We understand when away from home, your eating style will change. And that’s okay.
Eating out can be tricky as we often have less control over the food on offer. But, its important to balance this against the enjoyable and sociable nature of eating at restaurants and friends houses.
We absolutely don't want you to avoid these situations. Although, if this is something you do often, then it can be helpful to have some tips on how to enjoy eating out, while still nourishing your body.
Here are some of our top tips:
Add plants to your plate whenever you can. Perhaps a side of vegetables or a salad to start. This will ensure you’re consuming a wide range of health-promoting nutrients and gut-loving polyphenols. Also opt for steamed or roasted veggies, rather than fried ones to manage your fat intake.
Be mindful of sauces. These can be full of sugar and salt, so you may like to ask for them on the side sometimes.
Experiment with new foods. This can help increase your dietary diversity.
Practice eating mindfully and slowly. This can improve nutrient absorption, blood sugar response and food enjoyment, reduce stress and allow us to tune into our hunger and fullness signals.
Make carb swaps where you can. For example, swapping a simple carb like white bread for a more complex wholegrain like quinoa.
Plan ahead. It can help to look into what the menu offers so you can plan what to eat. You can then pre log this in your app to see how it scores.
Eat well the rest of the day. Picking high scoring foods when you can across the day will help to balance out any lower scoring foods.
Consider your food order. Eat fat and protein before carbs to help support your blood sugar response.
Choose a balanced meal. Try to have a source of fibre-rich carbs, plenty of colourful veggies, a portion of lean protein and some healthy fats to stay full and support your nutritional needs.
Remember, if logging these instances causes you discomfort, we’d encourage you to focus more on enjoying your meal, making nutritious additions and swaps where possible and fully immersing yourself in the experience.
It's our long-term habits that determine our health. And so if you have slightly lower scores when out and about, this is not something to worry about. No one has perfect scores all the time.