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Of course even the restaurants listed do offer somewhat healthy foods and even being single, there are still ways to eat healthy. It might be a little harder, but can be done. Lots of produce lasts for weeks and anyone can keep chicken breasts in the freezer. They don't take long to cook even if one is on the run all the time. How hard is it to make a pot of soup on the weekends and freeze part of it, keeping a coupe servings in the fridge? I could go on and on.
Soup can take a reasonably long time to cook (depending on the soup). And most soups need a fair amount of salt to taste like anything.
I feel the OP's pain when it comes to living in Miami. The traffic is awful in terms of getting from "here" to "there". My brother lives in Miami Beach. And - even though he's retired and can go to places whenever he wants to - driving to his nearest Costco (not so close) is a multi-hour ordeal.
My husband and I (also retired) cook a fair amount at home. Some things are complicated. Some aren't. And I can't blame the OP for not wanting to do complicated things for only 1 person. When we're feeling lazy (which happens more than once in a while ) - we will prepare a simple meal of frozen foods. Like some panko coated tilapia which we heat in the oven (we buy that at Costco) - a bag of veggies which can be steamed in the microwave - and a few Tater Tots also heated in the oven (the latter both bought at Publix). Some frozen foods are as bad for you as fast food (in terms of calories/salt/nutritional value). But a fair number aren't. You just have to read the labels.
Although the OP may find it hard to get to Costco/Whole Foods and the like - just about everyone in Florida has a Publix very close to home (we have 3!). Publix can actually be a better deal than Costco in terms of cost if you buy things on BOGOs. For example - there are frequent BOGOs on Bird's Eye/Green Giant frozen veggies - so you can stock up. One nice thing about frozen foods is you can buy a package with more than 1 serving - but heat things up one serving at a time. Another is you pretty much don't have to worry about shelf life - so you don't have to make grocery shopping your life's work.
Finally - if the OP really likes a specific food that doesn't lend itself to freezing/reheating - he/she might consider buying an easy to use specialized appliance. For example - a rice cooker for brown rice (or any other kind of rice). We have a small "personal" rice cooker that cooks up 1 cup of dry rice. It even has a timer so it will turn itself on/off automatically - and then it will keep the rice warm for up to 24 hours (many people in Asia use rice cookers the way we use coffee pots - they want their rice to be ready first thing in the morning - and then they want it available for meals during the rest of the day). You can apparently cook quinoa in a rice cooker too (although I've never tried it). Robyn
I'm so sick and tired of how difficult it is to just be able to eat nutritious food!
I work long hours and am single, so naturally I dont keep a lot of food in my place to cook nutritious meals. I like to grab my food on the go, if possible.
Immediately in my neighborhood are the following food options:
2 mcdonalds
Bahama Breeze
Chilis
On the Border
Barnes and Noble Cafe
Macaroni Grill
Chipotle
Panera Bread
Starbucks
Moe' Southwestern Grill
The corner Bakery
Dunkin Donuts
"Cadillac Grill"-- American fried Cuisine
La Carreta- Cuban chain restaurant
Denny's
iHop
That's it.
As you can see it's all garbage. Every. Single. Place. Around me is garbage IMO.
All I want to be able to do is get some fresh veggies, a good carb, and a protein to eat. That's it. I dont want over-salted/seasoned meats. I hate fried foods. I don't want sweets. I. Just. Want. healthy food on the go. I'd pay extra for it!!!! But there is none.
So, I drive to Whole foods and pick out a few good foods to eat. But the nearest whole foods is far away from me and in rush hour traffic.... I can't do it it'll take two hours.
Can someone tell me why there is so so much garbage available!! I am bombarded with garbage. It's nearly impossible to get like some broccoli, chicken, and quinoa or brown rice! Nowhere serves veggies. No where serves food that isn't covered in shi!t!!
I'm becoming so frustrated. It should not be this difficult to eat a balanced diet without having to fire up the stove and oven for an hour and cook something! I just dont wanna do that. I work looong days and I do not wanna come home and start cooking and cleaning.
No wonder nearly half this country is overweight or diabetic. It's too easy to get crap. Crap is everywhere. One has to actively seek out non-crap. it's unbelieveable to me! It's almost impossible to get a healthy, nutritious meal where I live. I'd have to drive 10 miles to the nearest food vendor that doesn't serve you shi!iiit.
Fast Food restaurants are NOT going to change their menus to suit you so picking up food is not going to work. Just go to the grocery store. Pretty sure they have the fresh veggies, good carbs and proteins you say you are looking for.
While I dont have any health issues and I do run almost everyday for exercise. I'm increasingly becoming annoyed and how I have almost zero options when it comes to eating decently. I just HATE the food around me. I try and select the healthier stuff at panera an some other places, but when I get it... it's still crap. Even salads are wilty and the tomatoes are like a pale red and the lettuce is like that cheap ice berg crap. ugh
Sorry for my venting
Make healthy foods yourself. And no, you don't have to spend an hour doing it, nor spend all your paycheck at Whole Foods. How do I know this? Because I eat healthy pretty inexpensively and don't cook a lot. A vacuum sealer is the best small kitchen appliance investment you can make. That way when you do cook, you seal your leftovers, throw them in the fridge, and when you get home, zap the food in the microwave, and you have a healthy meal. Plus the food can keep a month or more, stay fresh and taste great. I use my vacuum sealer for many foods: meats, nuts, coffee, cheese, whatever.
Healthy foods that are easy to make: stir frys, brocolli with lemon, chicken breasts can be made every way imaginable, fruits can be mixed in all kinds of ways to make yummy main dishes, desserts, and sides, and pork and beef can be bought inexpensively so you don't get stuck in a chicken rut. You don't have to live on salad to eat healthy. I get seafood on sale frequently since it's super healthy and delicious. One of the easiest dishes to make are crab legs, both king and snow crab. I buy them on sale for $6.99 to $8.99/pound and eat that as a standalone meal. Allrecipes.com has a zillion recipes for easy dishes to cook so you don't get bored. It's not that you have no options; it's your attitude. And you as a runner, should be aware that eating out is not the way to stay lean. Nor is the food as tasty as you can make at home. Have fun experimenting!
Exactly how is Chipotle unhealthy? It is probably one of the healthiest fast food chains in this country. What is unhealthy about salad/rice with beans, salsa, grilled white meat or tofu, and guac? They also have very high standards when it comes to sourcing their meat.
Even the other options you have mentioned - sure most of the selection is probably unhealthy, but there are always good salad or sandwich or soup options.
Err... The Chipotle near Boston College made the news last week for poisoning quite a few hundred college students.
Chipotle is fine if you only pick the healthy ingredients. You can also point at a flour tortilla, stuff it with rice, cow, and guac and create yourself a junk carb and cholesterol stomach grenade.
Of course, I agree with you 100%. Pretty much any fast food place or mass market chain restaurant has some healthy options on their menu. The problem is that it's often iceberg lettuce, rock-hard nitrogen-red tomato, and other similar ingredients that I wouldn't dream of buying in a grocery store to make a salad at home.
Why not sign up for a service like Blue Apron, which gets excellent reviews. They ship the food with instructions and you prepare.
You can also pick up a few cookbooks that specialize in meals for one or two people, and Allrecipes.com lets you adjust their rated recipes for the number of servings needed.
Get a slow cooker and one or two good pots and pans and you should be good to go. Most of us have been in your shoes at one time or another and nothing beats coming home to a good meal.
I too, feel the OP's angst,and just recently signed up for HelloFresh.
They are slightly more expensive than BlueApron...but the food and recipes are excellent!
And I think the food variety is a lot more interesting than that of BlueApron..
It's not cheap..but it gives me a great alternative to having limited food options.
I buy meat and veggies, assemble crock pot meals and freeze them raw. Pop into the crock pot before work and dinner is done by the time you get home. You can make single servings or make several meals worth, portion and freeze the leftovers for future meals.
OP: a simple thing to do is, one day each week, cook up a family-size batch of 1 breakfast, 1 lunch, and 1 dinner:
-a batch of oatmeal topped with dried fruit and nuts, or baked egg "muffins" with chopped veggies mixed in
-a batch of mason jar salads, grill a few chicken breast and slice them up for the salads
-a one-pot meal like curry, chili, pot roast, chicken and rice, minestrone soup, or baked dish like veggie lasagna
Then divide them into individual containers (Gladware single-serve containers are cheap, and stack easily in the fridge). Just throw in a few healthy snacks if needed, and you'll be set for the week.
Also, I'm not sure if you work in an office or on the road; if you're out on the road and don't have an office refrigerator to store your food during the day, freeze it the night before and it should be thawed in time for lunch. If you need a place to heat it, I learned from the Mr. that 7-11 will let use use their microwave, especially if you buy a drink or something.
I think you could pick around the foods at those most of those places and get some healthy meals, but it would be more difficult and time consuming than making simple clean meals at home. I could easily throw together a simple protein, a fresh veg or salad, and rice or potato, in under 30 minutes with one or two pans. No big deal.
To me, even if I had healthful options in carry out, I would much rather come straight home, get into comfy clothes and whip something up, than I would to have to stop and wait for some carry out to be ready. While you are waiting for your carry out, I'd be home in bare feet with a glass of wine already.
I don't mind frozen vegetables at all, so I use a lot of steam in a bag vegetables (5 mins), or bag o' salad. Nuke a baked potato (4 mins), and grill a piece of fish, a steak, chicken breast or pork chop (15 mins). Done.
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) - we will prepare a simple meal of frozen foods. Like some panko coated tilapia which we heat in the oven (we buy that at Costco) - a bag of veggies which can be steamed in the microwave - and a few Tater Tots also heated in the oven (the latter both bought at Publix). Some frozen foods are as bad for you as fast food (in terms of calories/salt/nutritional value). But a fair number aren't. You just have to read the labels.
