Making Good Dining Out Choices While On Vacation

One excuse I don’t accept from my clients, myself, or my husband is this…

“But there was nothing on the menu I could eat, so I just had blah, blah, blah…”

What a load of CRAP! If there is a will there is a way to getting something healthy, or in the very least, modifying something to a healthier state that you can feel empowered about eating. When on vacation it is VERY critical you understand how to save calories, make substitutions, and get what you need to stay healthy.

• Salads - These can be your friend or foe. Ask for your dressing on the side and dip your fork into the dressing even if it is Fat Free or Light. Look for salads with grilled chicken, turkey, avocado, and eggs for healthy sources of protein and fats. Avoid the following items:
  • Cheese
  • Bacon
  • Croutons
  • Candied Nuts (Nuts are good but not sugar coated nuts)
  • Full Fat Dressings
  • Crunchy Asian Anything
• Grilled Protein – Ask for your meat grilled. If the sandwich or dish you are ordering comes with fried chicken, for example, request to have it grilled dry. Dry means they will cook it without added oil or butter. Most restaurants grill their meats in oil and/or butter to enhance the flavor so be sure to get it DRY.
• Baked Potatoes instead of fries. Use ketchup on your baked potato instead of butter and sour cream. It will taste like french fries!
• Leave off rice and sub for a veggie or sub for a bed a green lettuce with lite dressing. Most restaurant rices are not only white rice, but they are cooked in butter and oil to enhance the flavor.
• Order a grilled cheese sandwich. Most of the time a grilled cheese sandwich is on smaller bread which saves calories, has zero dressings, and can be grilled on whole wheat toast without butter. To enhance the flavor, add tomato and lettuce to the sandwich.
• Leave off all dressings like mayo, sour creams, cheese sauces, cream sauces, buttered breads and buns, etc. Anything that looks white and creamy shouldn’t be eaten.
• Eat 1/2 a bun when you order a sandwich. Today’s buns are so huge that they often are 500-600 calories by themselves.
• Skip that bread basket. Don’t let them bring it to the table. If they do, it’s time to go potty and wash your hands. Maybe your dinner partners will have finished it by the time you get back.
• Order a sirloin. The cheaper beef is the less fat it will have. A sirloin is a great choice and should be ordered dry.
• Skip sugary drinks. Cokes, sweet teas, juices, and such are just a bunch of empty calories. Drink water with your meals.
• Substitute marinara for cream sauces on your favorite pasta dishes.
• Try to order off a breakfast menu. Egg White Omelettes filled with veggies is an excellent choice for a meal. It’s super tasty, full of protein and veggies, and saves a ton of calories. It can be eaten any time of the day.
• Stick to fruits for dessert. Find restaurants and coffee shops that have a fruit cup you can have as your dessert.

When you do decide to order a meal you PLAN to enjoy be sure to make it special. Skip all the things that don’t matter to you: breads, fatty salads, etc. Enjoy the main parts and try sharing with someone. My favorite trick to having a big, fattening meal is to order what I want but my husband and I share it. We then order a dessert later in the evening and share it. Doing that makes the meal stretch out further, gives me the feeling that I am having several “cheats”, and allows us both to enjoy good food in a reasonable amount.

I promise if you follow these tips you will go home proud of your decisions. We rarely remember the bread baskets and appetizer nibbles we skip, BUT WE ALWAYS REMEMBER the times we stuffed ourselves foolishly.

Daily Workout: Cardio only today. I ran/walked five miles on the strip this morning. I did the stairs at all crosswalks two at a time running to work the quads a little extra. I’m very satisfied at how well my hip held up through the running. I was able to run 40 minutes and I walked the rest of the distance.

Daily Food Journal:

B – Shredded Wheat with skim milk, scram eggs, fruit, 2 slices of bacon
S – SBD 140 cal bar
S – 1 serving of Beef Jerky
L - Big Salad with veggies and chicken only
S – Latte
D – Drinks and a formal dinner. I’ll skip the bread and dessert tonight in exchange for some drinks. I’ll skip the starch veggies, too. I hope we have steak or something like that.

I’ll also do an extra two miles of walking to Sephora to get my make up done for tonight. I also hope to have pics for my website when I get back home.