Today, a guest article from Craig Ballantyne on how to stick to vegetarian eating on the road, even when you go to a Japanese Hibachi restaurant and Shula’s steakhouse!

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Vegetarian Eating on the Road

Well, I thought, this shouldn’t be too hard. After all, I’ve been to Texas (twice) and Europe without any problems, so how hard could Disney World and Tampa be for the vegetarian lifestyle?

Turns out, a little harder than I expected. Fortunately, I’m only on a vegetarian diet, and not a raw vegan meal plan like Kardena.

So I’ll be honest, I ate a lot more cheese than I wanted, and I had eggs a couple of days, but more importantly, I want to share my “big night out restaurant meals” with you.

The first two nights I was in Orlando, staying at a Disney resort for a seminar, I didn’t eat “real dinners” because everything was so busy. So it was a lot of snacking on fruit and nuts. I started the day with late breakfasts of vegetable omelets, and lunch was a giant spinach salad with cheese and apple slices. It was really good, but I knew I had to eat more so that I wouldn’t lose weight (not my goal).

Finally, on Saturday I had a big dinner night out at Benihana’s Hibachi restaurant in the Hilton at Disney. They have a few vegetarian options, and I ordered the Garden Delight. I rarely (never) eat tofu, but the meal came with a lot of vegetables and a square of tofu, it was pretty good.

Everyone at my table ate steak or chicken, but not me. Kardena was also there, but she sat at a different table and I didn’t get a chance to see what she ate. Probably the same as me, or maybe she just had a raw salad, not sure.

So Benihana’s gets a thumbs up for being veggie lifestyle friendly.

Then it was on to Tampa. The first night there I had a big dinner at Carrabba’s italian grill. It was fettucini alfredo and I even had dessert. That was my weekly reward meal.

The next night a big group of friends went to a restaurant called Jackson’s in Tampa, and they didn’t have any meatless entrees on the menu. Of course, like any good restaurant, they simply altered one of their pasta dishes and removed the meat. It was great, and so was the salad I had before it. Lots of vegetables.

Then came the real test…the next night a friend treated our group to dinner at Shula’s steakhouse. Not only did they not have a meatless entree on the menu, but they didn’t have pasta anywhere on the menu either. However, all you need to do is ask…

…and Shula’s whipped up a pasta dish with vegetables that even made some of my meat-eating friends jealous. Ask and you shall receive.

And finally, last night we went to Columbia, an amazing and authentic Spanish restaurant. Amazing atmosphere, and even better food. I orderd the Vegetarian Cubana - a giant plate of rice, beans, plantain, potatoes, and more.

Delicious. I recommend it…totally worth the trip to Ybor City.

And that brings us to today…on my way home, eating bananas, almonds, and an apple at the airport. It’s so easy to eat healthy at airports these days, that you can’t use that as an excuse anymore.

So that was my wild vegetarian eating trip to Florida - and I also had a lot of great workouts. Planning and asking will help you stick to your fat loss workout and meal plan.

To your success,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, The Lazy Man’s Guide to Vegetarian Eating