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Tips

Eating Out – Mexican

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If you want to cut down on your fat intake ask the waiter to refrain from bringing tortilla chips to your table. If you’re planning a Starch Meal, ask for warm corn tortillas instead. You can roll them up and dip or scoop salsa and/or guacamole.

Protein Meal

If you’re having a Protein meal and want an appetizer order a Fruit or veggie plate, or other compatible pick from the Appetizer menu.

Avoid the corn tortillas unless you’re planning a Starch Meal and of course no white flour tortillas.

Avoid the white rice dishes.

Chili Rejellenos

Fajitas (give the tortillas to someone else at your table) and use a fork.

Salad – ask the waiter to leave the beans and tortilla chips off. If that’s not possible then remove as many as you can and don’t worry about the rest.

Avoid the white flour tortillas entrees, but if you like the fillings that come with one of these dishes ask for that menu item without the tortilla and eat it as is or pile it on top of a salad.

Vegetable or beef based soups are good choices. Avoid chicken broth if possible as it’s really too acidic, but I will sometimes choose to relax this guideline when eating out as it can be difficult to find a good vegetable or beef broth soup.

Starch Meal

Avoid the white flour tortilla entrees, but if you like the fillings that come with one of these dishes ask for that menu item without the tortilla and eat it as is, with a corn tortilla or pile it on top of a salad.

Avoid the white rice dishes.

Bean dishes are fine, especially if they’re low-fat, just make sure to ask the waiter to skip the cheese. If that’s not possible it’s a small enough amount to be fine for one meal.

Tips Uncategorized

Eating Out – Road Trip

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It can be difficult to stick to your eating plan while traveling, especially while on a road trip. It’s so easy to pull into a fast food drive-thru and takes a little forethought to plan ahead how you will stick to your eating plan while on vacation.

Start with packing items that will get you through when you don’t feel like stopping or when the McDonalds arches beckon to you from a freeway billboard. Pack by putting the items for later in the day at the bottom of your cooler or food box.

Pack plenty of fresh Fruits for breakfast. You may even want to continue eating fresh Fruits until dinner time. They’re easy and will give you a chance to lose a little more weight and cleanse your system of toxins and past dietary mistakes.

If however, you’d rather move up the dietary pyramid for lunch and dinner, then pack:

  • veggie sticks
  • dill pickles
  • Starch or Protein sandwiches
  • fill and roll up whole wheat tortillas or lavosh
  • cold chicken
  • cheese cubes
  • deli-sliced pastrami, proscuitto or ham rolled around spears of cantalope
  • whole grain crackers topped with sliced nondairy cheese
  • cold quiche
  • tuna or chicken salad packed on top of lettuce leaves
  • hard boiled eggs
  • sugar free jello
  • single serving yogurts
  • roasted soybeans
  • french toast made with low carb bread, topped with sugar-free jam

Use the supermarket and deli guidelines to pick up food along the way, putting any leftovers in a cooler.

Use the Eating Out – Fast Food guidelines to pick up fast food along the way.

Recipes Tips

Eating Out – Supermarkets & Deli’s

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Supermarkets and deli’s are great places to pick up a quick meal. The suggestions here are by no means a complete list but they’ll get you started. Please feel free to leave a comment if you have a favorite quick deli pick up meal or ready-to-eat supermarket meal.

Produce Section

Precut Fruits and veggies are an excellent choice for the UnDieter. Pick some up and eat straight out of the package or dip the Fruit in a container of flavored yogurt and the veggies in a small container of dressing that you pick up from the salad bar.

Salads

  • Prepackaged salads, but skip the accompanying dressing and purchase a bottle of a more favorable one or ask the deli counter to give you a small container of olive oil and another of vinegar.
  • Avail yourself of the salad bar if there is one.
  • Add chunks of any precooked meat such as ribs or roasted chicken chunks to your salad.
  • To prepackaged salad greens add any of the following: drained and rinsed beans, fresh salsa, chunks of Soymage cheese, low-fat feta cheese, precooked chicken

Black Bean Salad: drain one can of black beans, add water to the can, stir beans inside can and drain again. Toss with a purchased oil and vinegar dressing after adding one or more of the following:

  • 1/4 – 1/2 cup fresh salsa from the salad bar or purchase a container from the refrigerated section
  • cucumber from the salad bar
  • sliced olives
  • roasted red bell pepper
  • roasted vegetables from the deli

White Bean Salad: drain one can of white beans. Add water to the can, stir beans inside can and drain again.  Toss with a purchased oil and vinegar dressing and one or more of the following:

  • roasted bell peppers
  • marinated vegetables from the deli or in a jar
  • black or green olives
  • tomato from the salad bar
  • roasted vegetables from the deli
  • feta cheese

 

Sandwiches and Breads

If they have whole grain bread, bagels, or english muffins (you gotta’ read the label even when the package says “whole wheat” as that is often not true – make sure the ingredients list “whole wheat”) you can make a sandwich from the salad bar, drizzled with a little dressing. If you like you can also add a slice of soy or dairy cheese from the dairy section and/or fresh herbs from the produce section.

You could also use the bread or muffins for bruschetta. Ask the deli counter to lightly toast the bread. Then in a small disposable container mix these items from the salad bar: chopped or sliced olives, chopped tomato, oil and vinegar dressing (or ask the deli counter for a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar). Top your toasted bread with a few fresh basil leaves, then your bruschetta mixture.

Tortilla Rollups

Spread whole wheat or corn tortillas with any of the fillings below. Top spread with one or more of the suggested fillings. Roll up tight and eat as is, or cut in half and stand on end on a plate, surrounded by a fresh salad of your choice.

Tortilla Spread:

  • guacamole
  • fat-free refried beans
  • hummus

Tortilla Fillings:

  • salad from the salad bar
  • roasted vegetables from the deli
  • grilled or marinated tofu from the deli
  • sprouts from the produce section
  • egg salad
Tips

Eating Out – Fast Food

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You can eat at fast food restaurants while on The UnDiet, just learn to make smart choices.

Basic Tips for Eating Out

Set aside half your meal to eat the next day or if it won’t keep for the next day, save it for a snack later.

Most fast food restaurants serve a grilled chicken salad which is a great Protein meal, just make sure to order the grilled chicken rather than the crispy chicken which is breaded.

The salad bar is a good choice if you don’t mix Starches and Proteins and forgo the pasta, potato and bean salads as they are made with sugar. You can however have potatoes or beans as an ingredient with your salad.

Dress your salad with a vinagerette or Italian dressing as it’s less likely to contain sugars.

A meat or veggie burger is fine as long as you order it wrapped with lettuce or eat it without the bun. I sometimes order a burger and a plain salad and then top the salad with my burger.

Skip the fries and chicken nuggets. There’s no way to make those good for you.

Hopefully you’ve been drinking lots of water and don’t need to order a beverage but if you do order one choose a diet soda, iced tea or coffee. If you need a sweetener use an alternative sweetener rather than sugar.

Skip the fast food line altogether by keeping a couple of Cliff bars handy

They’re a meal replacement bar that’s organic, free of refined sugars & incredibly delicious!


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Tips

Eating Out – making good choices

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1st Roadblock – Bread on the Table

Ask the wait-person to not bring a bread or chip basket and instead to bring:

  • a small salad with dressing on the side
  • raw, steamed or grilled veggies to eat by themselves or to dip in any of the following:
  1. salsa
  2. cheese sauce
  3. olive oil and balsamic vinegar
  4. browned butter
  • cheese and fruit plate sans the bread
  • stuffed mushrooms (as long as their not breaded)
  • grilled artichoke
  • plate of clams or mussels

2nd Roadblock – Ordering

If you’re often walking away from a restaurant feeling guilty about the choices you’ve made then try ordering without even opening the menu. You can avoid temptation by ordering items that any restaurant will have such as steamed, grilled, or roasted veggies, a large green salad, a grilled chicken salad, grilled chicken breast, order a burger without the bun topped with mushrooms and cheese …

If there’s a sauce on the menu that you like but it comes with pasta, ask for it to be served on the side with an order of steamed or grilled veggies and/or chicken or fish.

While a big baked potato isn’t ideal, it can sometimes be the best option on the menu. Order it with a side of salsa or tomato pasta sauce.

Ask to have half your meal brought to you in a to-go container. Now you have a nice meal to eat the next day or if it won’t keep for the next day, save it for a snack later in the day.

If you’re feeling like a cup of creamy thick soup order the Broccoli Cheese Soup rather than the Baked Potato Soup. You’ll save around 200 calories and avoid the high glycemic count of the potatoes.

3rd Roadblock – Dessert

Many restaurants now have sugar-free dessert options.

Order a glass of wine – one glass only to sip while everybody else has dessert.

A cappucino or latte with a sprinkling of cocoa powder gives you something to indulge in while others have dessert.

Order a small fruit plate.


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