Solo in the City



  

Eating every meal out or nibbling on cheese and crackers sans plate likely define your current food style if you are a solo pilot in life and not yet incentivized or required to cook for others. While I encourage you to embrace the spontaneity this period brings to your life and to food, there is a mid-point destination somewhere between cheese and The Cheesecake Factory that may be more productive. 

• Objectively assess how many meals you eat out per week. The higher this number is, the more calories you likely will consume with much less control over the quality of your choices. Is it possible that you eat out more than necessary because you do not have any food in your fridge or cupboards? Maintain your dining out for purposeful work or plans with friends instead of your daily default because you lack a successful dining at home plan.
• When you do choose to dine out, try to access the menu ahead of time to review what options you have. This will also give you the opportunity to call in advance and inquire about any special meal requests you may have. Remember that you relinquish most of the control in this setting to the chef who prepares your meal. The most important factors you have an ability to control are in deciding what to order and how much to eat of the portion that is served. Take a mindful moment when the meal arrives to evaluate what is served. Discreetly ask your waiter for a second empty plate and move any food you don’t wish to un-mindfully consume onto that second plate. Request that your waiter either discard or wrap up the second plate and you can return to the social pleasure of your meal with less fear that you have unknowingly signed up for the Clean Plater’s Club VIP membership.
• If you possess only a mild interest in cooking for yourself, review the Fundamental Food Wardrobe for simple foods that you like that require minimal preparation. For a solo shopper, consider keeping some healthy canned, frozen or dried options on hand that allow for greater flexibility and are more forgiving with longer shelf-lives than fresh foods. It is often impractical and expensive for a person who lives alone and cooks for one to shop for a smorgasbord of fresh food. Keep your fresh food purchases to a select few and rotate them from week to week as seasons change for diversity of palette and pleasure.
• If you enjoy cooking, coordinate regularly scheduled meals in your home. Divide the “to do” list of what to bring and what to do among your co-diners. Decide if leftovers are intentional so that everyone leaves with food for a later time. “Theme” it up by linking the menu to music and fashion for the evening. Remember that your guests are more interested in the food and the social ambiance than they are the dust bunnies that can often deter our willingness to invite people into our homes.
• Living alone means you can march to the beat of your own drum and hopefully that drum is beating three or four times a day with a four hour cadence. Most people, solo or not, perform better with healthy food options spread throughout the day. Avoid the common pitfall of pendulum-like eating that can contribute to pendulum-like moods and energy levels.