How do we eat out and be healthy? We can’t. But don’t despair; there are ways to make it better. Plus if you’re like the rest of us, you like having a balance between a nutritious diet and a social life and not having anxiety/guilt around food.
Restaurant, processed, and convenience food all have excessive amounts of sugar, salt, chemicals, and larger portions. Home cooked is the best form of healthy eating. Here are just a few tips to help make it better when you do go out or takeout:
- Order veggie heavy items at Chinese, Thai restaurants for example. With salads, go for darker greens versus iceberg/romaine. Get the dressing on the side.
- Avocadoes and salsas have more benefits than drowning with excessive cheese and sour cream.
- Avoid deep-fried. Opt for grilled, steamed, baked instead of battered or breaded.
- Use veggies for your appetizer dips instead of pita, bread, etc.
- Go for thin crust instead of deep dish. Cauliflower crust has equal calories due to the heavy amounts of cheese.
- One carb is enough and try to stick to whole grains. We often order combinations such as pasta and bread, burger buns and fries, tortillas and chips and/or rice, naan and rice, etc. Leave some carbs behind.
- If it’s takeout, sauté some veggies as a side dish and spread the item over two meals.
- Order less red meat.
These are just a few ideas. I’m more interested in helping you maintain these habits easily along with the desire and ease of cooking. After all, implementation is more crucial than knowledge. Get a free health consultation. See if this is the right match for you by addressing weigh loss goals, cravings, emotional eating, balanced diet, disease prevention, and getting to the root cause of what’s keeping you stuck.
For more articles, read www.HappyFoodHealth.com/blog.
~ Samantha Hua, Nutrition & Holistic Health Coach, San Diego, CA
