Mindconnection Brainpower Informational eNewsletter 2024-02-04

Some people advise to never eat at restaurants. This is generally good advice, because restaurants are generally disease acquisition centers. But this is not absolute. You can find healthy options at almost any restaurant, but you'll typically have to order ala carte. Sometimes, a visit to a restaurant just makes sense. Maybe you're at the end of a long trip or you have guests and no desire to cook for everyone (plus clean up). Or you just want to have some alone time with somebody. A caution here is to make such visits infrequent. Not only are restaurant meals extremely expensive relative to home-made, but you can't be absolutely sure about the toxicity or lack thereof.

So what about those healthy options? I once met my sage friend Joseph at Houlihan's for a business lunch. He ordered a plate of black beans, and for very little money he had a huge amount of unprocessed food. Another time, a few years before that, I picked my mom up at the Memphis airport for the 90 minute trip to my home in Jackson, TN. She suggested stopping at a steak house. I ordered a plain sweet potato with a side of plain, steamed broccoli. She got a small steak, green beans, and some other sides. Nothing processed for either of us. No deadly dressing, etc.

You can't do this at fast food joints, but at most restaurants it's easy to do. And some chains, Chipotle for example, already have healthy options. I stayed at a 3-star hotel last summer, and they provided as self-serve hot breakfast. In addition to the pancakes, waffles, muffins, and cereals, they had scrambled eggs, several kinds of fruit, and hot coffee. I had my coffee black, of course. Black pepper on the eggs and some fruit to go with them, I had a great breakfast every morning.

Some tips:

You do not need to "get a protein" to go with your sweet potato or beans. Every plant has the same 21 amino acids as a piece of meat, and is thus a complete protein. Having that sweet potato with the beans will give you a more balanced amino profile than either one alone.
Avoid anything prepared in oil, unless you can verify the oil isn't a seed oil (e.g., canola) or a "vegetable oil" (corn-derived). Good oils include sesame, olive, avocado, and coconut. Any nut oil is good, also.
Aim for European size portions. Even a non-toxic meal can be a calorie overload meal.
Ask for things to be served plain. A sweet potato can be baked without being immersed in margarine. If they have butter, it is probably made from the milk of factory-farmed cows and thus is unsafe. So plain it is.
How do you flavor up plain broccoli and plain beans? Black pepper works great for both, as does a little olive oil.
Ask for condiments on the side. At a steakhouse, for example, you'll get plain cinnamon (not mixed with sugar) on the side. This is popular with sweet potatoes. Ask for olive oil and vinegar on the side, instead of dressing.
Recognize that your options are likely to be limited and it's just not the same variety of foods you get when eating at home. But a little change-up is good.

And from the "don't be a jerk" department:

Be sure to tip the waiter/waitress based on what a regular meal would cost because we tip based on % of cost which is rather unfair. So if you get a bowl of beans for $5 but the processed food selections run about $20 each then tip 15% of the $20 not 15% of the $5. This will help ensure cooperation in the future, and it's only fair.
Before ordering, explain this to the waiter. Let him or her know you will be tipping based on the typical entree price, not the price of your side dishes. This will eliminate 20 minutes of that person's feeling gypped y having to wait on you.
Don't bombard the waiter with questions or ask to speak to the chef. Just make a plain request and be efficient with the waiter's time.
Don't complain about the other choices on the menu or go into an explanation of your choices. This only wastes the waiter's time. And it's negative energy that makes your meal less enjoyable.
Thank the waiter for accommodating you, and say it with a smile.

And from the "no excuses" department:

You can't easily "work off" a 2500 calorie restaurant pig-out. So don't throw caution to the wind. Carefully manage your restaurant experience.
Using "I'm training" to avoid restaurants entirely is an excuse for being too lazy to manage the experience. The high cost is far more a factor than the health risk.
If you have a plan going into the place (and have selected the right place), don't use stress as an experience. I had a lovely time at the hotel, sharing a table with the same two contractors each morning because we hit it off and enjoyed each other's company. Have a plan, not an excuse.

Mindconnection eNL, 2024-02-04

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