Have you recently resolved to eat a primarily vegan or raw-vegan food-based diet and are now wondering how you are going to dine out at regular food restaurants? This can definitely be a challenge following this sort of diet and lifestyle, especially if you want to maintain and hopefully grow your social life! Dining out at restaurants and in other peoples homes is definitely going to happen to. In fact-dining out is the most popular social activity of our culture.
Rest assured, it is definitely possible to eat a healthy, raw, satiating meal while out to eat with friends or family. The key here to maintaining your new healthy diet, as it is while traveling, is planning ahead and packing some food with you!
Most likely you're going to be ordering a salad at the restaurant. Perhaps it will be a chicken salad without the chicken, a shrimp salad without the shrimp, or an order or two of the simple house garden salad. If the restaurant offers an organic or local salad--even better for you!
Never be afraid to ask your server to customize a salad for you. You can create your own salad by looking at the menus salads and entree side vegetables to know what ingredients the restaurant has on hand. Ask for a big salad with greens, other than iceberg, as the base and a variety of different chopped raw vegetables on it. Ask for as many different colored vegetables as possible. If the restaurant has any guacamole or avocado anywhere on the menu--fantastic! Now you know they have avocados in their kitchen and you can ask for avocado to be put on your salad as well if you'd like.
Of course, try to be as polite and as discrete as you can and they will most likely do their best to help you. Your customized salad can lead to the most gorgeous and most colorful salad the restaurant has ever seen! Your salad might just have people turning their heads in your direction asking where was that on the menu? That looks amazing! For salad dressing you could choose the restaurants vinaigrette, lemon juice, or oil and vinegar on the side.
Now, you may not get enough protein, fat, carbohydrates, or calories from this salad and this is where a bit of planning comes in handy. In your purse or pocket, you might want to bring along a handful or two of nuts or seeds, dried fruit (can be your dessert!), a raw food bar, or a whole grain bar, in a small plastic baggie. You'll be glad that you did.
Its very important for your vegan or raw food success to do whatever it takes for you to feel full and happy with your dinner so you feel comfortable enough to be in the present moment with your dinner party. The worst thing would be for you to be still hungry and thinking about food--missing out on all the conversation!
You could also supplement your salad with super-nutritious foods such as hemp seeds and sea veggies but be prepared, as this could definitely turn some heads. It depends on how comfortable you are around the party you're with. There is a well-known raw foodist in Chicago who does this to her salads at cooked-food restaurants and swears by it. She knows it raises the vibration of the food before it reaches her mouth.
Here are some more tips for vegans and raw foodists dining out at a cooked food restaurant:
Nuts and seeds on salads are usually toasted or candied so beware. Make sure to ask to hold the cheese or dairy-based dressings on your salad. Bringing some sort of sweet with you is a great idea if you're going to be tempted to eat a cooked/baked dessert that others will be eating (A date rolled in cacao nibs might satisfy your chocolate cake desires). If you're not entirely raw, don't hesitate to ask for plain steamed vegetables as an entree.
Others in your party may or may not notice what you're doing. If you're comfortable, confident, and nonchalant about what you're doing, they probably wont notice. They're more likely to notice and focus on you if you feel uncomfortable and embarrassed about it yourself. Others may be a bit interested in what you're eating and will even comment on how good your food looks!
If and when people ask about your diet, have a simple definition planned and memorized that you can give them. If you don't want the entire dinner conversation to focus on your new diet, just say its how you prefer to eat right now or you're trying something new out for a while. In a nutshell, choose your line and deliver it in a positive and confident way.
If you're not comfortable dining out with others on the vegan or raw-vegan food diet and lifestyle, you can always eat beforehand and let others know you had a late lunch or breakfast. Just make sure to bring a snack in your purse or pocket just in case you'll be out for a while.
In time, you will definitely get used to how to eat out at any type of restaurant--whether or not it caters to vegetarians, vegans, or raw-foodists. Dining at fine restaurants may not be as fun as it used to be, but that's because you know you can eat a much healthier and more satisfying meal at home for pennies on the dollar now. Try proposing a night out for your non-vegan friends at your favorite restaurant. This is a great way to show them how much fun and creative gourmet healthy vegan or raw-vegan food can be.
About the Author
Lenette Nakauchi is a raw foodist living in Chicago who loves teaching, coaching and demonstrating to others how to go and stay "raw" in a fun, healthy, sustainable way. Learn more about the raw food lifestyle and about superfoods by visiting her informational websites www.gorawhavefun.com and www.eatsuperfoods.com.
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