We took a trip from our home in Southern California to a small town in West Virginia. I was so apprehensive! We were there for a week and ate out the whole time. When we first arrived, my husband found a market for me. I bought peaches, bananas and apples. In my suitcase, I had raw cashews, dates, and raw almonds. So in a pinch I could have a banana and cashews and know it would fill me up.
There was a Denny's just down the road from our hotel and we ate there a lot. Which was great, because they have a veggie skillet meal. It comes with eggs and is cooked in oil and of course has salt. I asked for it with no eggs, and no oil and salt. Plus, they had avocados!!! So I added an avocado. The skillet was so filling and yummy with veggies and potatoes. It easily filled me up to the next meal. We also ate at Bob Evan's. That was not so nutritarian friendly! I ended up ordering off the 'sides' menu because there was literally nothing on the standard menu that could be modified. So I had a baked potato, with steamed broccoli and whatever other veggies they had, plus a side of fruit. They had smoothies that looked awesome, but they had a bunch of junk in them and dairy, so I passed. My plate was full and so was my belly when I left the table. As you can see, potatoes are on my plate at every meal. In my everyday, normal life, I might have a potato once a week, so this was an exception. But I felt it was necessary in this situation. I didn't want to be hungry and the choices were so small that I ate those potatoes with out any issue :) For one dinner, we dined at the hotel restaurant. They were not vegan friendly and the waitress offered to have the chef come out and talk to me to work out a meal, but I was in a big group and feeling self-conscious, so I declined. But I did find a hummus appetizer with fresh pitas that I ate. It's was not 100%, but it did the job. On a different occasion, I have talked to managers and such and they've been more than willing to make sure I'm satisfied :)
We got the blessing of visiting my father-in-law's brother on his property in the hills quite a few times. It's very rustic, like out-house rustic! And he's a hunter, so his offerings were delicious (I'm sure), but not quite in the eating style I've adopted. So that's where my bananas, apples and cashews came in very handy. We had a couple pot-luck type meals there, so I was able to bring the fruit tray. People kind of looked at me funny, but I didn't care. I'm not eating this way to impress or conform to other people, this is the lifestyle God has given me and I have a smaller butt to prove it ;) (By the way, I lost 3 pounds that week!!)
I have made some mistakes when eating out. I've let my shyness get in the way and not asked exactly what is on something. So, I've been given a veggie burger with dressing stuff on it. But in keeping with the shyness of that day, I just quietly wiped as much off as I could and chalked it up to a lesson learned. There have been one or two times where I've apologized and sent the meal back because it was covered in oil. You can't wipe that off and I knew it would not be good on my body. I don't like to rock the boat, so sending something back is not my favorite thing to do. I try to remember for next time what to specifically tell the waitress in how to prepare my meal, so I don't have to keep sending stuff back.
Another tip that I've used, is to google the restaurant that I'm going to. I type in 'vegan choices at XYZ restaurant'. There are a few blogs that list good choices at restaurants. But being vegan, isn't being a Nutritarian, so make sure you watch the salt and oil. It's amazing to me that my body can gain a pound overnight in water after eating a dinner out that was made with salt. It affects me so much now.
Eating out is a true pleasure. NO DISHES and someone clears the table after. We have four kids, two of those in the teen years, so our bill for eating out is NEVER cheap. It's a rare event for that reason, and for my limited selection too, which makes it a very big treat!
If you have more to add, please feel free to leave a comment :)
P.S. I know some will say that I should stick up for myself in restaurants and send stuff back and talk to the staff, but for me, sometimes I find that very uncomfortable and it takes away from the enjoyment of eating out. I want to acknowledge that some of us just don't like to do that and it's ok :)
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