Eating Out

Eating Outside of the Home

So you have decided to eat low carb and high fat. Welcome to the tastiest side of weight loss!
Eating out on any diet can be a pain in the ass, but I hope it will be a little easier with the information below!
When I go out to eat I look for certain things on menus and try to modify my food in a way to be more keto-friendly.

Ordering at Restaurants

Asian Food

When ordering Asian food, specify no rice, noodles, sweet sauces, nothing fried with a breading. Substitute steamed or fresh veggies for rice or noodles. I will normally get a broccoli and shrimp with no sauce and use a little soy sauce from the side. Asian food used to be my go-to but now I rarely eat it as there is not enough fat in it, which leaves me starving in an hour. Try a hot pot place, but watch how many veggies you eat and what kind as there are so many more carbs in vegetables than you realize.

BBQ

At BBQ joints, get yours without sauce, and make sure there isn't sugar in the dry rub. Skip those starchy sides and get a salad with a fatty dressing (I ❤ RANCH). Get fatty cuts of meat, like brisket, beef ribs, chicken thighs, and pulled pork. I've found City BBQ to be really keto-friendly.

Italian Food

Avoid breaded and fried dishes, but go nuts with the meats and cheeses. Pasta is off the table, but you can try a pasta dish by subbing veggies for pasta, and stick with a butter sauce or a white wine sauce. When in doubt order a fish or red meat, but load it with butter.

Mexican Food

Mexican restaurants, like Italian, can be a little tricky. Order your dish without rice, beans, chips, and tortillas, with no/little salsa.
I swear Mexican food still tastes good without the fillers. Ask for lettuce wraps instead of tortillas. If they don't have it, try shredded lettuce. I always order fajitas with extra guacamole, sour cream, and cheese. Uncle Julio's is the best (ask for EXTRA Mexican butter), but for a quick lunch, Chipotle can't be beat.

Wine Bar

Charcuterie plates are a great option wherever you find them, since they usually include meat, cheese, and olives. Be careful of pub cheese, or cheese balls that are easily spreadable as carbs are normally added to make them that way. Chèvre, Bries, Camembert, etc, are generally pretty safe though.

Sushi

A lot of sushi places can wrap their rolls in cucumber rather than rice on request. You can also order sashimi with slices of avocado and cucumber. Be careful with the pickled ginger because it's actually fairly high carb, as I found out after eating a week's worth of carbs in one sitting. I ate a truly frightening amount of that ish is what I'm saying.

Subbing this for that

Sandwiches/Burgers

Replace the bread with lettuce. Pass on the ketchup (unless you use low-sugar ketchup). Avoid sauce with any sugar. Tomatoes are the devil. (I have an unreasonable hatred of them, but also carbs.) Ask for mayo, aoili, or Ranch. Add Cheese Always. Extra bacon (like I really have to say it).

Baked Potato

Loaded veggies are a good replacement for this carb-heavy tuber. I ask for Broccoli or Cauliflower smothered in butter, cheese, bacon, sour cream, and green onion.

Starchy sides ( potato, rice, beans, & corn)

I usually ask for a side salad or get a veggie. Make sure to get low carb veggies (zucchini, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, asparagus, and spinach). If the veggies are dry, ask for real butter. Most places have butter for bread and trust me - butter makes everything better.

Pasta

Sometimes those pasta dishes just sound like a good flavor. I have ordered shrimp pasta in a white wine garlic butter sauce but instead of pasta I get it over veggies.

Soup

You never know what's hidden in there, so DON'T DO IT!! Seriously it't like a bowl of hidden carbs. Unless I or my bf made it I won't touch anyone's soup. Sub a salad or side veggies instead.

Salad

Watch out for tomatoes, carrots, potato, corn, or crutons in your leafy greens. Get a fatty dressing like ceasar, ranch, or olive oil and vinegar. Avoid most vinaigrettes, and any dressing with a fruit base or honey.

When I am concerned with upsetting a waiter I say something like "I'm really sorry to do this, but I have weird diet restrictions which I have to be pretty strict about. But, since I've lost (insert weight here) it's working for me, so I don't want to mess it up."
Don't let the fear of upsetting a few people along the way stop you from achieving your goals; the vast majority of people are really supportive. I've found that by opening myself up to strangers I get a lot more help and everything seems to flow better.