Eating Out: A Challenging Thing

I wanted to share my tips and secrets to eating out. Since I have started this dietary change, eating out has been more challenging. But there are some things you can do to make the experience more pleasurable.

Just about anywhere has salad and if you order the salad without dressing and cheese, it can be a very healthy thing. I can't have most salad dressings, so I usually ask for olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I didn't think I would like this combination, but I love it! The balsamic vinegar has a very good flavor to it and the olive oil definitely enhances it!

Also I have learned that if you ask servers at sit down restaurants if they have a gluten free menu they will either bring you one or tell you what is gluten free and what isn't on the menu. My cousin got married yesterday and we had a luncheon at Texas Roadhouse. Texas Roadhouse specializes in huge slabs of meat - namely ribs and BBQ pork. Well, they have salads too and other items on the menu. I decided to get the BBQ Chicken with a house salad (ordered without eggs, cheese, or croutons, and the oil and vinegar on the side) and sweet potato (plain, nothing on it). The server informed me that if I did get the BBQ Chicken I would need to order it without the BBQ sauce as the sauce contained gluten. Most servers are trained to know the allergy information for their menu because some people have severe enough allergies that it could really do damage. So I ordered the chicken plain and the potato plain, but it was still a very satisfying meal!

So, if you choose to make drastic changes to your diet as I have and you aren't sure what to eat and what not to, I would consult with a doctor or a dietician or someone else who knows what they are talking about. I am not an expert - I only share my experiences and my knowledge of what I have learned. And this diet has been customized for me. What works for me may not work for someone else, but if you do choose to omit something from your diet, make sure that any essential nutrients in that item gets replaced from something else. For example, if you choose to omit meat from your diet, it will be essential to eat fruits and veggies that have a lot of protein in them so you don't lose your protein.

I hope everyone has a great weekend! See you all next week!