Eating out as a vegetarian can be challenging but being a non-fat vegan makes it even more difficult. I never really thought about it since I have been a meat eater all my life. In fact, I don't even remember a day in my entire life before July 1st that I ate vegetarian for an entire day! How sad is that?
It is possible to eat a low-fat vegan meal at restaurant provided that you know what you're ordering and in many cases make a special request to the chef. Let's talk about fast food restaurants. I don't eat at fast food restaurants that often but at times it comes in handy.
Here are a couple of examples:
Taco Bell - Some people refer this to Taco "Hell". Well, it's not bad if you choose the right meals. For $2 and some change you can order a Fresco Bean Burrito with a side of Mexican rice. It is plenty for lunch. The nutritional facts for the two are: 470 calories, 11.5 grams of fat, 3 grams of saturated fat, and 12 grams of dietary fiber. It's not bad and it is vegan! They don't use a chicken stock for the Mexican rice. I don't advise eating it every day but in a pinch it is a cheap eats. We definitely don't eat enough fiber and 12 grams is about 32% of your daily recommended fiber intake for men.
Red Robin - I love it that it is required for chained restaurants to supply nutritional facts for all their items. Red Robin is no exception. I normally order the Vegan Boca Burger on a whole grain wheat bun with a side of chipotle beans. The burger itself is 546 calories, 21 grams of fat, 11 grams of dietary fiber. The chipotle beans is 111 calories, 1 gram of fat, and 6 grams of dietary fiber. Again, you;re looking at a low fat meal high in fiber! Compare this to someone who orders a Royal Red Robin Burger w/ Steak Fries and a Coke Classic. The nutritional facts for this meal is 1763 calories, 102 grams of fat, and only 7g of dietary fiber. This is almost the total calories a normal person should be eating in a day! Of course RR has bottomless fries and beverages so if you order a second helping, you'll be over 2000 calories.
McDonalds - Forget it. There is nothing that is healthy and vegan :(
Last week I went to a Chinese buffet place and ate vegetarian. The problem was that many of these places are catered to the western culture with loads of fat and oil. Within an hour of lunch, my daughter complained of stomach cramps and I felt sick for the remaining of the day! I just don't have the steel-lined stomach I did when I was in college. I contribute the stomach pain to the fat since I haven't had much oil in my diet in the last 6 weeks. It is funny how your body need to adjust back to animal products after eating a plant based product for this length of time. Recommendation: Stay away from buffet places :)
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