At the moment I’m travelling on business and I’m concerned about my diet. I’m taking small steps to return to the svelte figure of my youth (actually I’d settle for weighing what it says on my driver’s license) so I’m trying to eat healthy foods – lots of fruits and veggies, low fat, hold the mayo – and get a little exercise. Things were going well until I hit the road. Now I eat every meal in a restaurant and I’m having a tough time finding menu choices that aren’t loaded up with fats and sugars. If I get veggies on my plate they are some inedible great lumps of zucchini and caulifower (shaken, not stirred).
So I appeal to the TM for advice and counsel as to 1) what kind of restaurant food is at least moderately healthy and 2) what kinds of restaurants serve healthy food?
“If ignorance were corn flakes, you’d be General Mills.”
Cecil Adams The Straight Dope
salad, no dressing, with lemon wedges. If you are getting no exercise, stay away from pasta, it’s low in fat, but carbs get stored as fat if they are not burned off. From a former waitress, you can get specially prepared food anywhere, substitute rich sauces for tomato or no sauce, get lunch portions.
Fill up at breakfast- hot cereal (if you like it), fruit juices, muffins. Don’t get eggs or bacon, the proteins will slow you down.
Have salads at lunch and dinner.
Pasta is good for lunch, as long as the sause is not too creamy.
Don’t eat from room service, the service charges are outrageous, plus the food can get cold.
Ask the desk staff if there’s a vegetarian or buffet restarant nearby.
Bring or buy snacks like PowerBars or NutriGrain.
Drink a lot of water, especially if you’re traveling to a drier climate- CO,AZ,NM,TX,NV
John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt. That’s my name too.
Wait, no it isn’t.
I’ve just been in the same situation, and I found that I could eat at almost any restaurant.
Most places have some sort of turkey or chicken sandwich on the menu. Order that with a side salad (dressing on the side) and no cheese or mayo.
Spaghetti with Marinara sauce is also common and low cal. Pass on the parmesan, meatballs, and garlic bread.
ALWAYS order a salad with a meal, with the dressing on the side. Ask them to remove any cheeses/croutons/nuts. Fill up on the salad before your main course.
Peel and eat shrimp are great. Yummy, and low cal.
Check with some fast food places, too. Subway has a ton of stuff that’s low cal/low fat. Applebee’s and other chain restaurants often have low cal choices.
It’s not so hard once you put your mind to it. 'Course, the temptation to order something fatty is always there!
Az says proteins will slow you down – in my experience, carbohydrates slow you down. I had my greatest dieting success from a high-protein, low carb diet. An egg or two in the morning (I’ve been to many a Waffle House while on the road for eggs, but leave the waffles & pancakes alone!), chicken or fish, or salad at lunch, and chicken & veggies/salad for dinner; and yeah, some red meat occasionally. I’ve found that restaurants usually have a variety of tasty salads. Drink diet soda, water or iced tea. Also watch the alcoholic drinks! Folks don’t realize how high-caloric they can be. Popcorn is a good snack if it’s not loaded up with butter.
If you’re in a car, you’re lucky because you have the opportunity to bring the pantry with you. When I used to drive around in my van solving mysteries, I couldn’t afford to eat out, so I carried with me:
Economy size jug of Jif
Rice cakes (mmm mmm good with the PB, and they don’t go stale)
Lender’s Deli Variety Bagels (so tasty they don’t need anything on them)
Apples and Banaynays
And. . . WATER.