Day 11-Virgin Diet: Getting the hang of restaurants?

A busy day of work meant that most of my meals, actually all but breakfast, were going to be eating out.  A little homework ahead of time made that process a bit more streamlined than it has been in the past though.

Breakfast started with the usual shake made from the usual ingredients: unsweetened coconut milk, frozen berries, pea protein powder, chia seeds and almond butter.  I realized today that I’ve now fully acclimated to the pea protein powder flavor so I can honestly say I’m fully enjoying the shakes.

Being pretty swamped this morning that held me all the way to lunch.  I had figured I’d be eating lunch out today and I knew exactly what I wanted to eat too, sushi.  The problem is sushi needs soy sauce, and soy sauce is not on the menu since it contains forbidden ingredients.  Yes, that is ingredients plural.  Not only does soy sauce contain soy, but many brands are also fermented with wheat products.  Either way it was no dice, so to make up for it I made sure to pack my Coconut Aminos, just to be on the safe side.

I had a little bit of fruit during the afternoon, about half an apple and half a lemon (yes I eat slices of lemon).  The afternoon was also spent gulping down mineral water, which has some calcium I suppose but not much else.  I actually was doing pretty okay until dinner time.  For dinner we tried a new restaurant named Seasons 52.  This place is actually a really nice restaurant with a pretty healthy menu, no item is over 475 calories.  They had some very interesting looking vegetarian dishes and dishes that weren’t heavy on the types of foods I can’t eat.

Even with their improved menu there was still only half a dozen things total I could eat.  I started off with their Organic Field Greens salad.  When it came out it was a huge serving of mixed baby greens, some cucumber and a bunch of hulled pumpkin seeds all tossed lightly in a balsamic vinaigrette.  That made a perfect start to the meal which moved on to their filet entree.  The filet was a petite filet.  Actually maybe it’d be more accurate to call it a small petite filet, because I doubt it was more than five ounces.  It was a wonderful cut of meat though, extremely tender, perfectly cooked and perfectly seasoned.  It was supposed to come on mashed potatoes, but I figured there was a good chance of there being cream or butter (or both) in them so I had them switch that out for some roasted potatoes that didn’t seem to have been roasted in any fat whatsoever.  I don’t say that to mean they lacked flavor or texture.  They had both as much as I’d expect from roasted potatoes anywhere.  It’s just that they didn’t leave any oil residue anywhere.  Since the spinach was steamed and not soaked in butter or fat, it would have stuck out if they had been coated in oil like usual.

With a few more dinners out the next few days I’ve gone to reading the menu carefully ahead of time, like today, to make sure I’m prepared for what I will run into.  It makes for a much smoother experience, and less awkward one to boot.  I also am stoked to eat at this restaurant again!  Whether you are eating healthy or just looking for a good place to go out, I highly recommend you get your butt over to Seasons 52 if you have one nearby.  I couldn’t try any of their desserts, but they looked amazing from across the room, especially when they were carried out in a huge tower or tray for the whole table.