Ordering food from a restaurant when optimizing for health and well-being shouldn’t be complicated, and it’s not. Choose the animal flesh of your choice, and a vegetable side or two, and you’ll be fine.

By now, you know my stance on indulgences. Going out to a nice dinner is a great time to relax the restrictions and enjoy a decadent meal. However, sometimes the meals out aren’t our choice. Sometimes you’re traveling for business or participating in a work dinner and don’t want to fall off track.

I’m in San Diego right now for the baseball Winter Meetings. Obviously, I’m not cooking my own meals in the hotel room, but that doesn’t mean I have to cede control over what I put into my body completely.

Tonight, I asked one of my teammates to order me the swordfish from the menu. Turned out, the restaurant didn’t have any left, so my man called an audible. It mattered negligibly from a nutrition standpoint. I ended up with a fish of some sort, asparagus and a small portion of organic potatoes. The meal hit the spot for me. More importantly, I can keep the same formula, mix up the menu items and feel strongly that I’m on a good path.

Most restaurants, no matter the style, have meat and vegetables. If you’re working with reasonable portion sizes, you shouldn’t go wrong. Some restaurants, especially steak houses, do make their living on oversize portions. Contrary to what your mother may have told you, however, you don’t always have to clean your plate.

You will want to be careful of how your animal flesh is prepared. If you’re ordering it fried, you’re not just getting meat, but a coating of bread as well. From CNN:

If you’re making a healthy choice, you’re probably not purposely choosing a fried food item. Look for words like crunchy, battered, crispy, breaded, crusted, golden, tempura; some of these options are a double-whammy on your caloric intake because the item is fried with an additional carb-based coating.

Instead, opt for grilled, steamed or broiled choices. Be mindful of the sauces, as they are often laden with sugars.

Additionally, there are some tricks of the trade that will help you avoid traditional ordering pitfalls. The most important may be to order first.

If you’re with a party of five and the fried calamari, lasagna, and blintzes go off the board, you’re going to be tempted to follow suit. It’s inherently more difficult to say no to the drugs when you’re hearing how lovely the high may be.

By ordering your salmon, broccoli and sweet potato first, you avoid an on the spot bad decision. Additionally, you’ll demonstrate strong leadership qualities and may find that your mates follow suit.

Eat well,

Kap