Eating Well on the Road, pt 2
Eating healthily on the road, especially as a vegetarian, is extremely difficult, as I've mentioned before.
Obstacles include (but are not limited to): Not having a personal vehicle so food choices are limited to the vote of the majority or convenience, unreliable fridge usage, chain restaurants, lack of vegetarian options (I'm looking at you, the Southern US!), not knowing exactly how they are preparing your food.
I've dined at more chain restaurants in the past two months than I have in all of 2011. Places that are known for an overwhelming amount of delicious options, like P.F. Changs or The Cheesecake Factory, in reality carry very few wholesome options.
Before our dinner at P.F. Changs last night, I checked out the nutrition facts. Everything on the menu comes in several servings, and packs a whole lot of sodium. One of my co-workers is allergic to soy, dairy, and peanuts, and they printed out a custom menu for him (a nice touch), but it only included 5 items on it. Really makes you think about how much crap they are sneaking into your food.
I appreciate that they now have their calories listed on the main menu, but they don't include sodium, fat, and the most important, the number of servings per plate. I thought about getting the Vegetarian Lettuce Wrap starter as my entire meal. That would have been a total of four servings for 560 calories, 28 grams of fat, 2,120 mg of sodium, and only 8 g of fiber??? Seriously? Its tofu wrapped in lettuce! What else is in there? (Never mind, don't want to know.)
Recommended sodium intake for adults is 2,300 mg. By eating a meal wrapped in lettuce, you are consuming almost your entire day's worth of sodium. I don't understand why this is so high in sodium when it should be filled with wholesome ingredients.
I ordered the most calorically conservative entre on the menu, the Buddha's Feast, steamed. I ate the entire plate (seeing as it was just green vegetables and a little tofu) for 430 cal, 160 mg of sodium, and 10 g of fiber.
While numerically this was a great choice, it was completely bland and slightly overcooked. How do you mess up steamed vegetables? No spices, no garlic, no nothing. I had a similar experience at Outback Steakhouse, ordering their "healthy choice" option resulted in a bland, overcooked piece of fish and mushy veggies.
Solution? Forgo chains as often as possible, and try local delis and supermarkets. We stopped at a small, organic grocery store and found fresh salads, soups, and sandwiches. The major chains haven't mastered fresh, simple meals.
Obstacles include (but are not limited to): Not having a personal vehicle so food choices are limited to the vote of the majority or convenience, unreliable fridge usage, chain restaurants, lack of vegetarian options (I'm looking at you, the Southern US!), not knowing exactly how they are preparing your food.
I've dined at more chain restaurants in the past two months than I have in all of 2011. Places that are known for an overwhelming amount of delicious options, like P.F. Changs or The Cheesecake Factory, in reality carry very few wholesome options.
Before our dinner at P.F. Changs last night, I checked out the nutrition facts. Everything on the menu comes in several servings, and packs a whole lot of sodium. One of my co-workers is allergic to soy, dairy, and peanuts, and they printed out a custom menu for him (a nice touch), but it only included 5 items on it. Really makes you think about how much crap they are sneaking into your food.
I appreciate that they now have their calories listed on the main menu, but they don't include sodium, fat, and the most important, the number of servings per plate. I thought about getting the Vegetarian Lettuce Wrap starter as my entire meal. That would have been a total of four servings for 560 calories, 28 grams of fat, 2,120 mg of sodium, and only 8 g of fiber??? Seriously? Its tofu wrapped in lettuce! What else is in there? (Never mind, don't want to know.)
Recommended sodium intake for adults is 2,300 mg. By eating a meal wrapped in lettuce, you are consuming almost your entire day's worth of sodium. I don't understand why this is so high in sodium when it should be filled with wholesome ingredients.
I ordered the most calorically conservative entre on the menu, the Buddha's Feast, steamed. I ate the entire plate (seeing as it was just green vegetables and a little tofu) for 430 cal, 160 mg of sodium, and 10 g of fiber.
While numerically this was a great choice, it was completely bland and slightly overcooked. How do you mess up steamed vegetables? No spices, no garlic, no nothing. I had a similar experience at Outback Steakhouse, ordering their "healthy choice" option resulted in a bland, overcooked piece of fish and mushy veggies.
Solution? Forgo chains as often as possible, and try local delis and supermarkets. We stopped at a small, organic grocery store and found fresh salads, soups, and sandwiches. The major chains haven't mastered fresh, simple meals.
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