For reasons both pleasurable and practical, you may be eating out for a significant portion of your meals. The key is to CHOOSE WISELY.
Certain restaurants simply won’t work no matter how hard you try to manipulate the menu. Stay away from Fast Food (typically screaming of rancid, recycled vegetable oil) and joints focused on overwhelming grains (pizza truck).
Thanks to increasing customer awareness and demand for quality, options are continuing to improve for getting nutritious food on the go.
Keep these 4 concepts in mind:
Choose Wisely- one greasy meal is not worth ruining all of your progress!
Cooking Methods- don’t be afraid to ask how and what your food is being cooked in and if they have a healthier option- which may be using less butter or none at all.
Don’t forget your macros
Negotiate- Ask to substitute extra veggies instead of pasta or a lettuce wrap instead of bread on your sandwich.
Chicken: Boston Market, Chick-fil-A, KFC, etc- stay away from the deep-fried stuff in favor or broiled or oven roasted chicken. Even KFC has oven roasted options. Minimize your intake of sweet sauces, even scraping your bird clean if you have to. Grab a few pieces of broiled or oven baked chicken, pick a vegetable side dish and be on your way! Side Note- any salads served with fried chicken seriously defeat the purpose. Always double check to make sure the chicken is grilled ( and not fried) on a salad, don’t assume unless you have ordered it before!
Coffee Houses: Stick to straight coffee or add coconut milk, almond milk, oat milk, or pistachio milk to a plain unflavored latte. If you MUST add sugar, pick 1 flavor and have the barista add 1/2 Pump. I said 1/2 pump…..regardless of your drink size. A better sweetener would be honey but be cautious of the carbs. You will also typically find a wide assortment of grain-based baked goods, cookies, scones, cake, etc. Chances are you can easily skip them all and be satisfied with your coffee.
Ethnic: Chinese and Japanese restaurants offer fresh steamed meat and vegetable plates on the menu. Steer clear of rice, noodles, heavy sauces, and deep-fried dishes.
Fresh Mex: Chipotle and Qdoba have proudly promoted the sourcing of natural, planet friendly meat and produce. The Naked Burrito or Burrito Bowl is a tortilla-free burrito experience. A taco salad with no shell would also be a good option. Add all of the meat, veggies, black beans, and salsa you want but skip the rice if you are on a lower carb intake meal plan. When dining in at Mexican restaurants, skip the tortillas, obligatory rice and bean side dishes. Focus on the meat and vegetables. My favorite is Chicken Fajitas with no tortillas.
Hamburger Chains: McDonalds, Burger King, Wendys, and Sonic serve the ultimate chemical-laden, heavily processed meats, deep fried and heavily sugar based food options. If you MUST partake, forgo the bun in favor of the meat, and as always- skip the fries…I mean, c’mon now. 😊
Sandwich Shops: Subway, Quiznos….I think the obvious option here is always salad. In efforts to keeping up with your protein for the day, ask the meat portion to be doubled or tripled. Skip any ingredients that may had added sugar (candied walnuts and cranberries) and pick a dressing- vinegar and oil.
Sit Down Restaurant Chains: Applebees, Whiskey Creek, Olive Garden, Outback Steakhouse, Ruby Tuesdays. Stick with meats and vegetables. If it’s a salad you want, don’t forget to add double protein. Avoid heavy dressing sauces that are laden with sugar- a safe bet is always vinegar and oil (on the side).
Smoothie Shops: Many people are tricked by the fallacy that all smoothies are healthy. Yes….smoothies with 100% REAL fruit, cut up and blended before your eyes have nutritional value. Smoothies made with a fruit syrup or smoothie powdered mix are loaded with sugar and who knows what else. You are better off finding some fresh fruit at a local grocery store or making your own at home. In North Platte, there is ONE place you can get a REAL FRUIT Smoothie- Its the Kale Smoothie at The Espresso Shoppe.
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