I feel the need to preface this post by saying that the title is sort of deceptive because…well, I’m not going to give you “5 ways to lighten up your meal” or anything like that.

But when I recently received an email asking for my tips for staying healthy while eating at restaurants, I figured I’d take the opportunity to share what that looks like in my life. *

Before I moved to New York, dining out was much more of a treat. And because of that, it typically meant an excuse to overeat or “cheat” in one way or another. But since living here - where dining out is much more the norm than cooking from home is - I’ve learned to kind of get over that.

While eating at restaurants is still a form of entertainment and an enjoyable dining experience, most of the time it’s just another meal for me. And I think that that’s a really healthy way to view dining out, as opposed to making it the enemy/a bigger deal than it actually is.

Anyway. I digress. With that being said, here are some meals that I’ve eaten over the past week, all clearly not made in the GML kitchen.

* This looked different a few months ago when I was trying to stay more Whole30/Paleo, but I’m not right now.

1) Whole Foods salad bar. Always a good go-to healthy option. I like to fill the bottom up mostly with greens + veggies, then I top it with the good stuff like the beans, grains, meat, etc.

2) Crispy Rice Tuna Roll from Tao. This was an appetizer but I got it for myself for dinner. Crispy rice is my jam.

3) Steel cut oats + sliced banana + Nutella at Le Pain Quotidien. I have this weird thing where I can’t eat oatmeal without a nut butter of some sort (preferably peanut butter), but LPQ didn’t have any, so I “settled” for Nutella 😉 I added another scoop about halfway through eating.

4) Gluten free peanut butter cookie + almond milk latte at Toby’s Estate. This wasn’t exactly the most balanced lunch, but I had a late breakfast and early dinner on this day, so I just needed something small to hold me over.

5) The “Signature” burger from Delicatessen (AKA the early dinner). The burger was topped with a fried egg, pork belly, and a cheese sauce. It was as amazing as it sounds. I ate the whole thing (1/2 without the bread) and a handful of the Truffle fries.

6) Suizas Enchiladas from Baby Bo’s. Mexican is my favorite cuisine, and this was the perfect comfort food for a Saturday night with my girl friends.

So there you have it! I hope it doesn’t disappoint that I don’t really have any special tips for staying healthy. I typically order whatever I’m in the mood for and I stop eating when I’m full. Most of the time that does mean I eat the entire portion, but not always. I also don’t snack as much throughout the day when I find myself dining out, so I think it all balances out.

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How often do you dine out? Do you typically view it as a treat or just a normal meal?