Does dining out have to sabotage your health goals?

Rick and I had a date night on Saturday. We tried a new restaurant and sat at a table with a view of the ocean. It’s migratory season here on the west coast and there were many birds resting on the shoreline. We were entertained by eagles hunting and being chased by seagulls, and then the seagulls being chased by eagles. It was quite beautiful to witness.

Okay, on with my inflammation story.

I ordered a green salad to start, then halibut as my main course. Of course, I made sure the meal was gluten-free. The halibut was placed on a sun-dried tomato CREAM sauce, no flour thickener. It was oh so delicious.

I devoured the whole plate, cream sauce and all.

Within an hour, the stomach pain began. I have natural remedies at home to help with situations like these. I started with digestive enzymes, then curcumin, aloe vera juice, and finally, probiotics. None of it helped.

I woke up the next morning with full-body pain and inflammation. And my scale told me I was 3.6 pounds heavier!!! How is that even possible? (Trust me, it’s possible!)

My immune system continued to react for another 7 days before the pain and stiffness in my joints and bloated belly began to subside and my weight came back down.

I’m sharing this, so you don’t make the same mistake I did.

You CAN dine out and NOT sabotage your health and weight loss goals. Here’s how:

3 Things I Could Have Done Differently.

• I could have asked for salad dressing on the side. Restaurants use seed oils which are inflammatory.
• I could have brought my own olive oil dressing. Even if a restaurant uses olive oil, it sits in a hot kitchen and likely goes rancid.
• Most importantly, I could have asked for the cream sauce on the side (or better still, requested it be left off the plate entirely, just to be safe).

After this experience, I made a commitment to make my own sun-dried tomato cream sauce with coconut cream instead. I’d like to share the recipe with you here.

Because we should never feel deprived when we eat cleanly for our health.

Onward, to delicious health!