My Tricks To Eating Out

This is a question I get a lot, “What should I order when I eat out?”, or “What do you order when you eat out?” Well, to be honest, I don’t eat out much. But now that I live in Manhattan, seems like all there is to do is eat out, especially when its cold (which is half the year). Also, having so many good restaurants to choose from doesn’t help the urge!

I like to eat at home with healthy cooked meals all during the week. We never make plans until the weekend. THEN all we do is plan our days around what restaurant we want to try.

Here are a few things we always live by when eating out. (except when we travel … but that’s for another blog post)

1. Always say no added salt to the order.
I don’t know why restaurants feel the need to always pile on the salt. I want to actually taste the food that they are serving, not a salt bomb. I am very salt sensitive and blow up like balloons the next day if we eat too much salt.

2. Say no to the bread basket
If you’re like me at all, if its in front of me I have ZERO self control over it. So that being said, JUST SAY NO. Don’t even let them put it on the table to tempt you. Eating simple carbs right before your meal is the worst thing you can do for digestion.

3. Avoid dips & fried things
Trust me, you don’t need it. Why? so you can have a stomach ache half way through your meal? Bloated and uncomfortable? I hate when I have that gassy stomach that feels like it could explode any minute. Dips have so many added things to them, that no matter what, you are going to stir some anger in your belly. Fried foods… well I’ve been blessed (or not) to have worked in kitchens before and got to see what kind of oils they use for frying things. Of course, NONE are good for you. I have a major allergy to corn, so I always ask what oils they use for cooking in restaurants, since a lot of them use corn oil.

4. Skip the meats
My biggest reason for this . . . most likely they aren’t using organic, free range anything. I would rather play it safe and have a light fish if I’m craving a protein with my meal. plus, I’m sure there are much better options for starters that you can have!

So what do I order? It depends. BUT I typically skip the entree. I would much rather have 2 or 3 appetizers than a big entree, since my friends and I always share everything. If the appetizers are small, I will order a side of veggies with it. 🙂

Lastly, for some reason a lot of people always search for the feeling of being stuffed to feel satisfied with their meal. Funny enough, (It may seem funny but) you should feel the opposite. You are supposed to just eat enough to feel full but could eat more, That’s how satisfied is supposed to feel. P.S. Take your time . . . eat slower! Give your belly time to feel full and start to digest the food you have already put in it. If you give your belly time, you might even feel full before your second course! xoxo