Former Fat Guy Blog

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How To Eat Healthy Traveling – Part Two, Dining Out

Last week I shared some of my travel secrets on how I manage to . This week I’m going to focus on eating away from home again – but this time more in the dining out arena. So this applies whether you are traveling as last week, or just going out for dinner in your own home town.

eat healthy dining out

Restaurant Selection

The first and most important thing to me when dining out is restaurant selection. Whether or not you will be successful at eating healthy while out on the town is dependent on what restaurant you pick and the choices they offer.

Look Over The Menu Online

In this age of internet it is so easy and extremely helpful to go online and do some research before making any reservations. I look for reviews of local restaurants in local health conscious publications and on online restaurant databases. Even Facebook has a review application you can join and see what others recommend at home and abroad.

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How To Eat Healthy Traveling – Part One

Eating healthy while traveling can be a daunting task for anyone beginning a transition to a healthier diet. Some may decide to put good choices aside when they take a trip, fly, or go camping for a week. Because I have two trips in July where I’ll be traveling in a car for 2 days to attend a personal development course in BC, and then to New Zealand for work, I thought I would take the opportunity to share how I manage eating healthy while traveling and staying on track.

healthy eating while traveling

Travel Food

First thing I do is stock up on things I can take with me, non-perishables. Things like: trail mix, dried fruit (make sure to get non-sulphured, non-radiated brands), raw nuts, power bars (I eat only Sunrider ones), herbal teas (again Sunrider), etc. Be careful if going over the border – you have to make sure they are all in the original, sealed packages. If any are opened they could be confiscated. You can’t take fresh fruit and veggies over a border either – but you can take it with you to eat on the plane – just dump any in the trash before you hit customs.

Airplanes have very poor food choices, so it’s important to have healthy snacks like raw almonds better suited to support your health. Depending on the length of the flight, you might consider a nutritional shake as well.
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Recipe: Steamed Dark Leafy Greens with Figs, Pine Nuts and Garlic

We eat a lot of steamed and cooked dark leafy greens and are always looking for and coming up with new ways to dress them up with different flavors. I love figs and a little crunch adds texture – so this recipe works great. You can never have too much garlic, ever!

If you aren’t familiar with dark green vegetables make this your first try and you’ll be amazed how much energy and nutrition these leafy plants pack! For more info on them, read Rob’s article about the Top 10 Foods.

Dark Leafy Greens with Figs, Pine Nuts and Garlic
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Recipe: Indian Spiced Lentil Burgers

Rob loves lentil burgers! We’ve made several different varieties now, I had no idea there were so many options. This one caught my eye because we love Indian food and anything with curry in it. Lentils have so many benefits including: low-fat, high fiber, fill you up so you eat less, taste great! If you like Indian food and flavors try these lentil burgers and increase the spices to your own tastes.

spiced-lentil-burgers
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Recipe: Chicken Dijon Marinade

As promised, this chicken dijon marinade is our second week of recipes for the BBQ or grill. We put this one in the fridge overnight to marinate, along with last week’s Garlic Herb Marinated Vegetables. The dijon flavor totally permeated the chicken and the flavor was amazing, the chicken very tender and juicy.

We found this recipe in Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s “Eat Right America – Food Scoring Guide”. You can find it on the Eat Right America web site.

Chicken Dijon Marinade
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