dairy sauces. Many dressings and sauces are made with cream, mayo, and milk bases. These can leave you feeling heavy. Ask for dressings made with oil and vinegar such as: oil and vinegar;) or balsamic. Ask that they use a sauce that is not made with cream or milk.
Drink water. Most people don’t count their liquid calories, but a Coke at a restaurant with a couple refills can send you home with an extra 500 calories, 150g sugar, and 100g of carbs! Sugary alcoholic drinks can do the same. Should this be your night for a soda or glass of wine, then enjoy it! Often times, I will order a soda water with extra lime if I’m wanting something carbonated without sugar.
Enjoy your time out with friends and family. Enjoy what you eat. If forcing yourself to order a salad is going to make you miserable the whole night because you want what everyone else is having, it’s not worth it. Your mental health in all of this is important as well and this may cause you to mentally obsess over what you could order and eventually lead you to overeat later. As I mentioned earlier, this is the process that will lead your body into a mental starvation mode and perhaps lead to bingeing behavior, a by-product of severe dieting. I struggled with this for nearly two years after a long stint of intense calorie restriction and I had to spend a full year healing my relationship with food before I was comfortable eating without fear of bingeing. It wasn’t until I began to practice intuitive eating that I watched this unhealthy behavior subside. Here is the best book I have found on this concept that explains the science, physical, and mental implications of this nutrition approach. To this day, dieting and calorie restriction will sometimes be a trigger for me, which is why I chose to find a different approach to healthy eating and good nutrition. My own struggle with this is why I am so passionate about nutrition coaching individuals to develop healthy and sustainable eating habits and not quick-fix diet coaching. If this is your current story, I’d love to help you find the road back to a restored relationship with food and develop a lifestyle of good nutrition. Let’s talk about it here!
A healthy eating approach shouldn’t be fueled by deprivation. Developing a healthy lifestyle will take some sacrifice and hard work, but it should never be at the expense of your sanity or enjoyment of life. I challenge you to go out this week and post a proud selfie with your meal and tag me in it @kenziefitco! I can’t wait to see what you order and enjoy!
— K