Eating out is a challenge on a strict diet.

Not only is it stressful to not have control of your food or ingredients, but ordering a dish turns into a game of 20 questions. And if the waiter is not familiar with the ingredients you are pretty much gambling with your gut.

When I was eating a strict, healing diet, I did not go out often but when I did I developed a system that for making the experience as easy and painless as possible.

Here are some of my tricks for taking stress and hassle out of eating out.

 

Be clear with your server

It is very important to tell the waiter that you have serious food allergies and need to make sure that your dish contains no hidden sources of gluten, dairy, soy or sugar, etc.

Food allergies are on the rise so you are not the first person to make this request. Many restaurants these days offer gluten-free options and are aware or special food needs.

Because they don’t want you to have a serious allergic reaction, they’ll be diligent about checking ingredients with the chef.

To simplify the process you can give a list of things you can’t eat to your waiter,  to make extra sure your dish is allergy-free.

If it makes you uncomfortable to have this conversation in front of your dinner companions, excuse yourself from the table, find your waiter and have a private conversation.

 

Do research in advance

Many times you can find a restaurants menus online. Scan the menu in advance or call the restaurant to see if there are safe things to eat. For me, the most stressful part of eating out was the unknown. Would I find something I could eat?

If you do research in advance, the uncertainty will diminish and you can enjoy a stress free experience. Just make sure to double check with your server to make sure there are no hidden surprises in your dish.

 

Pick the right type of cuisine

I found that Asian cuisine like Indian, Japanese or Thai food had the most options for me. Asian cuisine uses healthy coconut milk or clarified butter and favors gluten-free rice dishes. And they don’t put a basket of tempting bread on the table.

I usually orderd a coconut-milk based curry with meat and veggies and skipped the rice. I ate it like a chunky, ethnic soup.

At sushi restaurants, I would order sashimi, miso soup and a side of daikon radish (a great liver cleanser) and seaweed nori (nourishment for the thyroid).

Asian food tends to have much less dairy and gluten dishes than Western cuisine, as well as healing spices like tumeric and healthy oils like coconut and clarified butter (usually well tolerated because it’s low on lactose and casein).

The biggest problem with Thai food is the sugar they slip into dishes like coconut chicken soup. I may have eaten a little bit of sugar when I indulged in  soup, but this transgression was not enough to set back my healing process. The stress of worrying about it would have set me back far more.

The biggest problem with eating out is the anxiety it creates. Know that a small transgression isn’t going to make a crucial difference. Do your best to follow these guidelines AND to enjoy yourself. A good mood will balance the effect of a little bit of sugar in a sauce.

 

Order a custom meal

If you find yourself in restaurant that has nothing you can eat, don’t be afraid to ask for a custom dish that’s not on the menu. Most restaurants can grill a piece of chicken/beef/fish and serve it with a side of sauteed veggies or avocado.

This may be a bit boring, but at least you won’t leave the restaurant hungry or with a tummy ache.

 

My recent experience in a Korean restaurant

I went out for Korean food the other night and was delighted to find a dish made out of sweet potato starch noodles. It was sauteed in a sauce that contained soy sauce so I asked for it to be cooked without soy. I brought a small bottle of coconut aminos in my purse to flavor the noodles that were sauteed with beef and veggies.

My husband’s barbequed pork was marinated in a sugary sauce that tasted like dessert to me.  I avoided it because I did not want to wake up with a sugar hangover. When you stop eating sugar, things seems overwhelmingly sweet. My sweet potato noodles surprised and satisfied me.

You never know what you’ll discover eating out. I’m going to try find and make these veggie noodles at home. Here is the recipe.  Here is where you buy the noodles.

Between bringing your own condiments, calling/planning ahead, choosing the right cuisine, ordering a custom dish and communicating with wait staff, you have the tools you need to make your next social outing a piece of wheat-free, dairy-free, sugar-free cake.

What’s your biggest concern with eating out?

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