A question I get all the time is: “What do you order when you go to (insert restaurant or type of place here)”
I thought I’d take a few minutes to answer several iterations of that question. If you’re curious about a different type of cuisine or part of my personal strategy, drop a question in the comments and I promise to respond!
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Let me add a little disclaimer before I answer this: what I order isn’t neccesarily what you should order. What I order is based primarily on my preferences – what I like and what I don’t like. It’s also based on my goals, what satisfies me, what doesn’t, what triggers cravings for me, what doesn’t, etc.
This morning I posted in my Instagram story a couple Starbucks cups and someone asked, “What do you order when you go to Starbucks?”
Nine times out of 10 I get a venti (large) dark roast – black. Every once in a while I’ll get an Americano, also black. Drinking sugary drinks just makes me crave more sugar. No thanks!
I get dozens of direct messages on Instagram each week when it’s obvious from my pictures that I am out to dinner. I probably eat dinner out 2-3 times each week – sometimes more, sometimes less.
It is super, super important to me that I enjoy my food. I’m never going to eat like a rabbit or order something I don’t like just because it’s “healthy”. Nope. I eat foods I love that love me back. I get a lot of questions about what that looks like for me. Here are a few examples:
- Last night I went out to dinner and I ordered filet mignon and a side of brussels sprouts. I also started with a simple green salad.
- Last week at a seafood restaurant I ordered a grilled swordfish steak that came with gnocchi and brussels sprouts. I had one of the gnocchi and decided it wasn’t worth it. My boyfriend ate them.
- A couple weeks ago I went to an event at a bar and got chicken wings. I won’t do wings that are fried/battered but when there is a dry rub (especially a spicy one), I’m all in on that.
- I love a good cobb salad but I omit any candied nuts, croutons or dried fruit.
When you drink alcohol, what do you drink?
It’s always either a dry red wine or tequila. I love margharitas, but NOT when they are sweet. I ordered one last night and told the bartender “all heat. no sweet”. I wanted a spicy drink but not a sweet one. I don’t drink very often and when I do drink, it’s not very much. If I order a drink and it’s not amazing, I just don’t finish it.
What do you snack on?
I feel my best when I don’t snack. I think it’s because I’m making fewer food decisions. I don’t want to give any of my energy to the questions that used to dominate my days like “Should I snack? Am I hungry? What should I have? How much? Now? Now? How about now?”
That is exhausting.
Instead, I structure my meals so they fill me up. The key to this, for my body at this time, is lots of non-starchy veggies.
I don’t tend to be hungry in the morning (but if I am, I’ll make breakfast) so my “brunch” tends to be a meal with lots of non starchy veggies, some fat and some protein. This often looks like some version of my famous cabbage salad bowl.
Dinner looks the same: mostly non-starchy veggies. Some fat. Some protein. My favorite non starchy veggies are brussels sprouts, cabbage and cauliflower.
That strategy allows me to avoid snacking because I’m simply not hungry. Having lots of snack options around just makes it more complicated for me.
If I do snack, I’ll grab a packet of Artisana Coconut Butter or a handful of nuts.