February 19, 2010

Restaurant menus: How to survive and thrive when you want to stay trim

Yes, as you can imagine or may have discovered, eating "out" can be challenging when you want to eat healthy. It seems most restaurant menus are designed to thwart our body shaping and health goals!

Fat, butter, cheese and meat are everywhere and packed into everything possible. Of course to make food delicious. Is it any wonder Julia Child's cookbooks are such big sellers? Put gobs of butter in anything and it will taste good!

When it comes to restaurant menus, I've had to be creative for some time. Time to share the wisdom of experience.

Case in point.

Yesterday, we loaded our bikes onto the car rack and drove to the valley to bike through the sunny wetlands. The birds of Northern California are just about gone from this stop on their migratory routes but there was plenty of heron, duck, and spring bird action. And temperatures were in the mid-60s, heaven!

We stopped for lunch at Casa Lupe, THE Mex restaurant in town. Looking at the menu, it was a healthy-choices dietary disaster. But I know I can put together something pretty good at Mex restaurants, as long as they have a pot of beans – without lard!

I had called ahead about the beans, and yes they had 2 pots: one with just the plain pintos, and the other refried with lard.

(And to top it off, no sooner had we taken our seats than the waitress cheerily arrived with 2 bowls in hand announcing "Today, chicken soup comes with lunch for free!" Politely we declined, and she graciously carried the bowls with creamy chicken whatever away.)

No problem! Here's what I did.

I simply ordered:

a big bowl of the non-fried beans

a stack of soft, fresh corn tortillas

a garden salad without dressing

extra bowls of salsa (for dressing and for my crafted tacos!)

lime and lemon wedges

Then I ate to my heart's content along with a perfectly chilled Dos X cerveza.

The beans were yummy, savory and simply salted and the salsa fresh and chunky. Combine that with the pile of greens and tomato on the salad, and I was able to eat my fill.

And eating this way, I know I can count on satiety to still keep me trim.

Have you recently gotten "creative" in a restaurant situation? Details, please, in "comments below!

Are you looking for expert guidance, coaching and training with your fitness, body shaping and weight loss goals? Join Lani's FitDream Fusion Inner Circle Club, or Contact Lani for private phone consultations, personal training, and web cam training - right from her home studio. And check out the latest body shaping boost: Lani's Fit Quickies.

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Comments on Restaurant menus: How to survive and thrive when you want to stay trim

February 19, 2010

PhyllisB @ 4:19 pm

Hi Lani,
WOW! I'm impressed! It looks absolutely yummy and VERY creative. I think I want bean tacos for dinner tonight now!

Thanks for sharing. All these tips are great and I carry your voice in my head when exercising AND eating out now!

Lani @ 5:23 pm

@PhyllisB: Phyllis, I know, beans a corn shells have a lowly rep but I crave them now – they are so satisfying on so many levels! Hope you score your tacos for dinner! And thanks so much for your post and kind comments! I'm proud to be in your shopping cart .

Lani

Janice C @ 8:40 pm

Lani: Interesting as I had cooked a pot of beans yesterday and tonight I softened some corn shells and filled them with beans. I did use a smidge of grated mixed cheese. I had not read about your idea on Mexican Foods will give that a try next time we eat out. But that's not very often as we don't have many good resturants in our town mostly Pizza.

February 20, 2010

Betty @ 5:36 pm

I don't have any specific menu tips- but I have been trying new foods over the past year. I have been pleasantly surprised at how much I like different fruits and veggies that I had never tried before. It's nice to be able to eat healthy and have yummy meals without all the fat and calories