Daily Inspiration - Make restaurants safe and enjoyable

Make restaurants safe and enjoyable. 

 

Eating a meal in a restaurant does not have to bring you guilt and remorse. It can be a great experience with the right attitude and tools. Some people order a "to go" box when they place their order. When the meal arrives they put about 1/2 in the box and save it for another meal.  

You can delay eating. Don't begin eating the minute the appetizer is put on the table. Wait awhile and enjoy the conversation. You also can cut your food into very small pieces. Eat each bite slowly, and chew, chew, chew. That alone will leave you feeling full and satisfied, while having had appropriate portions.  

Action for the day: Practice the tool of cutting small bites, and chewing slowly and thoroughly. You might find your meals even more satisfying when you savor your food this way. 

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Finally, a task I can relate to.  If I'm out with friends (not relatives), then I do divide my food.  If I'm with a family member, & depending on what they order...ok, depending on what MIKE is ordering, we usually will share.  That actually serves two purposes for me...I get the small portion I need & it cuts down on the amount Mike will consume.  I've all but given up on trying to get him to eat properly.  Now when I'm out with Matt, we share a meal everytime.  He's needing to lose about 30 lbs so he's on board with me on this.  For instance yesterday, at Ruby Tuesday's, we ordered a combo meal...he got the 8 oz sirloin while I took the crab cake & instead of accepting the mashed potatoes that ordinarily comes with the meal, we ordered a 2nd helping of the steamed broccoli.  I'm still having problems keeping food down so I didn't get to enjoy much of my crabcake, but at least the concept is there & it DOES work.  We even boxed up the rest of the crab & broccoli, but  it had to stay in the car too long so I threw it out.  A big challenge for me was conquering the dreaded fast food joint.  If you MUST have a burger from time to time, order Burger King's flame-broiled children's meal.  When you take it outta the bag, toss the top bun.  Or even better, you can order it without the bread at all.  The fries are small & nothing says you even have to eat them all.  Eating fish is a very good provider of protein as well as Omega fatty acids but not everyone likes fish.  Well, take a chance & give talapia a try.  That is the most enjoyable little fish for several reason.  No bones, light & flakey, no fish taste or smell.  In fact, by itself it really doesn't have a taste so it responds well to all sorts of different spice combinations.  I'm finding eating out as a great adventure & I'm trying new things all the time.  Get out of the eating rut & try something different.  I think my next adventure is to try some sort of salmon or a tuna steak...I've only had tuna from the can.  Happy eating!!

I just thought of a couple of other things about eating out.  When I go to a Mexican restaurant, I order from the children's menu.  Even child portions are more than I can eat but I figure if I'm gonna eat less, why should I pay more.  Anyway, at first they gave me grief but I stuck to my guns.  When they brought the check I noticed that the charge was 2 dollars more than it should have been so I challenged that.  They said because I am an adult, I should have to pay more.  Ummmm....NO.    I am not paying more money for less food.  They took off the extra charge.  Because I go there often, they have learned to not even fight it anymore...  The 2nd thing I wanted to bring up is we need to remember that we are going to a restaurant not our own kitchen.  Having worked in food service myself, I have come across some customers that are huge pains in the butt because suddenly they've completely reformulated the menu.  Minor changes such as no onions, or hold the dressing, or no cheese...that's doable.  But when you start making the whole meal over, well you're setting them & yourself up for failure.  Unless YOU are the only patron in the building, I believe we need to be patient & recognize that it is a business not our personal chef.  So, that's my additional 2 cents worth.