10 easy tips for healthy eating when dining out

Welcome to the third instalment of What I Eat In A Day. You can catch up on the first two posts here:

What I eat in a day

What I eat in a day – your exercise questions answered 

After reading those two posts, I received a message from a lovely member of the Kirsten and co. community who asked:

I’m wondering if you might be able to share with us what you eat when dining out?

Great question and one that I’m more than happy to answer. 

10 easy tips for healthy eating when dining out

When I was first diagnosed with IIH the medication I was put on to sort things out made me feeling so lousy, I pretty much spent the last six months of 2015 lying on the couch. With a few trips to the hospital thrown in for good measure. 

There were a lot of negatives to that time in my life.  But I’m a big believer in silver linings.

Looking back on it, not being able to enjoy a meal out for months on end meant I was never really faced with unhealthy food options. 

However, now I’m feeling so much better – hooray for that – and we do dine out from time to time. It can be really tricky navigating a menu when you’re trying to lose weight, but I have a few different tactics to getting around that.

Here are my 10 easy tips for healthy eating when dining out. If you’re trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy eating regime, they might be of help.

1. It doesn’t matter if I’m dining out for breakfast, lunch or dinner, I always scan the menu for the freshest items on offer. Doing that automatically eliminates anything deep-fried or cream based.
2. When ordering a salad, ask for the dressing to be on the side. That way you have full control over how much you’re pouring over your salad.
3. It’s also ok to ask for items to be removed from your meal completely. Hot chips are my downfall – I can not eat just two of those and stop. So if they’re coming with my meal, I ask for them to be removed or replaced with something else.
4. Scott and the kids love our local burger place and we often go there for lunch. There is not one thing on the menu that I can eat and as much as I would love to smash a burger and chips, I just can’t. So I’ve asked the staff if it’s ok for me to duck next door and grab an Acai Bowl from the healthy cafe and eat it with my family – the staff are so lovely and don’t mind at all. If you ask politely and briefly explain your situation, most casual style restaurants are very understanding.
5. Ordering an entrée instead of a main keeps portion sizes sensible.
6. If you’re going to someone’s house for a meal, offer to bring the salad. That way you’ll have a healthy option, in case there’s nothing else suitable on offer.
7. Cut down on alcohol. I don’t drink alcohol with lunch and when it comes to dinner, I usually only have one alcoholic drink and I’m done. 
8. Avoid smoothies, milkshakes and soft drinks. Stick to water instead. I know it sounds so boring, but water is the only thing that truly quenches your thirst. Other options are usually jam-packed with calories and I’d rather use those on dessert!
9. Yes, I do eat dessert when we’re out. I don’t worry about picking the healthiest option – life it too short not to eat sweet treats! Rather, I share dessert with whoever I’m with and enjoy every single bite.
10.  Don’t stress too much about what you should and shouldn’t be eating. It’s ok to have a blow out every now and again. Being hard on yourself or worrying about inhaling a three course meal and washing it down with a few cocktails is a waste of time. Just use the rest of the week to enjoy healthy options at home and you will be fine.

What I eat when dining out

Here’s a list of the meals I tend to look for on a menu when I’m eating out. Please note, I am a self-confessed Carb Enthusiast and the only thing I ever want to quit is kale. Both carbs and sugar are ok with me, as long as they’re in small doses.

Breakfast

• Poached eggs on toast 
• Avocado on toast
• My local cafe does a great healthy breakfast plate – smoked salmon, avocado slices, poached egg, tomato salsa, rocket and a piece of toast. 

Lunch

• Any of the above breakfast options
• Smoked salmon bagel (I usually remove the top and eat it as an open style bagel)
• Ham, cheese and tomato toasted sandwiches
• Any sort of salad, dressing on the side
• Bruchetta
• Sushi
• Acai bowl
• Soup (in the colder months)

Dinner

• Salads
• Soup (in the colder months)
• Chicken, steak or salmon main dishes

Photo taken on my Olympus PEN E-PL8 Read my thoughts on the camera here.

Specific meal types

There are a lot of restaurants that only serve specific food. Burgers, Ribs, Thai, Chinese, Pizza are just a couple of examples. It is possible to eat a reasonably healthy meal no matter where you dine.

A lot of burger and pizza places offer gluten-free buns or bases – these can often be much lower in calories than regular buns or bases. Avoiding anything deep-fried at any restaurant helps. As does politely asking the staff to remove your plate as soon as your done. That way, it’s impossible to go back for seconds or continue to pick at your meal even though you’re full.

One last thing

When I was overweight, I had a very bad habit of putting other people’s needs and wants before my own.  I would say yes to all the things – cake, banquet style dining, unhealthy options, another round of drinks – because I thought it was the polite thing to do.

Now I put myself first and have completely broken that people pleasing habit. It was a massive learning curve not only for myself, but for other people in my life. Some were fine with it, others not so much.

Related post worth a read: How I Stopped Saying Yes and Started Saying No 

What I have learned in the last 18 months is that for some people, being negative and miserable is the only thing they know. If someone doesn’t like the healthy changes you are making, be it diet related or otherwise, that is their issue, not yours. 

Keep doing what you’re doing and be proud of yourself for trying to make your life the very best it can be. That is something that should be celebrated – even if it does have to be with a low carb, non fat, hold the sugar, all organic, vegan friendly vodka latte glass of water!

What sorts of things do you eat when dining out? Do you have a healthy tip to add?