Ok, you know you want to eat healthy. You would just prefer to be able to do so
without actually having to cook. With
all the nonsense that fills your week, who has the time? It is takeout or frozen dinners because you
don’t have the energy for anything more.
Think you are doomed to clot your
arteries? Well, while it is preferable
to have healthy and fresh home-cooked meals, there is a way to clean up your
diet significantly while eating your meals from a restaurant barstool. Don’t believe me? Well here I am in my
tights, cape and super-power goggles to help you navigate restaurants for a
healthier lifestyle. (Ok, I’m wearing shorts and a t-shirt, but whose
counting?)
I’m going to start with an old standard. A salad can often be a very good option, but
it all depends on the type of salad you choose.
Avoid the fillers like croutons, wontons and tortilla strips. Those just provide empty calories. Minimize the deli slices, bacon bits and the
cheeses as they are heavily processed and salted. Also, it probably goes without saying but
filling your salad with deep fried foods is probably not the best option. Grilled or broiled meat with a colorful array
of veggies, maybe some beans all tossed together would be a much better
option. Now here’s the clincher. The dressing is the make or break item of the
salad. It isn’t enough to just choose a
low fat salad dressing. Low fat
dressings usually compensate with sugar which can be worse for your heart and
waist line than the added fat. I often
try to make my own dressing right there in the restaurant. Ask for oil and balsamic vinegar and a little
side of Dijon mustard. Mix the oil and vinegar and put in a smidge
of mustard to taste. Add a dash of salt
and you have a no-sugar added, heart healthy salad dressing on the fly!
Of course, if you spend your life eating out, you eventually
have to venture beyond just roughage.
This is a good time to talk to the waiter. Are you in an Irish pub with everything
smothered in cream sauce? Ask if they
can just serve you a simple piece of chicken covered in basic spices that is grilled
or baked. Most restaurants would have
the ingredients to do that. Or are you
just dying for an occasional burger? Ask
for it to be served on a green salad instead of a bun. Or ask for it on type of brown rice if you
are missing your carbohydrates. Removing
the bun isn't about limiting carbohydrates.
It is about removing the sugar filled (yes, bread is usually made with
sugar) refined carbohydrates that quickly turn to sugar in your body. Oh, and on the topic of sugar, avoid the most
common condiments. Ketchup has tons of
sugar and mayo is made out of oils that easily go rancid. Better options are mustard and Worcestershire
sauce that usually have less sugar and bad fats. They are still often high in sodium so don’t
go overboard!
Another great place to look for nourishing restaurant
options is ethnic food. Now I’m not
talking about the “American” version of certain ethnic foods that you will see
at Panda Express or Del Taco. I’m
talking about the small family run restaurant where everything is made from
scratch from whole food ingredients.
Foods that you will find at most Indian and Ethiopian restaurants tend
to be unprocessed other than the breads and flavored with spices as opposed to
sugar. Sushi is also a good option as it
is often made of just basic, whole ingredients.
That isn’t to say that you can’t get into trouble at these restaurants. If you go to Sushi and order just the fried
tempura or the Philly roll stuffed with cream cheese, you will be missing out
on much of the nutrient potential that sushi has to offer. So let’s talk about the popular Chinese food. Is that a good option? “American” style Chinese food sauces are
often filled with sugar, salt and much of the food is friend. A better way to order Chinese food is to
order it steamed. The vegetables will be crisper, offering more nutrient
potential. You can add a little soy sauce
for taste (high in sodium but no sugar) or enjoy a little bit of the sauce on
the side if feeling deprived.
So that brings me to the final stop in our healthy bites
restaurant tour. What about eating at
fast food restaurants? While fast food
will never be the best choice, sometimes you are driving cross country or
you’ve got a small child in your backseat or you are just in a rush with
limited options. In general, even the
“healthier options” at burger joints aren’t the best. For instance, the granola/yogurt cup advertised
as a “healthy option” is often filled with so much sugar filled cereal that you
might as well be eating candy. So what
should you choose?
Rotisserie or grilled chicken places can make better
options. The best option is to remove
the skin which will remove a not so heart healthy form of fat but will also
remove a lot of the salt filled sauce.
Part of the charm in many of these places is that you can load up on
more nutritious sides like steamed vegetables or a salad. Then again, load up on the extra butter
mashed potatoes and you’ve now turned your meal into much more of a blood
pressure hazard.
Something like Chipotle can be a better option (though load
up on the sour cream, cheese and tortillas and your meal is now an artery
clogging nightmare). Choose as many
whole food ingredients as possible to make the healthiest creation. Maybe today you may be in the mood for
vegetarian. If you choose lettuce, black
beans, brown rice and maybe the sautéed peppers, your meal will be lower
sodium, low sugar and filled with foods that have nutritional value. Skip the salsa and use the hot sauce on the
side to further reduce your sugar intake.
Finally, what about Subway?
After all, they advertise themselves as being diet-friendly. I prefer people choose the salads over the
sandwiches to avoid so much refined carbohydrate. Subway advertises there sandwiches as heart
healthy if they are low calorie and fat.
I prefer to look at the total nutrient content. A big roll that will be
quickly metabolized into sugar can lead to a blood sugar imbalance and weight
gain. Again, the best option will be a
salad without the packaged salad dressing.
Flavor your salad with oil, vinegar and maybe some hot or sweet peppers.
Now let’s get real.
You aren’t going to deprive yourself of ever eating a double burger with
fries, or an ice cream sundae ever again.
Eventually you are going to go to a restaurant as a treat because they
serve your favorite foods. This guide
isn’t for the occasional restaurant dweller in good health. When you find yourself frequenting
restaurants as a larger part of your diet, it is important to understand how to
get more nourishing options. Restaurant
food ideally will not replace home cooked sustenance. Yet when it does, this guide is the best bet
to lead you to a healthy, well balanced, nourished life!
No comments:
Post a Comment