Eating Out

The number one difficulty that has derailed any change in eating habits for us has been eating out. Of course the easiest solution to that problem is just to always eat at home. For most days, that works for us, but our life demands that we are in some situations that include eating out. We travel often, which means we sometimes have little control over when, where and what our food choices are. We often meet with people over meals at their invitation for various reasons and we don’t get the privilege of choosing the location or the menu. Historically, for us, that meant tossing out any restraint and just going with the flow. This time, however, we have committed to making good choices, or at least the best choices available to us even in these less-than-ideal situations. We have come up with a few strategies that help.

It’s surprising what modifications you can make if you ask. For example, I often order a large salad as my entree and emphasize that I do not want any meat or cheese included. I sometimes take salad dressing along with me or ask for lemon wedges to dress my salad.

For most restaurants serving dinner, a baked potato is an option and I order it dry — nothing on it. It’s amazing how filling that is and keeps temptation down when the dessert tray comes around. (I actually learned this one from Mark and when I first watched him eat a whole potato with no butter or sour cream — just a little salt and pepper, I was amazed at how much he seemed to enjoy it.)

I have been off refined sugar so long that those desserts really don’t tempt me and experience has taught me that foods full of butter and sugar will make me ill later, so I keep that in mind when the pressure is on. I never regret turning down what I know I shouldn’t eat. And, I know we have good things waiting at home (see below).

Once in a while, we are in a situation with no good options. We were at a catered dinner last fall where there was nothing healthy offered. Not one single fruit or vegetable in sight! Of course we had to eat to be polite, and the key here is that one meal didn’t get us off track the next day. In fact, in this case, it made us appreciate all the more the healthy food we normally eat every day.

Hint for husbands: One thing that makes me smile every day is how my husband reacts to my cooking. Everything I cook is “the best thing he has ever tasted!”  Even though I am very much aware of his tendency toward hyperbole, it definitely encourages me to
keep cooking!