Eating Healthy When Dining Out
Whether you’re traveling, out on a date night, or simply not in the mood to cook, you’ll inevitably be staring at a menu wondering what’s safe to eat. Unfortunately, with the pervasiveness of ultra-processed foods, it can be quite challenging (if not downright impossible) to avoid them.
Truthfully, there will be situations where you simply can’t avoid them. In those situations, however, some options are better than others. Today we’re going to look at all the things you can do to eat as healthy as possible while you’re dining out.
Today’s Checklist
If you’re following along with the 40FRESH Challenge, here’s your homework for today:
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Continue your 40FRESH habit for breakfast
Continue your 40FRESH habit for dinner
Fast Food
Let’s start with the easy stuff. This probably doesn’t need to be said, but it’s extremely unlikely that you’ll find a 40FRESH friendly meal at a fast food restaurant. Sometimes that’s your only choice though. So what do you do?
While you may not be able to avoid Nope foods altogether, you might be able to come fairly close. Assuming you have more than one option to choose from, do your best to find the healthiest fast food option possible. Below, we’ve included a few different types of meal options to look for and how to make them as 40FRESH friendly as possible.
Bowls
If you can find it, one of your best bets is to look for a place that serves some kind of rice or salad bowl. Chipotle and Qdoba are two that can be found in most cities, but there are several regional options as well.
A bowl omits the tortilla, which is one of the most problematic parts of the meal. If you want to stay completely 40FRESH, stick with the rice and fresh vegetables. However, if that sounds too boring to eat, try to stick to the least processed of the ultra-processed options. Those include the beans, grilled veggies, sour cream, and guacamole. If you add meat, stick with options like shrimp, grilled chicken, or grilled steak. As for the other parts–sauces, cheese, tortilla strips, other meats, and more–those are generally pretty firmly in the Nope category. It’s best to avoid those altogether.
Salads
Most fast food salads won’t help you steer clear of Nope foods entirely, but you can get close. To start, be mindful of your dressing choice. As you may have seen on your grocery recon day, nearly every salad dressing you find in the grocery store is full of ultra-processed foods. When I make salad dressing at home, I’ll make a vinaigrette of some sort and this is also your best choice when dining out. Avoid the ranch, blue cheese, thousand island, and all the other choices.
Apart from the dressing, it’s best to avoid all of the other ingredients that aren’t Always ingredients like fruits and vegetables. So things like egg and sunflower seeds are fine, but avoid the croutons, candied nuts, tortilla strips, cheeses, and other additives that don’t come directly from nature.
Burgers, Sandwiches & Wraps
The vast majority of fast foods fall into one of the categories above. Unfortunately, these are best to avoid entirely. Buns, bread, and tortillas all fall into the Nope category. Similarly, so do condiments, sauces, and dressings. American cheese is a chemical nightmare and even the meat itself is typically ultra-processed.
If you’re hell bent on one of these options, we’d suggest you go with a bun-less burger, no cheese, and minimal to no condiments. Of all the condiments, mustard is typically the least processed. Sadly, you’ll need to skip the fries as well. Not only are they deep fried, but the potatoes are typically ultra-processed before they even reach the fryer vat.
Restaurant Dining
When dining in a sit down restaurant, the same guidance as above applies. However, in addition to the options above, you’ll typically have a few more options available to you. Look for the options below as alternatives to salads and bowls.
Sushi
If the restaurant you’re at offers sushi rolls, nigiri, or sashimi, you’re in luck! It’s fairly easy to find a sushi option that has mostly (or possibly all) Always and Limited ingredients.
Sashimi and nigiri are usually the best options as they are typically just fresh fish. For rolls, stick to the rolls made from fresh fish and vegetables. Avoid the crab, spicy aioli, tempura, and other sauces, and you’ll generally be pretty safe. Unless you’re at a restaurant serving genuine wasabi, you’ll want to avoid that as well. Also, make sure to use the regular soy sauce as we’ve discussed previously, as the limited sodium one is a Nope.
Meats & Fish
Whether you’re ordering a steak, roasted chicken, or filet of fish, these are all generally fairly safe picks when eating out. Oftentimes, these will come with a side of rice and steamed veggies, making this one of the safest all around meals that you can find at a restaurant. That said, there are a few things to look out for…
For steaks and fish especially, make sure you understand the ingredients going into a sauce. Sometimes they are made from whole ingredients, but sometimes (especially at chain restaurants) they are ultra-processed.
Steak and chicken often come with potatoes as a side. Instead of fries or mashed potatoes, see if you can opt for a baked potato or rice instead. Keep the toppings light, only going with a little bit of butter and some salt and pepper.
Tacos?
We put a question mark on this one because it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to find a taco that’s entirely 40FRESH friendly. There are restaurants that make their own tortillas from scratch, but they are more of the exception than the rule. However, apart from the tortilla and some of the sauces, many restaurants will have a taco option that’s fairly close.
If none of the other options are up your alley and you want to stay as close to your diet as possible, these are a good alternative to the burgers, sandwiches, and pastas. For the meats, make sure to steer clear of anything beer battered or breaded.
Up Next...
You have enough on your plate with balancing your new dinner habit and all your other 40FRESH habits, so no new homework for today. If you’re sticking to your habits, make another satisfying X over today’s date on your accountability calendar.
Tomorrow, we’re going to start digging into our last habit: lunch. For those of you that don’t work at home, this can be one of the most challenging meals to replace. We’ll start by taking a look at some of the most popular lunches and see how 40FRESH friendly they are.