Why Eating in the Real World is More Important Than a Flawless Eating Plan
As a nutritionist, I see many people who are able to describe the components of a healthy meal and even prepare healthy meals at home. However, they feel completely lost when it comes to meals eaten outside the home. This is not unusual. There is predictability and control when you eat at home, while the uncertainty of evaluating food selections at restaurants creates discomfort.
Over the years, I have come to understand that the key to successful nutrition is not striving for perfection, but rather being flexible. Since people don’t live in a controlled environment, people’s nutrition strategies should not be based on a controlled environment.
This is where knowing the nutrition of restaurant food comes in handy. For example, Mellow Mushroom provides detailed nutritional information for their menu selections. This allows people to understand how to choose meals that are balanced in calories and macronutrients. Knowledge empowers people to make decisions that are most beneficial for them, with less anxiety.
Nutrition Knowledge is a Useful Skill, Not a Restrictive Habit
One of the biggest misconceptions that I see is thinking that tracking nutrition or food data is primarily to support dieting or weight loss. This is a misconception, as it is primarily a form of nutrition awareness.
When people start looking at food labels, they notice things like:
- Certain meals have more calories than they thought
- Certain meals may have more, or less, protein than they thought
- Many meals have larger servings than what you would serve at home
- Most restaurant meals have more sodium than you would like
Seeing food labels doesn’t mean you have to restrict what you eat. It allows you to think about what you eat at different times of the day, or different days of the week.
If you eat a heavier meal at a restaurant, you can eat lighter meals at home. This is not really a diet, it the balance of what you eat.
Why Eating At Restaurants Seems Difficult to Balance
In my experience, the main issue people have with fast food or eating at a restaurant is what people eat. It’s more about not being able to control or see what goes into their food.
When you eat at home, you can see all the food you put in. But when eating at a restaurant, you have to guess how the food was put together and how something was made.
This is why a lot of people find it useful to have tools to see breakdowns of what the food is. Looking at Mellow Mushroom nutritional value would help people know how different choices of toppings, crusts, and portion control of a meal would change the nutritional value of the meal.
When people have this knowledge, they can make choices that they want to without feeling like they have to restrict what they eat.
Calories Are Not Things To Fear
One way people seem to understand food is by looking at how many calories something has. In most nutrition conversations, people seem to fear calories, strictly avoid certain foods, or not care about them at all.
Calories simply measure energy. Your body needs energy to function, move, recover, and maintain basic biological processes.
I tell my clients that calories should inform choices, not be used to make judgments. Higher calorie meals are not bad and lower calorie meals are not inherently healthy.
The context of a meal counts. This includes:
- Activity level
- Daily energy needs
- The quality of the nutrients
- The overall dietary pattern
Often, meals eaten out are higher in calories than anticipated. Because of this, looking at a meal’s nutrition information can allow better meal planning to stay within calorie goals.
Think in terms of balance, not restriction.
Balance typically includes:
Protein helps support fullness and maintenance of muscle. Chicken, seafood, or even plant-based protein may be included in the restaurant meal.
Fuel for the day and even the brain can come from carbohydrates. Portion aware, nutrient-dense options are preferred.
Flavor and satisfaction come from fats. These are calorie dense, so a portion understanding helps keep meals balanced without eliminating fats.
Vegetables and whole grains help further digestion and meal quality.
When people start eating out, including ordering pizza, and think about balance using this information, they typically feel like they are in control and not deprived.
Finding a place for Pizza in the Balanced Diet
People say pizza should not be in a healthy diet. From my experience, the all-or-nothing mentality is the biggest impediment to healthy eating habits.
I like to say there are no “good” or “bad” foods. I say to my clients to think, rather, about how often you eat a food, the portion of the food, and how the food fits into the rest of your meal.
Taking a look at the croissant’s Mellow Mushroom’s nutritional values, for example, people can see how the choices they make when picking a restaurant can help them put together a better meal. Some of those choices can be:
- Richer with veggies
- Made with healthier or smaller crusts
- Side with a better meal
- Taken at a different time during the day
- These ideas are a good balance to a healthy diet.
- Recognicing Portions in the Real World
- Part of the problem with pizza can be the portions.
The problem is not the pizza, but the fact that people are eat portions larger than they make.
I tell people to think about these ideas, for example:
- Take your time and notice how full you are.
- Split the pizza when you can.
- Take the meal home for later.
- Â Leave pizza to eat later.
These are all good ideas to help your portions and are a good balance to a diet.
Why a Balanced Diet is Important
Flexibility and a balanced diet is way healthier than cutting pizza out all together.
Someone who is used to living by the book may have difficulty adjusting to spontaneity. Structured meal plans may be overwhelmed by social activities or travel.
Fortunately, flexible habits are guilt-free and low-stress. Most people understand that one meal won’t affect one’s health and agree that the focus should be on habitual patterns of eating.
Mindsets like these greatly reduce food-related anxiousness and improve the quality of choices.
Nutrition Knowledge is Everyday Confidence
The point of employing nutritional references is less about developing a food fixation and more about confidence and comprehension.
If someone explores Mellow Mushroom and reviews its nutritional information, it is not about micromanaging their diet to the nth level. They are drawing awareness to their food choices, often with the help of macro and meals.Â
This routinely leads to better choices. Awareness to food relaxes tracking, helps people balance meals, and leads to proper portion sizes.
Building a Healthy Relationship with Food
GMOs, fast food, and all types of food found within a restaurant’s walls should be a part of a healthy and satisfying lifestyle balanced with healthy eating.
Nutrition info should help educate and create awareness to improve meal choices without restrictions and no healthy eating plan should be created to avoid restaurants or your favorite foods. A healthy lifestyle should eat out less, but that’s about balance.
Conclusion
The best approach to nutrition that I have found is the one that helps eat what you want to eat and brings balance and awareness to the eating. This is always better than a rigid diet.
Teaching people how to positively engage with food environments makes eating healthily easy, enjoyable and sustainable.