Looks like the majority of the food shop discussions end up with comments related to eating healthy.

I'd like to first point out, not everyone has the same definition of what it means to eat healthy. The USDA guidelines, IMHO, are a joke. Of course, what I consider eating healthy is not what others are going to agree with, and visa-versa. My opinion, based on my personal experiences and those of my loved ones, is that regular sweeteners and most flours are BAD carbs. This includes gluten free foods, full of corn, potato starch, rice flour, all high glycemic foods. Refined makes it that mush worse, which most foods use.

This discussion can get even worse once the GMO debate comes in. That being said, most produce has a lot of pesticide and herbicide residue in it regardless, thus the organic push going on (another area to expand on). GMO free does not make something healthy, but to me more desirable thus organic includes non-GMO in it's definition.

My general advice is then to eliminate bad carbs, as best as one can. If you use the online nutrition calculators available, some from the chains and some from 3rd party sites, you can figure most of this out.

NOT eating the bun or bread in a burger or sandwich is a very good start. Taste the bread to meet the clients requirements. That bread can sometimes be the same amount of calories (all carbs) that the remaining ingredients add up to. Next, learn which condiments to avoid. Now, be careful as your guidelines may not allow you to remove toppings. Ketchup is bad for example (IMHO) full of sugar, where mustard is fine. Onions add sugar carbs, pickles are pretty much zero calories unless in a sugary brine (again the calculators help you figure this out). Take the ketchup and onions off a burger for example, then get a for and knife so you can avoid eating the bun, and the results are what I consider healthy calories. Here is where the USDA guidelines come in, which going against offends some people. High fat, moderate protein and low carbs is what we should eat.

Eating out means you are probably not going to find many natural or organic choices, not sure those places get shopped. But, when on your own dime learning to eat the right way should help you eat smaller portions, that fill you up more as fat contains 9kal per gram, where carbs/protein are 3.9kal.

Before you say I do not know what I am saying, look up Ketogenic (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketogenic_diet) and all the research that John's Hopkins has done, including treating (preventing, reversing) dementia (http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/neurology_neurosurgery/centers_clinics/epilepsy/pediatric_epilepsy/ketogenic_diet.html).

I am not promoting this specific way of eating. I used to follow the Zone Diet guidelines (similar to a Mediterranean Diet) but the carbs were too high. I lost weight but my health issues were not getting better.

There are plenty of places you can get a lettuce wrap on your burger, within the guidelines. You can have your tuna salad served over lettuce. You can bring a healthy salad dressing with you to places where you can order a salad. Bring some olive oil, a low sugar vinaigrette, greek dressings, etc..

A few fries will not hurt you, at one place I leave them in the bag and dip them only in malt vinegar. Peanuts are healthy.

Plug a few things you eat into a online nutrition guide, you will be amazed. For example, oatmeal is very high in carbs (high glycemic index) where bran is low. Bran costs a lot less, though there are other healthier alternatives you can figure out.

@isaiah58 wrote:

Eating out means you are probably not going to find many natural or organic choices, not sure those places get shopped.

Actually, in Los Angeles, I would say that over 50% of the dining assignments I do are outlets that feature organic ingredients...including burger places.

Great information!

However, there is no such thing as "a few fries." :-D Not for me, anyway!

I'm a bodybuilder. I don't do it to compete, but because I didn't like what I saw a few years ago. Eating right for me is lean meats, plenty of colorful vegetables, and whole grains. I can do that easily when I make my own meals.

I can't do that on a burger/pizza/FF shop. Instead of throwing it away when I get to the door or where ever, I opt not to take them, except on a special occasion when I need to lube my bones or when the kids are having a sleepover.

"Eating Healthy" and "Doing Food Shops" is/are an oxymoron, you can’t do both

Sandman, I'm amazed at how route shoppers do it. It makes sense to schedule the food shops along your day because you do have to eat. But that kind of meal, several times a day and several times a week?

I am totally lost. Do either of you actually know the number of restaurants being shopped and what their menus are? You both actually believe it's impossible to find healthy food at restaurants?

BTW, Honny bodybuilding has a great article on ketogenic eating, though they recommend carb loading on weekends.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/2015 03:15AM by isaiah58.

It is possible to eat somewhat healthy, depending on the restaurant. But McDonald's is impossible, especially since you cannot order salad or yogurt. If I do a McD's it has to be heavily bonused, and even then I just take one bite. At Five Guys I'll order a hamburger, no cheese, and only eat a couple fries. It helps that I'm not a fan of their fries.

I rarely look at the food shops. They just don't interest me. I assume that FG has burgers and PJs has pizza. Can you vary those menus?

If I could go to the arches and get a salad for a meal, that would be great. However, I don't trust my willpower in front of their fries or their sweet tea. And if I get those, I may as well get a quarter pounder. Oh, why not a Big Mac? I'd have to have medium fries with the Big Mac.

That's where my mind goes in a split second.

Bodybuilding .com is where is get most of my workouts from! Their eating plans don't work for me though. I'm far from being a machine like that.

@isaiah58 wrote:

I am totally lost. Do either of you actually know the number of restaurants being shopped and what their menus are? You both actually believe it's impossible to find healthy food at restaurants?

BTW, Honny bodybuilding has a great article on ketogenic eating, though they recommend carb loading on weekends.

I would like to see a grilled chicken option for shoppers with Arches and Hedgehog. I can take the bread off and just enjoy the chicken

I do a variety of things.. some healthier than others, But at least I am trying, At McD, if I order a sausage with egg and cheese, I taste and then immediately take off the sausage and throw it out along with the hashbrowns, Nothing wrong with an egg mcmuffin. I did a special for them and took off the sauce on a Big Mac and immediately removed the middle bun. So things can be done to save calories. You just have to work at it,. Ay 5 guys, I only eat a few fries and then take the rest home and freeze them into smaller packages for a treat ( sometimes as many as 4-5 small packages. At nicer restaurants, I almost always must 1/2 a meal and then I have dinner the next night, I also always ask for the dressing on the side and then use very little.
When I do a sub shop, I have them take some of the bread out and take off the cheese and use only vinegar, to oil,. It saves some calories. abd every little bit helps

@HonnyBrown wrote:

I rarely look at the food shops. They just don't interest me. I assume that FG has burgers and PJs has pizza. Can you vary those menus?

Yes! FG has veggie burgers, which actually are grilled vegetables. Really good. It can be on a bun, bunless in a bowl, or lettuce wrap. Still gotta get the fries. Eat a couple, then go for the peanuts.

I think each person needs to approach things differently, based on what works for them. I have healthy eating days, where I do not take any food shops and cheat days where I will eat anything and everything.

Limit your carbs (don't eat the bun during burger shops and sample as many fries as needed per guidelines). Substitute out carb-heavy and / or dairy-heavy foods and toppings, when you can.

You'll be surprised how decently healthy many of these restaurants can get by simply cutting out the carbs and dairy.

@Tarantado, yes you at least understand what I am trying to convey.

This is about food shops, regardless of being fast food, casual fast, or high end jacket and tie full service restaurants.

Most people have no idea what is or isn't healthy. Look at Chipotle's current issues, all "healthy" non-GMO food that is contaminated. A bowl full of vegetables, all laced with pesticides, herbicides, and other trace contaminants from processing lines is not healthy, yet everyone just says eat healthy.

I wish that, when someone would say a location does not serve healthy options (allowed under our guidelines), they would at minimum state why they consider the food to not be healthy. I clearly provided enough information as to why I can say it is healthy.

It is very easy to eat healthy at any restaurant, if one were to take some time to figure it out. If ones opinion of a specific type of food or location is not favorable, then do not eat there. Stop inserting FAST FOOD into every food discussion, specially if you do not understand how to use a nutrition calculator or application.

Here are two of many book examples of how to include restaurant foods in targeted eating styles:

- Eat This, Not That compares restaurant food options. The information in this book may or may not be helpful for shoppers when there are mandated food and beverage orders.

- Another book (have forgotten the title) teaches how certain fast food and other restaurant food choices can increase fiber and protein while lowering a meal's net carb and fat contents. This was specific for pre-diabetes and conditions that often are concurrent with insulin resistance.


- The mandated meals may be more of an issue for some people than for others due to individual differences.

It is possible to consume restaurant food and eat appropriately for one's needs. Each person has to find out where his or her best food options are available and whether or not the food shops are acceptable.

Good topic.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/2015 06:28PM by Shop-et-al.

@Shop-et-al, you hit it on the head! My comments related not so much to the healthy offers of the restaurant, but more the choices required to do the shop. On the flip side you are required (by most shops) to spend 15 minutes inside eating, which is hard to do if you only take the required taste bite. Heck it is hard enough to spend the 15 minutes with just a sausage biscuit and hash browns. I have often wondered what people sitting around me think about me taking these tiny bites! They must think I am trying to savor every bit of the meal

@isaiah58 wrote:

Stop inserting FAST FOOD into every food discussion.

Yes...please! I see this discussion and try to apply to what I do, which includes food with just about every assignment. I rarely visit fast food places, however. Not all food shops are about fast food!

On my list of current dining assignments for this month is a vegan restaurant, a celebrity-chef run restaurant that focuses on healthy eating, and a feild-to-table farmers market supplied restaurant. All offer organic ingredients and while each has the option to order less healthy options, I certainly have the option to eat extremely healthy when I'm shopping if I choose to.

@Sandman1048 wrote:

@Shop-et-al, you hit it on the head! My comments related not so much to the healthy offers of the restaurant, but more the choices required to do the shop. On the flip side you are required (by most shops) to spend 15 minutes inside eating, which is hard to do if you only take the required taste bite. Heck it is hard enough to spend the 15 minutes with just a sausage biscuit and hash browns. I have often wondered what people sitting around me think about me taking these tiny bites! They must think I am trying to savor every bit of the meal

Just relax and sip on your coffee / orange juice. Watch whatever's on TV, catch up on news on your phone, etc.

isaiah and Steve - I mentioned FF, FG and PJs because those come up frequently on my boards.

Personally, I am very happy with the bounty in my fridge, freezer and cabinets. There's no need or desire to get a "free" meal. Instead of researching how to minimize the calories during a shop, I'd rather come up with fun meals I can make that my family would like.

Steve, I used to live in WLA. There are definitely enough restaurants to feed any desire. Here? Mostly chains and casual serve and very few vegetarian options.

@SteveSoCal wrote:

@isaiah58 wrote:

Stop inserting FAST FOOD into every food discussion.

Yes...please! I see this discussion and try to apply to what I do, which includes food with just about every assignment. I rarely visit fast food places, however. Not all food shops are about fast food!

On my list of current dining assignments for this month is a vegan restaurant, a celebrity-chef run restaurant that focuses on healthy eating, and a feild-to-table farmers market supplied restaurant. All offer organic ingredients and while each has the option to order less healthy options, I certainly have the option to eat extremely healthy when I'm shopping if I choose to.

@Sandman1048 wrote:

@Shop-et-al, you hit it on the head! My comments related not so much to the healthy offers of the restaurant, but more the choices required to do the shop. On the flip side you are required (by most shops) to spend 15 minutes inside eating, which is hard to do if you only take the required taste bite. Heck it is hard enough to spend the 15 minutes with just a sausage biscuit and hash browns. I have often wondered what people sitting around me think about me taking these tiny bites! They must think I am trying to savor every bit of the meal

I used to worry about the 15 minutes, but it does not say you have to eat for 15 minutes. Look around you, there are people using free WiFi to read on their tablets, people doing work, people reading a book, sometimes people just relaxing with a drink. They were there when you arrived, and still there when you left. I just do what everyone else is doing, except I am observing for cleanliness and watching for staff to clean things. I started noticing more things this way. Trash under counters I never noticed before, dust on lamp fixtures, dirt on the bottom of tables/chairs/booths/walls.

@Shop-et-al wrote:

Here are two of many book examples of how to include restaurant foods in targeted eating styles:

- Eat This, Not That compares restaurant food options. The information in this book may or may not be helpful for shoppers when there are mandated food and beverage orders.

- Another book (have forgotten the title) teaches how certain fast food and other restaurant food choices can increase fiber and protein while lowering a meal's net carb and fat contents. This was specific for pre-diabetes and conditions that often are concurrent with insulin resistance.


- The mandated meals may be more of an issue for some people than for others due to individual differences.

It is possible to consume restaurant food and eat appropriately for one's needs. Each person has to find out where his or her best food options are available and whether or not the food shops are acceptable.

Good topic.

My wife was diagnosed as pre-diabetic and insulin resistant (which is a term many main stream doctors won't use BTW). Insulin resistant actually means your insulin levels are high, most doctors just test blood sugar, not insulin level. SO, they then give you insulin for your diabetes, even though your body is burning out over producing it!!!!

Anyways, after three months of the Ketogenic HIGH FAT diet, her blood sugars are below 85 consistently and her insulin is normal!!!! Her clothing sizes are dropping, weight is coming off slowly. Her doctor runs full blood screens, everything else is stable. Her HDL is great, LDL is still a little wonky but that is because when you break insulin resistance your body starts to use the fat cells for energy which keeps that number high.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/2015 08:29PM by isaiah58.

isaiah, excellent point on using the 15 minutes for observing!

The low carb, high protein/fat diets are great for some. Fat is the body's (not the brain) backup energy source. When the body doesn't have direct access to carbs (from eating), it will convert fat to energy. The human body is truly amazing!

That diet also, from what I have read, helps keep the body's blood levels normalized.

I'm happy that your wife is back to normal and healthy. YAY!!!!!!!!!

I stick my tablet in my purse before leaving the house to do shops. I use the 15 minutes to start my report, having done the DT portion first. Same thing at FG, Moe's, BWW, et al. Or, depending on my day, I may be reading email, checking in on the forum, or working on another report.

Gives me an additional reason to eat grease free

@Mert

I love wing shops. Just be careful, several client guidelines do say to limit use of any devices, some warn against it totally.

I normally do very long one day routes.

It took forever for me to figure out my road/ energy food. I normally have a half quart of homemade hummus, now. Veggies cut so I can dip in the hummus. Fruits that are easily grabbed while driving over 70 miles an hour rock my world.

If you want to ask if there is a jar of peanut butter in the car as well? Guilty as charged. Have a spoon and will travel.

When I get the right shops I load up on fruit juices, because honestly I'd rather drink juice before a soft drink.

I will say when the above comes together, I feel better for the entire month. But don't get me wrong I volunteer for a shop just so I can load up on the breakfast at the local diner

@isaiah58 wrote:

@Mert

I love wing shops. Just be careful, several client guidelines do say to limit use of any devices, some warn against it totally.

Thank you! I will be careful to comply.

Interestingly enough, most of the time it doesn't make sense for a route shopper to schedule food shops along the way. Most food shops have restrictive windows which could throw off a whole day and/or require backtracking. On rare occasions I've scheduled them, but only when they have no time restrictions and the route was one day so I would be passing the location both going out and coming back.

@HonnyBrown wrote:

Sandman, I'm amazed at how route shoppers do it. It makes sense to schedule the food shops along your day because you do have to eat. But that kind of meal, several times a day and several times a week?

I have no prob eating healthy but I dont do ff shops. Fine dining u have more options to order healthy or fat free or whatever. Nutrional knowledge is a wonderful thing.

I rarely have enough time on my daily route shops to get in a free meal shop. I don't ask for the assignments, because heaven forbid I need to go back and fix my work.
Do I wish the restaurant shops would fit my schedule, you bet!

It took forever, but I finally figured out that fresh fruit and veggies cut up properly make me feel better at the end of the day. I'm not a huge fan of soda, but I keep the supply I need if I have tummy issues or need the sugar kick.

Days when I leave the house between 2 and 3:30 am, I have cookies. These cookies are my tried and true oatmeal cookie recipe. I load them up with dried fruits and nuts. I also make up breakfast sandwiches if I know it's going to be a solid week of 3 am on the road.

Other than that I make sure when I can afford it, there is plenty of homemade jerky for the stupid little towns that don't even have a Dairy Queen.

Good coolers are essential, especially in south Texas anytime of the year.

Oh, don't forget; you can learn to drink warm water.

Isn't warm or room temperature water better for us anyway? Trying to find new ideas for healthy snacks to take along has always been the bane of my existence leaving me often going all day without eating anything. Want to share your oatmeal cookie recipe (a brilliant idea BTW) and breakfast sandwiches that can be made in advance?

[
Steve, I used to live in WLA. There are definitely enough restaurants to feed any desire. Here? Mostly chains and casual serve and very few vegetarian options.

I live in WLA right now and although this is probably one of the best places to live for a variety of food it is not optimal by any stretch of the imagination to my way of thinking. I prefer vegetarian. But that does not mean my friends and family prefer vegetarian. So when I eat with others it is often not a vegetarian restaurant. Even by myself I would not usually choose a vegetarian restaurant as i love ethnic food even more and think they do a much better job than the copy of an ethnic recipe you get at a vegetarian restaurant. Not to mention that even when I mystery shop Native Foods which is all vegan, the food tastes great but is not necessarily healthy. I love their nachos but they still are on a bed of tortilla chips which if I checked probably have lots of empty calories in them...and grease for making them crisp. A quinoa bowl with some steamed veggies is costly and does not fill me up. I find most "american" or european cuisine restaurants serve some really low cost and uninspired choice for their "required" nod to the vegetarians. So I will get a "choice" of spaghetti with an uninteresting sauce not that much better than what is in a jar at home, or a stock salad without the meat or fish so it turns out to be a big bowl of lettuce for $15 and if I ask for an avocado to make up for the shrimp of fancy chicken or steak that is left out I am told it will cost $1.75 extra. At chain restaurants their idea often of a veggie meal is something along the lines of fruit and cottage cheese for dinner. I do not order these so called delightful and delicious sorts of food I am offered. At a high end restaurant I would expect them to take the same sort of care planning for the veggie meal they offer at their high prices but they often seem to not take any interest in all and just pick something easy to make and uninspired. But again, for the original title of this thread, just because it is organic, healthy, vegetarian etc does not mean it is healthy as some people think. The amount of calories, fat and salt and other bad things for you in some of these foods is tremendous.
My biggest joke is a place called Seasons 52 where all foods are under 450 calories. Yes you can get a nice fish plate but with the mystery shop after choosing an appetizer, an entree, a drink and a dessert each at 450 cal, these small 450 calorie portions add up to an expanding waistline and for the two times I shopped there I went home hungry. I also ate breakfast and lunch that day. I cannot stare at food on my table when I am hungry and not eat it.
And I agree with the posters who say the ordering requirements are often the issue. Most restaurants I do you are not allowed to order the salad entrees which I would prefer (with high fat dressing) as they are not under the entree tab on the menu.