I want to eat healthy. I really do.
Actually I try to do it, though it seems whenever I try the hardest to eat healthily, I end up failing the most miserably. I'll out-smart myself and my "healthy choice" ends up being terrible for me.
For the people who know me the best, this is laughable to them. "Oh yeah, Chad, you really eat healthy, hahaha. You dine out pretty much all the time, hahaha, which you actually did even before you had a restaurant blog, hahaha. How healthy can Whataburger possibly be? Hahaha."
My friends are hilarious.
But maybe I've found a way to shut them up. The McLennan County Public Health District has launched Eat Well Waco. And because I have a restaurant blog, I received a special tutorial from health educator Margo Shanks on Monday morning.
"At the restaurants we've signed up in our program, they have to have at least three Eat Well Waco meals," Shanks said. "Those will always be highlighted at the restaurants. So that makes it easy."The Eat Well Waco program began developing its criteria about a year ago and began signing up restaurants earlier this year. So far, Eat Well Waco has five restaurant partners — D's Mediterranean Grill, Pho Cafe Saigon, Subway, Newk's and Jimmy John's.
The partnership between the restaurants and Eat Well Waco means that the restaurants have met four qualifying criteria and at least five out of seven healthy standards.
These are the four must-meet points:
- Must be in good standing with the Environmental Health Department.
- Must be completely smoke free.
- Must not use any trans fats.
- Must provide nutritional information upon request.
The healthy standards are just a few more items that make good common sense. The toughest one to check off — and perhaps it should earn special designation — is "does not offer any fried foods!"
If a restaurant agrees to partner with Eat Well Waco and they can meet the criteria, then Eat Well Waco will design a menu supplement with its healthy food recommendations.
Furthermore, the program will be distributing a healthy eating guide in October that includes suggestions for many more restaurants.
"Keep that in your car," Shanks said. "It will have Cheddar's and what are the healthy items, and Olive Garden and what are the healthy items. That's the best advice I can give because it's so difficult."
Look for the Eat Well Waco sticker at participating restaurants and let's be healthier.
One more bite: This week is Texas Obesity Awareness Week.
