Eating Clean while dining out – my top 3 tips. Eating out and Eating Clean at the same time are very possible. Sticking to your Eating Clean plan and Eating out can be a challenge, but it’s not as hard as you think. If you want an eating clean lifestyle and you want to continue eating out, you need to get comfortable with asking your server to help you meet your needs. There are many ways to modify the dishes you love in order to still Eat Clean. These are three of my eating-out tips:

  1. Ask Questions. Don’t be afraid to ask your server lots of questions about the restaurant’s food so that you can make healthy choices. You wouldn’t buy a new peice of furniture or appliance without asking pertinent questions to make sure you are getting what you want. Ask what’s used to prepare your meal, I always ask them to not put butter on my veggies or bun. How large are the portion? What comes on the side — these are all things you want to know in order to make good choices and keep you in line for a healthy lifestyle.
  2. Substitute. Brad and I often order a burger on date night, but we split the burger and the fries and order a large salad to go with it. When I order a meal that comes with potatos or rice I often ask for grilled vegetables instead.  The things you need to consider will take a little extra thought and practice at first, but in no time it will become second nature.  And even when you think you’ve got it down packed, your meal will show up with something you forgot to consider. Just the other day I caught the cook getting ready to put processed cheese on my omlette… people still use that @#$%^&?
  3. Modify.  If you have scoured the menu and there is nothing you would deem as  healthy, look for something you can modify to create your own meal. Ask if your fish or chicken can be prepared without breading. Order a salad without the tortilla chips on top and add chicken or grilled fish. If is just a plain simple salad, ask them to add whatever veggies they happen to have in the kitchen.  I often ask for feta or goat cheese as well.

When you frequent the same restaurant, you will get to know the menu and be able to make quick choices without a lot of questions. Also, the staff will get to know what you want in your meal. Remember, you are the customer, they are there to serve YOU. They will often say “I’ll have to charge you for that”. We don’t care, we are there to eat what we want and expect to pay for it.

Find a way to enjoy  foods that provide fuel for your body and pleasure for your taste buds.  Remember, I am available to help you. Smiles, Nancy  : )