If you're like our family, you may make most of your food at home, but still want to eat out now and then.   Who wants to give up quiet date nights?  And when you're on the road, there's no way around it, right?  With the holidays coming fast, many of you may be traveling quite a bit.  Or maybe you just want to treat yourself to a good meal now and then, one that is cooked and cleaned up by someone else!

Is eating healthy in a restaurant possible?

Eating healthy in a restaurant certainly isn't easy for us real foodies, but it's not impossible if you know what you're doing, and now my friend Kristen has written the perfect guide to help!

I'm excited to read her tips on not embarrassing those I'm eating with or our server when asking detailed questions about the food!

Have you seen this hilarious video?

Did you know that if you learn how to choose healthy food in restaurants, it really can affect your WEIGHT?

Read Kristen's story about the difference it made when she learned how to choose healthy food in restaurants:

I believe that the single greatest thing you can do for your health is to switch to nourishing, wholesome, traditional fats, but it's hard to put into practice, I know!  I used to just dismiss caring about it altogether when dining out.  I'd accepted that I was never going to get a good meal made with good fats if I wasn't eating in my own home.  But I noticed I was slowly putting on weight, 5 to 10 pounds per year.  So I started being more strict with how I prioritized good fats — even when dining out.

Want to guess what happened?  The weight started melting off.

Yes, weight-loss is a convergence of choices. It's not completely about how to choose healthy food in restaurants.

But I'm convinced it's a significant factor, and here's why:  Not too long ago, I had a week where I “cheated.”  I splurged.  I stopped following my rules when dining out.

Want to guess how many pounds I lost that week?

None. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Zero.  I actually gained two pounds.

My e-book is not about weight loss, I promise.  It's not a diet.  It's just how I choose what to eat in restaurants so that I can be optimally healthy.  Following these priorities in this exact way helped me lose more than 15 pounds over the past two months!

Kristen's new e-book will help you find the healthy food in restaurants and show you how to eat healthy while dining out – it will teach you:

• How to Ask About Ingredients and Sourcing without embarrassing yourself, the servers, or those eating with you
• How to Prioritize Your Food Choices –>  Pasture-raised chicken deep-fried in canola oil OR CAFO-raised chicken marinated in olive oil?  Wild Alaskan Salmon OR an Organic Chicken Breast from a local rancher?  HINT:  I agree completely with Kristen that healthy oil trumps organic food, and pasture raised meat trumps local meat!
• Proven “Cheats” for Some of the Most Popular Restaurant Chains
• Tricks to Make Menu Items Healthier

It doesn't matter where you're headed and which type of restaurant you're wondering about, whether it's…

• Healthy choices at Italian restaurants
• Healthy eating at Chinese restaurant
• Healthy choices at Mexican restaurants
• Healthy fast food restaurants

Okay, that last one may be a long shot, but at least you'll learn the least icky choices no matter where you're going.

Click here to order the e-book:  The Renegade Guide to Dining Out.

Here's a peek at what you'll learn more about in her e-book, check out this handy chart:

As you can see, the chart goes in order of priority from “Most Important” at the top to “Least Important” at the bottom, and you want to pick the choices on the left before you'd pick an option on the right.

NOTE: This chart is radically simplified, and based on what will have the most immediate impact on your health.  If you want to understand why Kristen's prioritized it this way and the WHY behind these priorities, you'll need to get the book.  🙂

But what if NONE of the “good” choices are options?

That's okay!  She also has an entire chapter of the book dedicated to giving you rules to use when dining out in places where your choices are limited … and she has a whole other chapter on tricks and tweaks you can easily make to improve the nutrient-density and healthfulness of restaurant meals.

Click here to order the e-book:  The Renegade Guide to Dining Out.

• Did eating at restaurants kill my friend?
• Click here to read all my restaurant posts and reviews
• Click here for how to find a healthy restaurant in YOUR city — I'll update this more someday, but for now there's still some helpful info here.