Healthy Take Out Choice – The Nice Median

Eating out feels like the downfall of every sane person’s diet. But it really doesn’t have to be that way. I find that if I go to a restaurant a few times I can pinpoint a few good picks and stick to those while I’m there. Here are a few that, while not the healthiest, are pretty good choices that let you loosen up a tad and enjoy going out to eat with your friends and family. I like to find the balance between eating super healthy at home and not being so strict out, but not going overboard.

Pictured above: The Tapas Menu at Pita Jungle

This menu has a lot of very easy to figure out healthy choice. Hummus, and you can request the veggies instead of pita (or just eat the pita), grape leaves and mozzarella and tomatoes. Everything is pretty upfront about ingredients and delicious to boot.

Next up is Pei Wei. If you’re a Chinese food junkie like I used to be, then this is great. Going there and asking for extra veggies is a good plan. Also, asking for light sauce can bring down the sugar intake and still let you enjoy the dishes you really came for. They actually have a very extensive health conscious menu as well that has steamed veggies, less sauce and lettuce cups instead of rice or noodles.

Next we come to sushi. While pictured is a shared plate, the middle roll is all veggies. And it’s not deep fried of full of cream cheese like the surrounding rolls. At sushi restaurants it’s easy to avoid the high calories and low quality ingredient sushi if you want to. Avoid heavy sauces, deep frying or both. Or pick one roll like that and have a second roll stuffed full of fresh veggies and raw or cooked fish. It’s easy to add healthier options into it. Also, if your restaurant has a ginger salad – just say yes. So delicous! And you can ask for the dressing on the side to control how much you get when you eat your salad.

My last example comes from Protein House. This place is mostly healthy options. But I just used this as an example on sides. More and more restaurants will offer a wider variety of sides options. Good ones are salads with dressing on the side and fruits. Grilled protein options, whole grain wraps, and more protein options like eggs are always popping up.

The key is to not force yourself to be avoid things when eating out and instead to make better choices where you can and still enjoy yourself. What are you favorite places to gather with friends, family and food and what do you pick on the menu?

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