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Eating on the Road
By Franco Columbu
columbu.com
When traveling, it is easy to be thrown off your normal pattern of behavior, training and diet. Finding the right food in a market or restaurant is sometimes extremely difficult, so learn to be selective when traveling. Look for restaurants offering a large selection of fish dinners, and you will always find it easy to choose a nourishing, low fat meal. Fish should always be your first choice, but when this proves impossible, select chicken or meat. Form the good habit of always leaving some food on the plate. In many restaurants meat is accompanied by foods of low nutritional value, so plates look full and impressive, giving people the feeling of getting their money's worth. This is a surefire way of getting customers to return to the restaurant again and again. As far as I'm concerned, however, the amount of food or its decorative presentation is not impressive when it lacks muscle-building value.
I always begin my meal by eating the meat, fish, or chicken before the baked potato. The chicken skin is always removed because it is high in fat content. If you are given French fries, eat only two or three pieces and leave the rest on the plate. Order vegetables plain. When they arrive already prepared with butter or sauce, don't eat them. For salads, oil and vinegar should be brought separately to the table and added sparingly.
After having traveled to many countries around the world, I found the best fish was served in American restaurants. Not only do they specialize in cooking the best-quality fish, but they also offer an amazing variety that is freshly caught. The American system of transportation is far more efficient and organized than in foreign countries, with over 21 million trucks delivering food across the United States. The total number of trucks is higher than in the rest of the world combined. The best, freshest fish in Europe will be served in countries close to seacoasts. In most European restaurants chicken and veal are extremely well prepared, and this is fortunate, since they are two of the best low-fat protein foods. When ordering beef or other cuts of meat, always specify that a lean cut be served.
Except for white rice, food in Oriental countries is usually low in calories and fairly nutritious because their main ingredient is vegetables, freshly sliced and cooked immediately before serving. Vegetables are not very satisfying, however, since they lack a significant quantity of protein, causing you to feel hungry again soon after eating a meal.
Always available in every foreign country are eggs, which contain the highest-quality protein and can even be prepared in your own room. The main food enemy to watch in other countries as well as the United States is sugar- and fat-laden desserts. No matter how tempting they seem, avoid them and have a piece of fresh fruit instead.