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IS EATING OUT MAKING YOU STOUT?
While dining in a local eating establishment, I felt the headache sink in. It happened innocently…they didn’t have oil and vinegar dressing so I ordered the ceasar. Within ten minutes my body began to react to the sugar to which I am severely allergic. It was as if a veil was pulled over my eyes and I could no longer concentrate on the conversation in front in me. I was literally drugged. I returned home angry, mostly at myself, for experimenting with something that in the past made me ill and succumbing to a restaurant I knew would be challenging at best to get the sustenance that I needed for optimal health.
Is eating out making YOU stout? One of the most common reasons I hear from people in defense of poor eating habits or weight gain is the fact that they eat many of their meals in restaurants. Since American women are on the go, working by day, parenting by night, who has time to cook? Corporate lunches, dinners courting prospective clients, or early morning breakfasts rake in the calories and you return home shaming yourself for eating that slice of dessert you wouldn’t normally have ordered. It is true that eating in restaurants can be a contributor to America’s obesity problem, but dining in someone else’s establishment doesn’t have to send you home viewing yourself as the enemy.
There’s also the occasional restaurant diner who rationalizes that she doesn’t eat this way at home but is allowing herself to “splurge just this once.” After the indulgence, she returns home remorseful and angry that she just spent $20.00 to keep her up at night, searching for the antacids in the pantry to calm her digestive system. Interesting that we as Americans couch this self-abuse as being “good” to ourselves or “treating” ourselves. Since my preaching that we eat entirely too many meals out is probably not going to make a major difference in our world of people “on the go”, instead, here are some ideas of how to eat out without losing your self-respect.
First of all, step out of the victim role complaining that you have no choice over which restaurant your dining companion chooses. Choosing where you obtain the fuel you put in your body is like choosing which grocery you patronize. Would you buy wilted lettuce and day old meat just because others wanted to shop there, it was cheap, and closer than other stores? Hardly. We are blessed in Louisville to have a menagerie of restaurants offering healthy choices such as The Grape Leaf on Frankfort Avenue, Qdoba, or even KT’s. Middle Eastern or Asian cuisine tend to offer healthier fare, but some American restaurants offer a balanced combination of steak, baked potato, and salad. What we are talking about here is good old codependency recovery. Use the voice you’ve been given, it’s an important one. There are times, however, when the restaurant is already chosen for certain parties or work functions and here is where using this voice is equally important. Call ahead and ask the catering committee what will be served. If the set menu is far from suitable for you, ask for a special plate to be arranged and when you arrive, tell your server you ordered it and where you will be seated.
Recognizing that you have choices and then being willing to exercise them is vital if eating out is a large part of your life. When choosing from a buffet or menu, order with the grown up part of you rather than the five year old inside screaming for the cheeseburger, french fries, and chocolate shake. Before you order, ask yourself if you’re willing to feel sick and berate yourself for the rest of the day, if the pancakes instead of the eggs really are worth it. When working with recovering alcoholics, I encourage them to “think the drink all the way through.” I give the same advice to the diner and ask them if one moment on their lips is really worth self-abuse later. If you know the portions served are big enough for two and you’ll be tempted to eat the entire plate at one sitting, ask your server to put half in the box before he brings your meal to the table. By taking an active role in your decisions about where and what you put into your body, you’re treating your primary fuel burning machine like a Mercedes instead of a Yugo.
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