Restaurant tips for healthy eating
Living in San Francisco, I try to take advantage of my proximity to delicious restaurants. Each week, my husband and I pick a night to try a new spot for date night and have discovered some delicious places. I get a lot of questions from clients about how to eat out and still feel your best after. By no means do you need to restrict yourself every time you go out to eat. Some meals are going to feel more extravagant than others, and that’s okay! But if you are going out to eat regularly, one rich meal after the next can start to make us feel like our diet is lacking, and going out to eat doesn’t have to make you feel not your best after. Here are some tips to build a balanced meal at your favorite restaurants.
Choose a vegetable
Okay sure, this seems obvious, but adding a vegetable side or two to split with your table will add fiber and essential micronutrients to your meal to balance out the more rich parts of the meal. Plus, it’s good inspo for ways to spruce up your vegetables at home, too! (Broccolini with pine nuts and lemon juice, carrots and tahini drizzle, and crispy Brussels sprouts with balsamic are a few I have been inspired to make post a dinner out).
Vegetables don’t have to just be an add on either. Choose a curry with vegetables in it, or a dish with a vegetable as it’s main item (the eggplant curry at Burma Superstar is one of my favorites). Splitting a salad as a starter is another great way to add more veggies to your meal (however, if the goal of the salad is to up your veggie intake, try to choose a salad that’s more vegetable dense than it is lettuce as a vehicle for dressing).
Split the rich items
I’m definitely team dessert, but desserts prepared at a restaurant are often full of more sugar and fat than something we would make ourselves. There’s nothing wrong with indulging, but if you tend to feel stuffed after leaving your favorite spot, try splitting a dessert (or a few) with your table.
Same goes for cheesy and creamy dips, and fried items. Order for the table to share and treat it like an add on for your meal.
Be mindful of protein
You don’t need to order a chicken breast to get protein in at your meal. Legumes, grains, dairy, and nuts are also sources of protein to keep an eye out for. To feel satisfied after a meal, a good rule of thumb is to have one serving of a high protein food (think meat, fish, or tofu) or two servings of a lower protein food (pizza is a great example of this - grains plus cheese). Protein helps us feel satiated after a meal, plus our bodies need protein for all the complex pathways that keep us going. Adding a protein side is another great way to ensure your meal has enough protein, and many restaurants offer a protein option in addition if the base doesn’t already have a protein source (think adding salmon to a salad, or a side of beans). For example, Souvla has a delicious sweet potato salad, but you have the option to add on a side of meat.
Share!
My sister and I have quite similar food tastes, so whenever we go out to eat we try to split two entrees. Splitting two items gives you the chance to get a smaller portion of something more rich while pairing it with something more similar to what you would normally eat. For example, at your favorite pizza spot, split a pizza and a salad. Or at a Mexican restaurant split fajitas and the flautas or a quesadilla.
My favorite pizza spot in San Francisco is Il Casaro. Although everything is delicious here, I’m a fan of the Norma pizza and the cauliflower. Lucia’s was our go-to date night spot in Berkeley when we lived there, and predictably, my favorite pizza there was the Norma as well (eggplant is probably my favorite pizza topping) and the broccolini or other seasonal vegetable side were always delicious.
Don’t be too hard on yourself
Restricting can lead us to feel an all or nothing mindset with food. Over restricting yourself from items you deem “off-limits” can lead to binges when these items are available (especially if perceived as only available for a limited time). This restriction can present through negative thoughts such as “I need to finish this dessert today because tomorrow I am going to be better to make up for it”. Remember, you can take your leftovers to go and finish them the next day. And leftovers are a great base to add to for a different meal the next day! Think an egg scramble the next morning with leftover steak fajitas, or pairing your leftover dessert with some yogurt (little protein boost) for a sweet and satisfying afternoon snack. Overall, do your best to redirect feelings of shame associated with food and reframe these thoughts. After all, all food is still fuel for our body, no matter how “healthy” we consider it.
