bringing your own beachy foods to restaurants - 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community

charolastra00 · 06-08-2007, 08:40 PM

Hey everyone! Just wondering if any of you have brought beachy foods as substitutes to restaurants you know aren't accommodating?

My boyfriend had a day off of work this week to pick up some friends at the airport so before he did that, he INSISTED that I come with him to this sandwich shop that reminds him of the street food from home. They only have two options- original sandwich or bbq. No whole wheat anything, though the rest is pretty healthy. Their bread is well known in town and you can even buy it plain- but it's about as unbeachy as you can get! So, I told my bf that I would only go if he asked them to make it on a whole wheat wrap that I had. They looked at me like I was crazy but charged me less for the sandwich and even heated it up on their grill and cut it in half for me (and wrapped each half separately to boot)!

Anyone else had any good or bad experiences trying to work with places that are white bread junkies?

PS- If you've never had steamed green beans on a sandwich, I fully recommend it. It sounded weird to me at first and while I don't really eat sandwiches, when I start packing wraps for work I think I'm going to stuff a few handfuls in!

cottagebythesea · 06-08-2007, 09:18 PM

for facing a challenging situation head-on! I've taken my own salad dressing with me at times, and I know of people who've taken along WW tortillas when eating at a Mexican places. Until restaurants start providing WW and SF options for those of us who want to eat healthy, we have to do what we have to do.

I'll have to try your green bean idea, I love green beans!

bargoo · 06-08-2007, 09:31 PM

If I were restaurant owner I would not accomadate you.I would be outraged, after all they have a product to sell, that is their business , the way they make their living and pay their employees.

i

charolastra00 · 06-08-2007, 10:14 PM

I don't understand how accommodating a person's dietary needs is a thing to be outraged about! By that logic, it's a crime for me to not ask for cheese, nuts, or soy on something or, *gasp*, return it when a menu does not label correctly or a server ignores my requests because I am allergic. Or ask for no pork or shellfish products on my plate because I'm Jewish! But that's their product to sell so I should just put up and shut up. If I'm paying $6 for a sandwich, it sure as **** better be in a form that I can eat it. It was no great strain for them to put their food that they're grilling at the counter on a vessel that I can eat it on!

I have to ask for different dietary accommodations if I ever want to eat out due to my allergies. People do it every day or else they would not be able to eat out at all or risk having to use an epi pen or having a severe skin reaction. How is bringing my own bread (which is saving the company money) any different?

fl_mom · 06-08-2007, 11:17 PM

I agree with Bargoo, I think it's rude to take your own bread (or bread type item) and ask them to use it. If there is something you don't want to eat out of their menu items, you don't have to eat them, in fact, you don't have to eat there at all. You could have taken your own food, had your BF go in and buy what he wanted and then eaten somewhere else or asked them if they minded if you ate the food your brought inside. Another option could have been for you to buy the inside of the sandwich and add it to your wrap yourself.

I think taking your own tortillas (to use yourself), tea, salad dressing, or other condiment is something else entirely. This is a supplement to your meal and not replacing something that you would have ordered.

<How is bringing my own bread (which is saving the company money) any different?>
If they charged you less, you didn't save them any money.

betsysunqueen · 06-08-2007, 11:46 PM

I love how you handled that situation!

I've learned to be a lot more assertive in both asking questions about how food is prepared or asking if something can be prepared differently--the worst that can happen is that they'll say no. By the way, many places let you bring a big group in for a dinner celebration and bring your own cake. Does it "hurt" their dessert sales? Technically yes, but then they get all the business from the group dinner. It isn't like the place had to toss the bread they would have used for your sandwich--they didn't lose anything, they gained your business.

Great idea with the green beans as well.

Liannie · 06-09-2007, 04:25 PM

Wow, I never thought people could disagree so much over a restaurant sandwich. I'm not trying to start a war here but I'm wondering what those of you who disagreed about the wrap would do if you were asked to go someplace where they didn't have the healthy foods you are trying to eat. When confronted with this situation in the past, I would just forget the diet or whatever I was on and eat the unhealthy stuff. I sure can't do that in the future. Would you just not go? Would you go and not eat at all?

ladybugnessa · 06-09-2007, 04:35 PM

i would have eaten the filling without the bread.

i would NOT bring my own food to a resturant.

in some places that's probably illegal to ask them to cook YOUR food in THEIR kitchen.

that being said, I do take my own food to friends houses.

fl_mom · 06-09-2007, 04:36 PM

I have both declined and gone but not eaten. If it's not with a group I usually say that due to health restrictions, I can't pick items from the menu and would rather go somewhere else. A few weeks ago, I was invited to Bucca de Beppo for a group dinner while on a very restrictive diet before a procedure. I called ahead and asked them if it was ok to bring my own (liquid dinner) since they would not have anything that I would be able to order and they said SURE. IMO, it's always better to ask ahead rather than cause an ackward situation later. I would never have asked for them to cook anything I brought for myself, I guess that's the only part I have a problem with.

bargoo · 06-09-2007, 05:25 PM

I would do the same as Nessa , eat the filling but not the bread.Substituting the restaurants own food for something else on their menu is entirely different and perfectly acceptable. Bringing your own food to a restaurant and having them prepare and serve it , not acceptable. I believe some cities do not allow it because of health code rules, all restaurants must abide by them.

ladybugnessa · 06-09-2007, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liannie

Wow, I never thought people could disagree so much over a restaurant sandwich. I'm not trying to start a war here but I'm wondering what those of you who disagreed about the wrap would do if you were asked to go someplace where they didn't have the healthy foods you are trying to eat. When confronted with this situation in the past, I would just forget the diet or whatever I was on and eat the unhealthy stuff. I sure can't do that in the future. Would you just not go? Would you go and not eat at all?

this happened to me back in march. it was my second bout of phase 1 (which i was doing directly from a loos phase 2 not because i had fallen off the beach but because my cravings were OUT OF CONTROL).... we went out

we stopped at a place where DH daughter and friend got cheesesteak subs and i ordered a salad.... NO salad. I tried for a turkey sandwich and would have eaten just the turkey NO such luck....

i was STARVING.... I had NO choice

i ordered a small veggie pizza and ate the toppings... left the crust...

life goes on... ya do what ya gotta do.... who cares how it looked or what i wasted.... i took care of me.

bargoo · 06-09-2007, 07:51 PM

Sounds sensible to me, Nessa. I would and have done the same thing.I don't say anything about it I just let people think that is what I prefer.Have you noticed people who are not on diets , do things like eat half a sandwich or eat only soup or salad and they don't feel compelled to explain why.I had a neighbor who would eat half an apple for lunch , she wasn't on a diet, food just wasn't that important to her, she wasn't anorexic either.

ladybugnessa · 06-09-2007, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bargoo

Sounds sensible to me, Nessa. I would and have done the same thing.I don't say anything about it I just let people think that is what I prefer.Have you noticed people who are not on diets , do things like eat half a sandwich or eat only soup or salad and they don't feel compelled to explain why.I had a neighbor who would eat half an apple for lunch , she wasn't on a diet, food just wasn't that important to her, she wasn't anorexic either.

agreed.

first thing we have to learn is that we are not the center of anyones universe but our own. ( i keep telling the 15 yr old that-- she's not getting it)

second thing is.... folks that are at a normal weight have very different relationsips with food than obese people.... they do eat less... drives me nuts how much i can eat and eat and eat and eat... that is not the way it should be...

i owe no one an explanation about anything (albeit i do owe the husband but that's different he doesnt' ask or care why i eat what i eat or when i eat it) so anyone else who asks... gets "THE STARE" and the Miss Piggy voice "HOW RUDE".... and a toss of my head...

but no one asks... no one but me cares... and if they do they have very small lives.

srmb60 · 06-09-2007, 08:05 PM

Does anyone on 3FC work for a Board of Health or Provincial Ministry of Health? I wonder what they think.

tomandkara · 06-09-2007, 08:21 PM

I am a vegetarian so I often will ask restaurants to prepare meals they have on their menus a little differently so as to not include meat (like a grilled chicken salad without the chicken). Sometimes I get charged less, sometimes not. But I've found that there is always something I can get. Steakhouses...you'd think they'd be awful for me, not so, great salads! Seafood places...again, what would a vegetarian eat there? Most have a pasta dish with veggies and shrimp or something of the like. Ask for the veggies steamed as a side dish.

When my son was younger, he suffered from many, many food allergies. While he was still nursing, I had to cut all of those things out of my diet as well. His list was long, but his big ones were wheat, rice, soy, green beans, turnips, grapefruit, vinegar, cinnamon... I never went out and didn't have something to eat.

I have no problem asking a restaurant to cook or serve their own food differently. While I did bring food for my son when he was a baby to restaurants, I did not ask them to prepare it. I wouldn't bring my own food to a restaurant. There is always something you can get. Trust me, I've been there.

Kara