The Importance of Real-World Nutrition Decisions

Eating takes place in the real world and is affected by convenience, flavor, social factors, and the time available. Eating healthy isn’t truly healthy if it only takes place in the home. Eating healthy takes place in the real world, too.

It is common for people to try to eat a “perfect” diet in the home, and feel completely lost eating in the real world. This behavior causes inconsistency, frustration, and ultimately burnout.

The real skill comes when a person is able to make their own decisions about healthy eating in the real world and in restaurants.

This is why restaurant nutrition information becomes so valuable. By looking at the mellow mushroom nutritional value, one can choose how to manage their own nutrition and construct their meals in a way that meets their own dietary preferences. This allows the person to be aware when approaching food, and helps them make the balanced decisions that will create sustained healthy eating. 

Nutrition Information: A Guide, Not a Rule

Nutrition data give the person freedom to make decisions, and should be viewed as a guide. I often see the person making the mistake of looking at all nutrition data as strict rules.

When helping clients understand nutrition, I ask them to treat nutrition data as information that can answer the following questions, for example:

• How satisfying is this meal?
• How much energy will I have after eating this meal?
• Is this meal larger than my usual serving?
• How does this meal impact my daily eating pattern?

When considering nutrition data for the meal in front of them, clients tend to shift focus from restrictions to the data itself. This leads clients to feel much less anxious about their food decisions.

When understood in the appropriate context, restaurant meals, even pizza-based meals, in the Mellow Mushroom restaurant nutritional breakdowns can all be considered part of a healthy balanced diet.

Why Eating at Restaurants feels More Challenging than Eating at Home

Many people say they find it easier to eat healthily when they cook at home compared to eating out and I can understand this as being the case. When you eat at home you get to choose the ingredients, method of cooking and what the servings will be. At a restaurant all of these are predetermined.

It does not mean that what is available at a restaurant is unhealthy. It just takes a slightly different approach.

I have found these are the main contributors:

• Portion sizes
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• Sodium levels
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• Fats/Oils
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• Ingredient Visibility

Eating out vs Eating in Social Norms

When the above are considered you can choose what you want without feeling restrictive.

The Importance of Calories (in a healthy range) without being Fixated

Calories are, for the most part misunderstood. While some people fear them, others are completely ignorant to them.

Calories are just a unit of measuring energy. Your body requires energy at all times, whether you’re working, exercising, or sleeping.

When I talk about calorie management with clients, I stress the importance of balance and not restriction. The idea isn’t to limit the number of calories, but to match the number of calories with specific needs and the level of activity.

Sometimes restaurant meals have more calories than what you’d estimate. This is why it’s good to look at the nutrition information. Looking at Mellow Mushroom’s information on the nutrition on their meals can help one determine where their meal will fit in along the line of their nutrition for that day.

If you know how many calories you will have by the meals you eat, you can better plan the remainder of your day to balance your calories instead of making quick decisions after you realize you went over your calorie limit.

Building a Balanced Plate

One of the easiest things to do is think about balance when creating a meal instead of labeling it as “healthy” or “unhealthy”.

A balanced meal generally includes:

Protein for Fullness and Recovery

Chicken and seafood and plant based proteins, along with cheese and dairy, help maintain and recover muscles and aid in fullness.

Carbohydrates for Energy

It’s a myth that carbs are bad. In fact, they are one of the best ways to give your body energy.

The right portions balanced with protein and fiber get the job done.

Fats for Satisfaction

Fats will help balance the hunger factor and flavor, but they do carry a lot of calories.

Fiber Rich Ingredients

Whole grains and veggies carry a lot of fiber which promote good digestion and help the meal.

Applying this approach to restaurant and pizza meals helps many people learn to enjoy food without feeling guilty about it while still helping to achieve their goals.

Food for Thought: Pizza and Similar Foods

Pizza and similar foods do not need to be fully excluded from healthy eating.

In my experience, the biggest barrier to successful healthy eating in the long-term is the all-or-nothing attitude.

What is more important is introducing flexibility.

If someone is looking at the Mellow Mushroom pizza nutritional values, for example, they might see that toppings, sizes, and the crust all affect the caloric total and they can decide to:

• Choose a veggie overload pizza
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• Add a salad or other healthy side
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• Choose a smaller size
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• Choose a smaller pizza and plan for a healthy dinner or lunch

There is a way to achieve the balance and enjoy food while also thinking about combining healthy choices.

Reality Check: Portion Sizes

In choosing pizza or other restaurant foods, size often is the most important factor, and can make a large difference.

In many cases, large nutrient dense foods can still lead to unhealthy eating.

Pizza is a food that lends itself to plenty of portions.

If you do choose to eat pizza or other food in a restaurant, I recommend the following:

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• Take the time to eat it slowly, and notice how the food makes you feel.
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• Share the pizza
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• Save some for later.
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• Get in the habit of not needing to finish every portion.
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• Incorporating this tips will help you feel more energized.

Why does Flexibility Lead to Better Long Term Results?

From my experience, flexibility is the biggest factor in sustainability.

Many people rely on strict diets to lose weight. However, strict diets become difficult to maintain during unpredictably busy times. These include business trips, weddings, and other large events.

In contrast, flexibility in habits helps a person hold on to their progress in the long term.

Flexible people understand that one meal does not affect a person’s health. It is the overarching eating trends that are significant.

Guilt and feelings of being on a constant diet are the reasons people struggle to maintain willpower.

How to Bring Nutrition Awareness and Flexible Habit Together.

There’s no need to be anxious when thinking about nutrition. Awareness is the first step in making better, healthier decisions.

If a person looks up the nutrition facts for Mellow Mushroom once in a while to decide if it is a good food choice, that person is not going on a strict diet. They are taking the time to be better informed on the foods they consume.

• With flexibility, a person’s nutrition awareness habit can subconsciously improve their choices.
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• The Real World is the Final Destination on this Journey for Eating Sustainably.

Conclusion

To eat healthily, one does not need to fully avoid something, be excessively rules-bound, or be a perfectionist. It is about knowing your personal needs, understanding food, and making decisions with the knowledge of all the options in real world situations, with guidance from resources like Macro and Meals. Eating out, including many pizza options, can be a part of a healthy and balanced lifestyle.

From what I’ve seen, the people who find success over the long term commit to a balanced lifestyle rather than food elimination.

Making nutrition less about restriction and more about practicality creates a positive food culture and a healthy, balanced lifestyle.