The past two weeks have been booked with events, work, and the busyness of life. I have to admit, week one was a piece of dairy-free and sugar-free cake, but it’s been hard sticking to my elimination diet for the past couple of weeks. The big difference? I haven’t been home as much and did not have time to plan and prep meals.
When you’re on the go, it’s easy to avoid alcohol, dairy, and caffeine, but avoiding sugar can be a nightmare. With my busy schedule, I had to eat at restaurants and get take out. When eating out, there is no way to avoid refined sugar fully, unless you want to be the worst customer at a restaurant. So I decided to do my research and just try my best.
Here are some tips I learned when you’re avoiding sugar at restaurants:
- Research before you go – Restaurants do not share their ingredients with you, but you can take a look at how much sugar is in their food if they have nutritional information online. This was an interesting exercise. Some of the foods I thought would be sugar-free had the most sugar in them.
- Avoid sauces – About half my fridge is filled with yummy sauces. I have three or four different varieties of hot sauce, ranch and caesar dressing, and all the fixins you would find on a burger. Right now, I’m not eating any of them. When you’re not eating sugar, sauces are the ENEMY. I typically make my own sauces at home because you can substitute sugar with maple syrup and honey. Restaurants are likely using refined sugar, so I just avoid sauces altogether.
- Stick with appetizers – Smaller plates are simple (gyoza, mini tacos, chicken wings, etc.) and don’t have as many ingredients as fettuccine alfredo. There may have been sugar in the appetizers I ate, but with the research I did ahead of time, I think I ate as little sugar as possible.
- Eat simple food – When I have to get take out, sushi is the easiest choice for me. I will stick to sashimi, salmon/tuna sushi, and maki rolls.
Although it’s been busy, I still tried out some recipes that were absolutely fantastic. See some pics and links below!
- Food Under Pressure Instant Pot Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal (no sugar, just maple syrup)
- Skinnytaste Crepes
- Roast beef with potatoes and kale (no recipe, but the roast beef has olive oil with rosemary, thyme, etc.)
- Minimalist Baker Sweet Potato Chickpea Bowl (subbed chickpeas with tofu)
- Pinch of Yum Fish Tacos
- It Don’t Taste Like Chicken Lentil Tacos with Vegan Cheese
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