Post by gerberdaisy on Apr 6, 2017 14:17:43 GMT -5
It all depends on what you consider "healthy". Which you've clarified a bit.
I'm in a small city and we have lots of options, but you might have to go out of your way to get them, it isn't as simple as ordering chinese. Grub hub delivers from quite a few places, but you'll have to spend more or make more requests to make it healthy.
Personally, healthy to me is fresh, not processed, food, high quality ingredients, low sugar and good fats.
ETA: In a pinch I can almost always find something ready to go at Wegmans too. Their $8 meals have grilled lean meat and roasted vegetables which are decent.
Chipotle, Panera, even Pancheros for bowls as far as chains Have you tried Bread Garden Market downtown? They are a little spendy, but have a glorious salad bar and hot food bar. Also Heirloom Salad Co. and Trumpet Blossom Cafe (vegan, they have some delicious stuff). I actually think your town is rich with lots of diverse and healthy options, but I get that you can feel a little stuck when you might be kind of just jonesing for something a little unhealthy. Are you Costco members? They have some nice prepared foods - is TJ's open yet?
I have never been to Trumpet Blossom - I kind of forgot that was here. My lunch today was from Heirloom
I still run into an issue with Costco and places like that - they have great prepared foods, but they are mostly not healthy. I buy their rotisserie chickens all the time though.
TJs is coming this fall I think! I feel like that may be a game changer. We do have Lucky's market, which is lovely, but even that sometimes feels limiting when you don't want a bunch of dressings and sugar and stuff in your prepared foods.
Post by adhdfashion on Apr 6, 2017 14:18:24 GMT -5
My suggestion is to look at the soups. Most veggie soups​ are pretty healthy and calorie friendly. It might be harder where you live to find things easily. Don't be afraid to ask for things to changed up a bit. Asking for dressing on the side or no rice isn't out of the norm.
I think the problem with a lot of healthy "sides" is they don't keep well. I make roasted broccoli at home all the time. If you were to attempt to put that in a hot bar, it just wouldn't taste good after cooling. Same thing with a lot of grilled vegetables - they get slimy as they cool down.
For healthy dinners, it's probably more realistic to think of "shortcuts" than to pick up an entire healthy meal, if you're really focused on nutrition.
Panera is the only place near me where there are healthier options. I don't eat out much for lunch because I don't have the time during the workday, so I do some cooking on Sundays that serve as my lunch for the week. By Thursday I'm pretty tired of it, but I like that I don't have to think about it and everything is already pre-portioned so I can grab/go each morning. I have about 4-5 things on rotation to mix it up each week. But I understand the frustration of wanting to pick up something different, but doesn't blow your new routine.
Do any sit down restaurants by you take carryout orders? I feel like they would better accommodate special requests and likely have some healthier options (whatever that means to you)
I feel like we have a fair amount of options, especially given that I live in the home of the chicken wing, LOL. But if I don't have anything to bring from home or just don't feel like packing lunch, the cafeteria in my office building is actually pretty decent about this. We have a full salad bar, so it's easy to assemble my own salad and pick and choose if I want to add any unhealthy stuff to that. They also offer 4 soups daily, at least one of which is vegetarian, and then made-to-order sandwiches and wraps are also available in addition to the "bad stuff" like pizza, fries, etc. I actually often get a grilled turkey burger on a whole wheat bun that I can top myself with lettuce, tomato, onion and pickles.
For dinner options, Wegmans has a good selection of hot and premade food, plus salad bar and soups, and decent sushi as well, so I stop there sometimes. There is a local salad and juice bar restaurant, 2 more sushi places, and a pretty healthy and tasty deli within walking distance of my house as well, so I usually stick with one of these options when I am focused on getting healthy takeout.
When I visit my midwestern small city I have this problem. Even eating out EVERYTHING is fried or greasy. Vegetables are in the form of iceburg side salads or canned medleys. And almost lol entrees are red meat or fried. People there truly eat like shit.
Living in a more populated area I can get all the options listed for chains or a takeout make-your-own fresh salad place. There's also fast-Vietnamese for pho and a lot of sushi.
I consider healthy takeout anything that isn't fried, beige, or processed so I think I'm relatively easy.
Post by iheartbanjos on Apr 6, 2017 14:25:03 GMT -5
I travel to rural towns for work quite a bit and am okay buying a fast food salad if I need to. I prefer Qdoba or McAllister's, but have eaten at McDonalds, Subway, Wendy's, etc, always getting a salad and picking off the cheese and croutons and skipping the dressing.
I also have had luck just running into a grocery store to grab some turkey pepperoni, nuts, and veggies.
If I'm really in the middle of effing nowhere, I find stuff at gas stations. I have had many a beef jerky lunch on the road. Some of them even have raw veggies or salads. I haven't yet brought myself to buy a gas station hard boiled egg, though.
Post by sunshine608 on Apr 6, 2017 14:25:09 GMT -5
WE have a few that others have mentioned. We just got a Pollo Tropical and their commercials make it seem healthy, but I haven't tried it.
Most of our local places that aren't a specific cuisine are "southern food" and you can usually get a healthy meal with some steamed veggies or a salad, but at that point, Its easier to make it home or go to the supermarket salad bar.
It sounds like part of the issue is that this is stressful when you are trying to figure it out on the fly. You can use the list of restaurants on the WW app on your phone to plan ahead a day or two. That way, you walk into the restaurant with a plan as to exactly what you customize to be within whatever range of points you try to hit at lunch. I've been helping my husband go through the list and plan ahead for when he is on the road.
It is hard. That's one of the worst parts about trying to eat healthy/clean/more nutritious foods - you basically have to cook all your own meals. It gets tiring. I agree the food prep options help set you up for success. The rest of the time you just have to make the best choices you can.
Chipotle, Panera, even Pancheros for bowls as far as chains Have you tried Bread Garden Market downtown? They are a little spendy, but have a glorious salad bar and hot food bar. Also Heirloom Salad Co. and Trumpet Blossom Cafe (vegan, they have some delicious stuff). I actually think your town is rich with lots of diverse and healthy options, but I get that you can feel a little stuck when you might be kind of just jonesing for something a little unhealthy. Are you Costco members? They have some nice prepared foods - is TJ's open yet?
I have never been to Trumpet Blossom - I kind of forgot that was here. My lunch today was from Heirloom
I still run into an issue with Costco and places like that - they have great prepared foods, but they are mostly not healthy. I buy their rotisserie chickens all the time though.
TJs is coming this fall I think! I feel like that may be a game changer. We do have Lucky's market, which is lovely, but even that sometimes feels limiting when you don't want a bunch of dressings and sugar and stuff in your prepared foods.
Check out Bread Garden, too - that's disappointing about Heirloom, they're usually so tasty! I don't really do the prepared food that Costco makes themselves, but I'll often grab hummus, guac, they have some tabouleh or other sort of quinoa-based salads in the cold section. A relatively healthy chicken burrito bowl. They also have these Japanese noodle bowls in the frozen section that are super tasty. You can add some more stir-fry veggies, bean sprouts to make it more filling - so not exactly takeout, but a really fast, easy thing to throw in a bag and warm up at work. OR, my local Chinese place does some really healthy options that are just chicken and steamed veggies with light seasoning. Or just go to Bluebird and get a burger with no bun
Post by lilypad1126 on Apr 6, 2017 14:32:56 GMT -5
I feel like this a lot - like everywhere I want to go eat is not healthy enough. H and I try to eat healthy, and I find that I either have to cook everything myself or customize every order. So, to counteract that, and to feel like I can actually enjoy eating out/getting take, I plan it. By that I mean that I literally plan which meals each week I am going to eat out (I really strive for no more than 1 meal out in any given day) and then I order the salad with cheese and bacon when I go out. When I bring my lunch/eat at home, I do all the healthy things. Leave off the cheese, skip the extra piece of bread, eat the low cal/low fat vinaigrette type dressings etc. Then, b/c I'm only eating that one meal out, I can balance the calories out by eating a super healthy breakfast and dinner. I also am lucky in that I have fridge in my office (and there's a communal one in our suite) that I can leave healthy snacks in. So my plain greek yogurt, my nuts, cheese sticks (ok that one may not be so healthy, ha!), fruit, raw veggies, etc are all within easy reach.
Life doesn't always work as planned, and there are plenty of times I eat out both lunch and dinner in one day. But I do try to limit that. And, now that I've been trying to eat healthier for awhile, it's easier to do. I still want the french fries, but I don't crave them most times and I also know that if I order the side salad, I'll get some good veggies in. My H seems to have an aversion to veggies, so I feel less bad if we don't have broccoli and carrots with dinner if I had a salad with carrots and cucumbers and whatever at lunch.
I feel like I don't have to be perfect at every meal if I can balance it all out at the end of the day. I also realize that sometimes I'm a little obsessed with how healthy I should be eating, so I give myself permission to not be so healthy at lunch once in awhile.
Post by sherbanator on Apr 6, 2017 14:43:05 GMT -5
I love Chinese and thai restaurants here for healthy food. They both do really easy but amazingly delicious stir fry.
They also have a lot of salad places here which you can make as healthy or unhealthy as you want.
Panda express is also an option. Vegtable bowl worth black pepper chicken or teriyaki chicken. I'm not that healthy so I usually do my bowl with half brown rice, half vegetables and Walnut shrimp.
Post by sherbanator on Apr 6, 2017 14:45:37 GMT -5
I also thought of another great option. Do you have a H mart by you? I love that place, they have healthy prepared foods, very easy to prepare foods or you can pick up sashimi at a great price and it's delicious.
Yes. My go to chain place for a really quick to go lunch is Qdoba. I get something there about 2 times per month. I get chicken, black beans, fajita vegetables, verde salsa, lettuce and guacamole. I consider that clean eating, has protein and good fat.
Yeah, we do. But we also live just outside of a big city. And where I work is near a lot of restaurants and across the street from a Whole Foods. So today, for example, I forgot my lunch. I went to Whole Foods and made a salad. My downfall is all of the UNhealthy options that are just as close, lol. There's an In n Out Burger, Steak n Shake, Chick Fil A and Sonic all within a stone's throw of my building.
Yes there are lots of options here where you can get healthy stuff. Frankly, though, I prefer to save my splurges for eating out because it's so easy to make simple/healthy food at home. I just can't get excited about a "dinner out" that's grilled protein and veggies lol.
I agree 100%! This is my other gripe (since I'm whining about food in general). If we go to sit down somewhere, I definitely DON'T want the grilled chicken and veggies, unless it's one of their actual menu items so they've put effort into make it taste good (like there is a place here that does a half chicken, roasted asparagus, and potato thing that is so tasty that you forget it is healthy). But I don't want to go to a burger joint and order a plain chicken breast and a side salad with fat free dressing. That's just depressing and seems like a waste of money.
This has been my problem with WW in the past and I'm really trying to give it a better go this time. I feel like if I do go somewhere and order what I want, even once a week, that's going to bring me way over my weekly points. I mean a Cadbury cream egg is 8 points. I shudder to think what a burger, fries, and a beer at my favorite local place would be if something that is 150 calories is taking up 1/4 of my daily allotment.
I'm glad you have healthy options, though. I guess a part of my wonder is if once we move somewhere else we'll find it easier to manage healthy eating. Seattle is on our list of maybe places
I also thought of another great option. Do you have a H mart by you? I love that place, they have healthy prepared foods, very easy to prepare foods or you can pick up sashimi at a great price and it's delicious.
I don't know what this is, so probably not What region of the country are you in?
Surely places offer oil/vinegar or a vinaigrette instead of only creamy dressings? I use spicy mustard instead of mayo or ranch. For subway, I load up with lots of veggies. McDonald's - plain grilled chicken 'sandwich' except I just eat the chicken. Fruit instead of fries. I know some places don't offer any options (ie Taco Bell) so those are the places I avoid. I also check the nutrition online for places like Panera and omit unwanted fats.
Roti chickens are the easiest things to work with in a pinch. Get a roti chicken cookbook for ideas. You could also make soup on a Sunday and portion it out over a few days. Our grocery store also has turkey breasts in addition to chicken so you could grab one of those instead of using processed turkey. You can also make a batch of hard boiled eggs on Sunday. Good protein, easy to take with you. If you want to mix it up, make a couple of them into deviled eggs. I would also keep frozen veggies on hand; because they're picked and frozen right away, they often are better for you than veggies that have been picked, packed, trucked, and then sitting in a grocery store for a few days.
I love Chinese and thai restaurants here for healthy food. They both do really easy but amazingly delicious stir fry.
They also have a lot of salad places here which you can make as healthy or unhealthy as you want.
Panda express is also an option. Vegtable bowl worth black pepper chicken or teriyaki chicken. I'm not that healthy so I usually do my bowl with half brown rice, half vegetables and Walnut shrimp.
That's good to know about Panda express. We do have one of those.
We get Chinese a lot. I usually get szechuan chicken, which seems relatively healthy though I have no idea what this particular place puts in the sauce. But I figure even if the sauce is bad, the chicken and veggies are decently healthy!
We need more Thai options here, I freaking love Thai food. The place we go to takes at least 30 minutes to order takeout, though, so it's not somewhere we go often when we're starving and just want something to eat. I also wish we had an option for Thai delivery #lazy.
Also, herbs are your friend. Use herbs for seasoning rather than butter or salt. Also, infused olive oils are great. Toss broccoli in garlic olive oil or lemon olive oil, pepper, and just a tad of salt & throw in oven (for hot dinners, not necc lunch).
And, unfortunately, there is no 100% foolproof eating out option. Sure, you don't want to order a chicken sandwich instead of a burger so skip the burger joint. Eating healthy isn't easy to do and it does require some sacrifice.
Yes. In addition to all the things people mentioned, we actually have a "healthy fast food" local franchise here called Bryn and Danes. I am not totally on board with it bc they use a lot of fat free dairy (which I think is a joke), but most of their stuff is otherwise healthy and wholesome. We also have another local chain called Harvest that is fancier (sit down/wine) but control portions below 500 calories and uses local farm to table ingredients. Both of these places are within a couple minutes of my house, so if I am desperate for "healthy" I go there.
Mostly I work around what's available though. I have staples at pretty much every place and I just don't stray and make my day work with the calories/macros.
I base all my meals around the best available protein. So, if I can't customize a salad, I'll either go rice-less with Chipotle, or I'll go to a grocery story and get unsweetened Greek yogurt and some fruit. I don't actually low-carb, though, and we have a million sushi and Mexican places. I will often ask for double protein.
I have never been to Trumpet Blossom - I kind of forgot that was here. My lunch today was from Heirloom
I still run into an issue with Costco and places like that - they have great prepared foods, but they are mostly not healthy. I buy their rotisserie chickens all the time though.
TJs is coming this fall I think! I feel like that may be a game changer. We do have Lucky's market, which is lovely, but even that sometimes feels limiting when you don't want a bunch of dressings and sugar and stuff in your prepared foods.
Check out Bread Garden, too - that's disappointing about Heirloom, they're usually so tasty! I don't really do the prepared food that Costco makes themselves, but I'll often grab hummus, guac, they have some tabouleh or other sort of quinoa-based salads in the cold section. A relatively healthy chicken burrito bowl. They also have these Japanese noodle bowls in the frozen section that are super tasty. You can add some more stir-fry veggies, bean sprouts to make it more filling - so not exactly takeout, but a really fast, easy thing to throw in a bag and warm up at work. OR, my local Chinese place does some really healthy options that are just chicken and steamed veggies with light seasoning. Or just go to Bluebird and get a burger with no bun
We have Heirloom in our building at work, which is great but I do feel like the quality is really variable. Most of the time it's great, but sometimes they really skimp on or WAY overdo it with ingredients, and I don't know why the lettuce today was yucky. I honestly thought about going back and complaining since I paid $10 for a yellow salad, but I was already frustrated enough with finding something to eat that I just dealt with it.
I think i'm going to Costco again this weekend so maybe I'll look for more options. I've gotten into my rut of buying basically the same stuff there all the time.
I get it. I'm in your state and I think it's a geography problem, we have few options like you're describing. Actually, if I remember correctly where you're at, you probably have it better than most in this region. I cook 80% of our food and save going out for treats and special items, not every day meals. The cafeteria at my university job has a pump of ranch dressing next to the ketchup and other condiments - Midwesterners aren't exactly known for desiring clean eating options.