[ninjatalli]

I fall in the bucket of those folks who end up eating outside once in a while due to multitude of reasons - work commitments, meet-ups with friends, family and acquaintances; and primarily the carnal need to go out once in a while. For me, this turns out to be more than 2-3 times a week. Something I have been trying to reduce over multiple years and unable to do so (for reasons stated earlier).

I presume a lot of us fall into this bucket and hence this thread to get what has worked for you to not end up eating unhealthy food when outside.

Having said that, let me state this - I'm not looking for the most obvious suggestions (e.g. don't overeat, avoid fast food, don't drink, etc.). Every one knows this and tries to follow to max possible. What I'm hoping for tips that going beyond that.

Open to suggestions/tips for breakfast, lunch, snacks/coffee and dinner based meals. Also open to suggestions for specific type of restaurants that focus on providing (relatively) healthier food options in their menu(s).

[abhi_ank]

1) avoid dressings of any type(sauces too)
2) stick to grilled items(tend to be heathier)
3) choose protein over carbs(former tend to be more expensive and less in volume/quantity).
4) avoid mocktails(stick to fresh lime and add your syrup on your own)
5) if you drink, stick to beers(low calorie ones), avoid cocktails, neat whisky on the rocks if you must.

[GTO]

- Start off with a hot soup. Yummy, nutritious and will fill your tummy up nicely. We tend to overeat only when we are starving; a bowl of soup will make take your hunger away and make you comfortable.

- Grilled stuff. Am a vegetarian so barbequed paneer, mushroom, vegetables always make for 1 starter.

- In all the big cities now, there are restaurants with a "keto" menu. Go for low-carbs.

- It's totally okay to order your own meal. If the rest of the group calls for nachos & burgers, it's not necessary for you to eat from that.

- Choose restaurants with a track record of fresh, high quality food. Example: In Bombay, it would be Cafe Madras on the cheap end, Swati Snacks & Pritam Da Dhaba at the mid-level and an Olive Bar & Kitchen, or Souk (Taj) at the high end.

[rajivr1612]

As someone who got haemorrhoids last year, and now on a way to recovery, I have to be very particular about my diet. I keep a check on spicy foods (avoid green chillie; red chilies and spices ok).
As someone who always used to start restaurant meals with Hot and Sour soup, I have ditched it in favour of Clear soup. Green salad is a must to have roughage. Few grilled starters, and a dry item to go with breads. I have stopped having gravies in restaurants. If I like a gravy item, I only eat the pieces.
If not in a mood to have breads, then it's noodles or fried rice : small portion. The food is always accompanied by either fresh lime soda or lassi.
From Live to Eat, now my motto is Eat to Live.

[condor]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

For me, this turns out to be more than 2-3 times a week.

That's more than once-in-a-while. The only suggestion is to go easy on ordering, esp the last main item of the course.

To explain: Once-in-a-way (yes, 2-3 times a year), four of us friends go out for dinner. We have found it hard to finish the rice items, and so now we order just one dish between four of us, compared to the earlier two.

[Axe77]

A lot of what I agree with is already mentioned in a couple of posts. But reiterating and adding …

Ordering clean:
- Order your own thing if needed. Avoid being part of a combined order.
- Eat in moderate quantities. However much you order smart, the likelyhood of creeping calories are higher when outside.
- Choose options like salads / grilled stuff etc.
- Stick to proteins / veggies biased food groups. Avoid carbs if feasible. This is harder in Indian restaurants but here too you can stick to grilled kebabs etc.
- Try and make requests for low oil / lesser salt etc if in any half decent restaurant.


The softer stuff:
- Keep it low profile. Don’t let your urge to eat clean make those out for a good time self conscious of their own food choices.
- Ask nicely and staff and waiters will generally try to help and oblige. Be reasonable, polite and they will generally do their best to accommodate special requests. On that note, don’t hesitate to ask for special requests if you’re not 100% convinced of what’s on the menu.
- Ignore peer pressure and hold your ground on whatever your plan is. If you’re with your well wishers, they’ll accept your choices for what they are and not push you to let go. If you’re with others, hold ground anyway, it doesn’t matter what they think.
- Don’t fret if it’s not 100% to what you had in mind. If you’re breaching your general diet guidelines a bit, it’s ok. You’re after all there for your mental well being too. Enjoy the evening above all else.

[amitoj]

Ask for a vegan dish More often than not it will be low in calories and saturated fat and 99 times out of 100 it will be healthier than anything else on the menu.
I am speaking from first hand experience because before I became a full time vegan, I sort of test drove vegan diet by eating vegan food in the office cafeteria and in restaurants whenever I ate outside.

[ABHI_1512]

I have made a simple plan in my mind. Here goes-

When it’s a work commitment sort of thing, I tend to stick to salads wherever possible. A non veg Caesar salad works great for me. Sticking to salads is great way to avoid the unnecessary junk and the good thing- it’s delicious as well. A well made Caesar Salad is a boon to mankind.

When it’s a party thing with friends, the grilled items is what I depend on. Also, with friends, I tend to be specific and order only those things that I like. That way, I don’t have to eat what I don’t enjoy or what others are having.

When it’s a family thing, well, everything falls in the place anyways since everyone knows the food habits of each other

You have got a fair idea by the posts above and everyone has made the best possible points already. Now it’s upto you to act upon the suggestions

[Chetan_Rao]

I'll add one thing to the suggestions given so far: become the restaurant picker of your group.

It takes a while to cultivate, for everyone to trust you'll pick a place everyone will enjoy but once you're it, you'll rarely find yourself somewhere there's nothing for your palate.

[Maverick5490]

Another tip:

Eat a light healthy snack before you proceed to the outing, in case you are not sure of the kind of food that will be available at the restaurant

[Raghu M]

I follow the below to keep everything in control. I am a vegetarian and always start with protein food (paneer, mushrooms), then move to fiber rich items (salads, veggies etc.) and final would be carbs (rarely). This helps your body get a lower blood sugar spike. Do not start with heavy carbs/starch items. It's not good for the body. Also avoiding sauces, dressings and dips would make for a decent eat outside.

[roy_libran]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Open to suggestions/tips for breakfast, lunch, snacks/coffee and dinner based meals. Also open to suggestions for specific type of restaurants that focus on providing (relatively) healthier food options in their menu(s).

My Go To foods on trips:
1. (Any) eggs and Black Coffee (even the yucky nescafe thing)
2. Shawarma or Tandoor Meats minus the breads
3. A fruit
4. More eggs (my system easily takes up to a dozen whole a day without a murmur)

[onco.opinion]

Had been in the exactly similar conundrum few years back when the need to take extreme steps seemed inevitable. It was impossible though to completely shun dining out. It becomes practically impossible to go to a mall for shopping and come back without having food there;leave alone going to parties and gettogethers. But the procrastiator in me has come up with certain simple ideas which have worked for me.

Eating healthy at home just before leaving for outdoors helps a great deal. Naturally you won't be fiercely hungry at the time of ordering food and you will end up eating less of junk.

If the travel time is long, keep bananas and apples in your car and have a couple of them while stepping out at your destination. The idea is to feel full while being outdoors.

carrying a sipper bottle with green tea or lemonade helps maintaining the satiety and wont let you grow seriously hungry while being in foodcourts or hotels.

The age old desi style of keeping a fistful of almonds or chana or other dry fruits in the pockets will surely cut down on your cravings for easy carbs.

To top it all, thirty minutes of workout everyday will slowly work in slence to negate the effects of unhealthy eating done on and off.

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

- end up eating outside more than 2-3 times a week
- Open to suggestions/tips for breakfast, lunch, snacks/coffee and dinner based meals

I travel a lot and therefore need to be all the more careful around what I eat. Wherever I am, I try finishing dinner by 7:30pm but at Guest Houses, food gets ready by only around 8:15pm due to other late diners. Few points here

On tour

I limit food to any freshly cooked item eg. Poha, idlis, rotis, Dal, and freshly cooked veggies. No medu vada (not sure of the oil used and how much it has absorbed), no puris, no coconut based chutney (sometimes intoxicating)

1. During visits, I've stopped availing the dinner buffet even at star hotels; order something freshly cooked via In Room dining. In the rare case that I do visit the dining hall, I limit my intake to soup, and some roti with the healthiest dry veg that I see there. All baked cheesy stuff is a strict no no
2. Buffet breakfast is again limited to a fruit, some sprouts, some boiled veg, some steamed stuff like khandvi, idlis
3. At Guest Houses, I specifically ask for a low oil low spice preparation for lunch and dinner. Breakfast is either poha or methi parathas made with less oil
4. Enroute city A to Town B, I let the chauffeur suggest a place which offers healthy food, even if the place isn't swanky looking. One such example is Hotel Sanjay Saradwadi near Ranjangaon between Pune and Nagar. Another such place is VKanchan Yewat on the Pune - Solapur highway
5. Salads - without dressing; always check if the cucumber is okay. Can cause nasty reactions if too bitter


In town

Options considered

1. Fresh Menu, again after examining what each dish contains
2. Thatte idly even from a small local shop which is well patronized - their batches would get over that night and hence freshness of the batter and the chutney is guaranteed
3. Upma/ Sevaiyya Upma (Khara Bhath or Shavige Bhath) but again, first sample their chutney and only then have
3. Rarely dine out but Subz and Indian Biere House are places I visit - there again, no greasy stuff ever
4. Strong tea OR filter coffee is always on my menu

What I don' t have

No heavy duty parathas, no pizzas at all since I'm off cheese post CABG, no eggs outside

To sum up, I stay away from stuff that might be "old stock" and from too oily stuff. Anything hot, fresh and healthy is welcome!

[07CR]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

I presume a lot of us fall into this bucket and hence this thread to get what has worked for you to not end up eating unhealthy food when outside.

As an absolute foodie I can understand what you are going through. I am a eggetarian, and don't drink alcohol/smoke. I will tell what worked for me or is almost working for me.

Try setting some financial goal in an app where you spend only X% of money on outdoor eating. Check what is your current spend and try to cut down 25% initially and keep doing it until you are at a comfortable level. If you see that your spend is exceeding your monthly limit, simply postpone the things which can be postponed to next month. Obviously this does not apply when you are out vacationing.

Like someone above suggested, since you are also a foodie try to be the guy who everyone things about reaching out to for a suggestion to dineout. I have done thorough research of restaurants in my area and I always pick the restaurant which has atleast one healthy dish for me.

Always have a balanced diet, with a portion of roti/chapati (non maida), curry, salads and rice.

Try to phase out your daily diet like this- Breakfast and lunch King size and dinner like a common man.

Try to have early dinners. Helps a lot in digestion and breakdown of nutrients. No late than 8 pm, if possible 7-7:30 is the best. You will have to accordingly adjust your lunch, hi tea and breakfast too. If you get hungry by your bedtime (supposedly around 11 pm), try having a cup of milk/ or a banana and that should help out for the night.

As someone who has recovered from haemorrhoids I follow a simple practice of chewing food completely. I do take an extra 10-15 mins to finish off my lunch, but it helps me a lot with digestion, keeping me acidity free and I have lost a lot of my bloated stomach.

Originally Posted by rajivr1612

As someone who got haemorrhoids last year, and now on a way to recovery, I have to be very particular about my diet.

Please follow the practice of chewing to the last bite and see wonders! I eat very heavy foods and still don't face any issues with this habit of mine for past 2 months.