It’s hard right, we’re trying to be good and stick to our healthy eating, but what do we do when we are at a restaurant or travel for work?
Have you ever tried to get gut friendly food at a service station or at an airport? Basically impossible! And chefs at restaurants cook for flavour… certainly not for our gut health!
If you’re going out to eat, perhaps call ahead to see if the restaurant can accommodate your needs. Gluten free is the most common priority and because it is so, most places will go out of their way to help. Fortunately many restaurants are now having gluten free areas in the kitchen to prevent cross-contamination and separate gluten free menus.
And don’t feel bad or ‘needy’ for asking your waiter about how the food is cooked. Explain which foods you can’t eat (even if they’re not technically ‘allergies) it can be a sure way to get the kitchen to take your needs seriously.
As a rule of thumb, certain foods are more likely to be ‘safer’ than others. These are grilled or roasted meats, poached seafood, salads (ask for dressings and sauces on the side always) and grilled or steamed vegetables are all good choices. The only thing is, these might not be cooked in the best quality oils (it may be sunflower or vegetable oil which are bad oils) but most people can tolerate this occasionally.
Stay away from breads or anything that is cooked in a sauces, pastas, risottos, as this is where the chef can have a party tantalizing our taste buds (but at our health and waste-line’s expense!)
That’s why we should cook our food at home (most of the time) as we can have complete control of our ingredients. Yes life is too short not to go out to eat when we have the opportunity… it’s a lot of fun! But for example, if you tend to do this on weekends, make sure you’re really ‘good’ during the week to compensate for this.
When we cook at home, we can use all the good stuff… extra virgin olive oil and unrefined coconut oil, we can choose the freshest vegetables, grass fed meats and even organic foods. We can add broths and full fat coconut milks if we feel like a comforting curry or hot pot, knowing that there’s no hidden nasties and flavour enhancers that are going to undo all our good work.
Traveling can be a challenge too. For a road trip, take an esky with a block of ice and stock it with canned fish, a salad, a bottle of sauerkraut, an avocado, some natural yoghurt. There’s nothing stopping us taking our hot bone broth in a flask that we would usually use for coffee. There’s also microwaves to plug into the car to reheat food. I wouldn’t recommend a microwave at home though, as they ‘kill’ the nutrients in our food. But occasionally it won’t hurt.
If your flying, check what food you can take on the plane. If you’re staying in a hotel, get a room with a mini fridge or kitchenette. Then all you have to bring is a pocket knife (in your checked baggage) a can opener, a small bottle of olive oil, sea salt and pepper, and perhaps a few tins of tuna in olive oil for emergency munchies.
The bottom line is to plan ahead, take some emergency food – We won’t be happy with ourselves if we get so hungry in the hotel room, that we give in and order a burger ‘with the lot!’
Then you won’t come home after you work trip, road trip or whatever trip, feeling depressed that you’ve put on 2-5kg’s and have your symptoms back e.g. digestive issues and feeling fatigued and flat.
I hope this helps 🙂
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