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How to Order in Restaurants

Apr 19, 2017 | ZEN Bodi

By Mark Macdonald, ZEN Brand Ambassador & New York Times Best Selling Author

As you live Zen Project 8™, understanding how to eat in restaurants is a must. Restaurant food is designed to provide a powerful taste bud experience and they accomplish this by loading their dishes with excess fat, sodium, complex (dense) carbohydrates, and tons of calories. And don’t forget to consider the kiss of death for any restaurant: Dry and boring food.

These things contribute to why you may feel sluggish (blood-sugar spike from excess carbs and calories) and bloated (water retention from carbs and sodium) after eating in a restaurant.

The good news is that you can rock your ZP8 program, keep your meals clean and love every bite by following these six simple strategies:

Strategy 1: Decide if you’re eating “on plan”

If you’re in your DETOX or IGNITE Phase, you should be eating “on plan” in restaurants. But during your THRIVE Phase feel free to have a weekly “off plan” meal (aka cheat meal).

I have made the mistake of going into a restaurant with the thought of eating “on plan” only to end up having my “off plan” meal instead. Because I made an impulsive decision, I felt guilty and did not enjoy my meal. To make matters worse, I still craved another “off plan” meal.

The adjustment I made was to mentally prepare myself for the meal and to choose beforehand whether I was going to eat balanced or have it be my “off plan” meal. Once I make a choice, I follow through with it. Now, at every meal I eat in a restaurant, “on plan” or “off plan,” I eat guilt free!

Strategy 2: Make sure your blood sugar is stable when you get to the restaurant




Read more on why diets fail here.

Have you ever gone to a restaurant starving? The first thing you do is reach for the bread basket, and you keep on reaching until your hunger dissipates. This is your body craving sugar in an effort to stabilize itself. The simple way to prevent this is to time your meals so that you go to the restaurant ready to eat, not starving.

For example, let’s say you have a lunch appointment at 12:30 p.m., and your last meal took place at 9 a.m. You would need to eat again at about 12 p.m., since you need to eat every three hours. The problem with restaurants is that you need to be prepared for a 30-minute cushion, at least. The kitchen may be slow, or the servers may have lots of tables.

The way you can keep your blood sugar stable and prevent yourself from reaching for the bread is by eating half a meal (like drinking a ZEN Fuze™ protein shake at 11 a.m.). This will keep your blood sugar stable without filling you up before lunch. By the time your food arrives, you will be ready to eat a balanced PFC (protein + fat + carb) meal.

Strategy 3: Request all sauce and salad dressing on the side

Sauces and salad dressings are loaded with sodium and fat. Restaurants have the habit of using way too much. Think about a house salad and the amount of dressing that comes with it. Each tablespoon of dressing has about 12 grams of fat. That means you are getting 108 calories per tablespoon (12 grams × 9 calories/gram = 108 calories). A typical salad has an average of 3 tablespoons of dressing. That’s 36 grams of fat and 324 calories!

Strategy 4: Request that all food items be prepared without oil or butter

Fat enhances the taste of food, which is why most food items are almost always prepared with extra fat.

Strategy 5: Know each meal will have more fat than expected (even when you request no oil or butter)

Be cautious about consuming heavy carbohydrates (brown rice, potatoes, pasta, and bread), since each meal will contain more fat than your ZP8 meal portions recommend.

Cutting back on starchy carbohydrates will help maintain stable blood sugar. Eating a meal that is calorie-packed with complex carbohydrates and fat will spike your blood sugar, causing you to store body fat.

If you think the meal has too much fat, cut starchy carbohydrates servings in half, or replace them with vegetables.

This is also the strategy you’ll use if you want to drink alcohol. Simply follow these guidelines:


  • Always eat when drinking alcohol. Substitute alcohol as your main carb. This isn’t an even exchange, but it minimizes the damage of drinking by removing calorie-dense carbs. A meal example:
    • Protein: Chicken breast
    • Fat: Balsamic vinaigrette (for salad)
    • Low-carb veggie (free food): Spinach salad
    • Carb substitute: Glass of wine, shot of hard liquor or a beer
  • Limit yourself to 1-2 drinks to avoid hindering your results. Use these portion sizes:
    • Wine (red or white) – 6 oz. glass
    • Hard liquor (vodka, whisky, bourbon, tequila, etc.) – 1 oz. shot
    • Beer (preferably light) – 12 oz. mug/bottle
  • Drink water before, during and after you drink alcohol.
  • Avoid drinking within three hours of going to bed. It can cause challenges with your sleep cycles and lower your quality of sleep.


Strategy 6:
Enjoy your meal, and eat at a slow pace

The goal is to finish your meal satisfied and content, just as you would with all your ZEN Project 8 meals and ZEN Fuze protein shakes. We all know what it’s like to be full after a meal. This is a clear sign of high blood sugar and fat storage. Eating food at a slower pace allows your body to feel satisfied, and prevents overeating.

There you have it, the six simple strategies to eating out at restaurants while staying on plan! There’s one slogan I want to leave you with, it’s more a mantra the moment you walk into a restaurant: The instant you open the door and step inside the restaurant, tell yourself, “I’m the BOSS!”

For some reason, we get shy or hesitant when dining out to ask for the food to be prepared a particular way. You’re paying for the food, and the restaurant wants your business, so make sure you tell them how you want your meal prepared. This way, you can enjoy every meal when dining out and still achieve your ZEN Project 8 health goals!

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