The good thing about clean eating is that it isn’t difficult to eat out with this particular diet. It is actually very simple to do, no matter what restaurant you go to, as long as you know keep to the basic clean eating rules. Here are some tips to follow when you want to eat out and stick to your clean eating lifestyle.
Make Your Choices Simple
When you are eating out, don’t make it complicated and choose one of the newest skillet meals or something that requires analyzing every single piece of the meal puzzle. Instead, just go simple, especially when you are new to the clean eating diet. This might mean simply ordering from the healthy part of the menu, like getting grilled chicken with steamed vegetables, the pan-seared salmon with brown rice, or just a salad. These are simple, easy meals you know most likely include ingredients you can have while on the clean eating diet.
Look for Steak or Seafood Places
As far as the type of restaurant goes, steak and seafood should be at the top of your list. While it is true you can find clean eating-approved meals just about anywhere, it is simpler when you don’t need to do a lot of substitutions or change half of what the meal is supposed to be. Going to a steak and/or seafood restaurant is easy to order. Steak restaurants already have steak as the main component for most of their dishes, and it is probably high-quality steak as opposed to ordering steak from a café or diner. With seafood restaurants, go for anything grilled or that is not breaded and fried, and you should be okay.
Be Smart about Fast Food
There are going to be some times when you need to choose food from a fast food restaurant. This is definitely not ideal, but it also doesn’t have to make or break the diet. Try to get a side salad if you can, but think about the type of dressing you choose, or use no dressing at all. With other menu items, do away with the bun or bread, and try to get a grilled chicken sandwich ‘protein style’. Most fast food restaurants will give you the grilled chicken sandwich with all the veggies, but no bun. Many of them wrap it in a big lettuce leaf.
When in Doubt, Choose a Salad
There are going to be times when you just can’t make a decision, based on the type of restaurant it is. In this case, just try to order a salad with steak, seafood, or grilled chicken. Don’t use the dressing and get cheese on the side so you can skip it, then ask for oil and vinegar instead of dressing.
