How to Eat Healthy At Olive Garden

When I first started as a health coach, I was unrealistic with myself and my clients about always cooking at home. I now realize that sometimes we choose to eat out because it’s fun, it helps us connect with other people, and it’s a welcome change in our routine. I now focus on (and help my clients focus on) small tweaks that we can make when eating out that lead to great energy levels and help us crush our health goals.

What healthy choices can we make when eating out?

Even though cooking at home with fresh organic whole food ingredients is one of my core health values, I sometimes make the choice to eat out and I have a proven formula that always leaves me feeling energized, satisfied and still in alignment with my health goals.

Here is my easy formula: This combination leaves me feeling full, satisfied and with high energy levels for hours to come.

Start with a salad dressed in olive oil vinaigrette (no seed oils please!)
Order a protein (chicken)
Welcome the fat that comes naturally with the chicken
Order some veggies (broccoli)

The Grilled Chicken Margherita Plate at Olive Garden checks off all the boxes. It comes with unlimited salad so I started with several plates of salad. I then ate the parmesan cheese coated chicken and broccoli which made me feel pleasantly full and satisfied. I had unsweetened iced tea and a few delightful spoonfuls of dessert at the end.

As a mom of three girls, I want to feel energized!

Why does this meal leave me with energy?

The fiber from the salad and veggies, along with protein and fat will keep blood glucose nice and steady without the big highs and consequent lows. Now, if you want dessert, have it at the end of your meal, and most importantly, enjoy every indulgent bite. I’ve noticed that when I truly stop and savor every bite, I only need a few spoonfuls of desert to be fully satisfied. Leaving the sugar for the end of the meal will help your body absorb it slower, thus not causing insulin to rise as much, and allowing your body to actually use that energy for fuel instead of storing it as fat.

I felt energized, full, and I wasn't sleepy or dragging afterwards like I usually would be after a pasta meal. What a difference to my pasta and breadbasket days when my energy would tank so badly, I couldn’t accomplish much for the rest of the day and that’s just not cool for a mom because I have things to do!

I hope you enjoyed my tips for eating out and still feeling and looking great. It is my mission to help my clients see that crushing their health goals can be easy when you stick to simple formulas and systems. The key is to find a health system that works for you! Enjoy!