Have you recently resolved to eat a primarily vegan or raw-vegan food-based diet and are now wondering how you are going to dine out at regular food restaurants? This can definitely be a challenge following this sort of diet and lifestyle, especially if you want to maintain and hopefully grow your social life! Dining out at restaurants and in other peoples homes is definitely going to happen to. In fact-dining out is the most popular social activity of our culture.
You can absolutely eat a delicious, nutritious, vegan, and even raw meal at any restaurant, whether it caters to your particular diet or not. The most important tip for maintaining this type of diet is thinking ahead and bringing type of supplemental snack with you!
Most likely you're going to be ordering a salad at the restaurant. Perhaps it will be a chicken salad without the chicken, a shrimp salad without the shrimp, or an order or two of the simple house garden salad. If the restaurant offers an organic or local salad--even better for you!
Never be afraid to ask your server to customize a salad for you. You can create your own salad by looking at the menus salads and entree side vegetables to know what ingredients the restaurant has on hand. Ask for a big salad with greens, other than iceberg, as the base and a variety of different chopped raw vegetables on it. Ask for as many different colored vegetables as possible. If the restaurant has any guacamole or avocado anywhere on the menu--fantastic! Now you know they have avocados in their kitchen and you can ask for avocado to be put on your salad as well if you'd like.
It's always a good idea to be as kind as you can when asking your server for special requests. They will most likely be more than happy to make sure you're happy with the food. When your salad comes out, you might have your company turning their heads in your directions complimenting you on your choice and wondering where your dish was on the menu. For your salad dressing, healthy vegan options are olive oil and vinegar, the house vinaigrette, or some plain extra slices of lemon squeezed all over it.
In case your salad and vegetables does nut supply your body with the calories, fat, or protein that it's used to, you may want to bring a long a supplemental snack. You may be very glad you did in case it will be hours before you get a chance to eat again. In your purse or jacket pocket, you could bring along some trail mix, dried fruit (can double as a dessert!), your favorite on-the-go snack bar, etc in a small plastic baggie.
One of the worst things when eating out with friends and family is to still be hungry and thinking about eating while there is great conversation being made all around you. You want to feel comfortable and happy enough with your meal that you can be in the present moment and not give a second thought to what you just ate. This is probably the most important social aspects of succeeding with a special diet--to do whatever it takes to be happy and satiated with our meals out!
Superfoods are another option to add to your customized salads. Of course, you would have to bring these with you from home. Hemp seeds, sea vegetables, and goji berries are easy to pack superfoods. This could raise the nutrition of the food from 10 fold, especially if eating out at a non-organic restaurant, which is usually the case. Just be sure to prepare yourself for some extra attention when putting these foods on your salad. It will definitely depend on how you're with if you do this or not.
Here are some more tips for vegans and raw foodists dining out at a cooked food restaurant:
Nuts and seeds on salads are usually toasted or candied so beware. Make sure to ask to hold the cheese or dairy-based dressings on your salad. Bringing some sort of sweet with you is a great idea if you're going to be tempted to eat a cooked/baked dessert that others will be eating (A date rolled in cacao nibs might satisfy your chocolate cake desires). If you're not entirely raw, don't hesitate to ask for plain steamed vegetables as an entree.
Stay comfortable, confident, and nonchalant about your requests and possible supplemental snacks, and others probably won't even know what you're doing. At the very most, they'll compliment your on how gorgeous your meal looks! But if you become uneasy and embarrassed about your diet and requests, you could get a lot more attention than you bargained for!
It's a great idea to have an easy-to-memorize line to give others when they ask about your new diet. This is especially handy when you don't want to draw extra attention to yourself. Decide on your definition of your diet or why you're doing it and tell the person in the most positive and to the point way. One of the easiest things to say is that you're trying something new out and enjoying the benefits so far.
If going out with a larger group of people, you can always eat beforehand as well. Telling others that you just ate due to a late lunch usually fares well. If you're going to be out and about for a while after the meal, you may want to bring some sort of snack or trail mix with you though just in case end up getting hungry later.
With all these tips under your belt, you will be able to eat out at any type of restaurant with your friends, family, co-workers, etc. Your diet should never hold you back from your social life. It's just not sustainable or fun! Perhaps you could invite your friends to dinner at one of your favorite restaurants for the next gathering. It could be a wonderful opportunity to introduce them to a healthier way of eating and to show them how delicious and beautiful the food can be! - 16650
You can absolutely eat a delicious, nutritious, vegan, and even raw meal at any restaurant, whether it caters to your particular diet or not. The most important tip for maintaining this type of diet is thinking ahead and bringing type of supplemental snack with you!
Most likely you're going to be ordering a salad at the restaurant. Perhaps it will be a chicken salad without the chicken, a shrimp salad without the shrimp, or an order or two of the simple house garden salad. If the restaurant offers an organic or local salad--even better for you!
Never be afraid to ask your server to customize a salad for you. You can create your own salad by looking at the menus salads and entree side vegetables to know what ingredients the restaurant has on hand. Ask for a big salad with greens, other than iceberg, as the base and a variety of different chopped raw vegetables on it. Ask for as many different colored vegetables as possible. If the restaurant has any guacamole or avocado anywhere on the menu--fantastic! Now you know they have avocados in their kitchen and you can ask for avocado to be put on your salad as well if you'd like.
It's always a good idea to be as kind as you can when asking your server for special requests. They will most likely be more than happy to make sure you're happy with the food. When your salad comes out, you might have your company turning their heads in your directions complimenting you on your choice and wondering where your dish was on the menu. For your salad dressing, healthy vegan options are olive oil and vinegar, the house vinaigrette, or some plain extra slices of lemon squeezed all over it.
In case your salad and vegetables does nut supply your body with the calories, fat, or protein that it's used to, you may want to bring a long a supplemental snack. You may be very glad you did in case it will be hours before you get a chance to eat again. In your purse or jacket pocket, you could bring along some trail mix, dried fruit (can double as a dessert!), your favorite on-the-go snack bar, etc in a small plastic baggie.
One of the worst things when eating out with friends and family is to still be hungry and thinking about eating while there is great conversation being made all around you. You want to feel comfortable and happy enough with your meal that you can be in the present moment and not give a second thought to what you just ate. This is probably the most important social aspects of succeeding with a special diet--to do whatever it takes to be happy and satiated with our meals out!
Superfoods are another option to add to your customized salads. Of course, you would have to bring these with you from home. Hemp seeds, sea vegetables, and goji berries are easy to pack superfoods. This could raise the nutrition of the food from 10 fold, especially if eating out at a non-organic restaurant, which is usually the case. Just be sure to prepare yourself for some extra attention when putting these foods on your salad. It will definitely depend on how you're with if you do this or not.
Here are some more tips for vegans and raw foodists dining out at a cooked food restaurant:
Nuts and seeds on salads are usually toasted or candied so beware. Make sure to ask to hold the cheese or dairy-based dressings on your salad. Bringing some sort of sweet with you is a great idea if you're going to be tempted to eat a cooked/baked dessert that others will be eating (A date rolled in cacao nibs might satisfy your chocolate cake desires). If you're not entirely raw, don't hesitate to ask for plain steamed vegetables as an entree.
Stay comfortable, confident, and nonchalant about your requests and possible supplemental snacks, and others probably won't even know what you're doing. At the very most, they'll compliment your on how gorgeous your meal looks! But if you become uneasy and embarrassed about your diet and requests, you could get a lot more attention than you bargained for!
It's a great idea to have an easy-to-memorize line to give others when they ask about your new diet. This is especially handy when you don't want to draw extra attention to yourself. Decide on your definition of your diet or why you're doing it and tell the person in the most positive and to the point way. One of the easiest things to say is that you're trying something new out and enjoying the benefits so far.
If going out with a larger group of people, you can always eat beforehand as well. Telling others that you just ate due to a late lunch usually fares well. If you're going to be out and about for a while after the meal, you may want to bring some sort of snack or trail mix with you though just in case end up getting hungry later.
With all these tips under your belt, you will be able to eat out at any type of restaurant with your friends, family, co-workers, etc. Your diet should never hold you back from your social life. It's just not sustainable or fun! Perhaps you could invite your friends to dinner at one of your favorite restaurants for the next gathering. It could be a wonderful opportunity to introduce them to a healthier way of eating and to show them how delicious and beautiful the food can be! - 16650
About the Author:
Lenette Nakauchi is a raw living foodist living in Chicago who is passionate about teaching, coaching and demonstrating to others how to go and stay raw in a fun, healthy, sustainable way. Learn more about the raw food lifestyle and about superfoods by visiting her websites www.gorawhavefun.com and www.eatsuperfoods.com.
