In today's fast-paced life, adhering to a healthy diet often seems impossible for those who cannot cook at home or order healthy meal delivery. In restaurants, food is often fatty and high-calorie, with an excess of vegetable oil, cheese, and cream. However, certified nutritionist Darina Leonova, who holds an international PN-1 certificate and prepared this material for Wave RBC.ua, thinks otherwise: in her opinion, healthy eating should not be complicated or time-consuming, and one can choose healthier dishes in restaurants and cafes by following certain rules.
Balance on the Plate Instead of Extremes
The nutritionist's key principle is balance on the plate without extremes or giving up favorite foods. Leonova openly admits that she does not like to cook herself and often simply does not have time for it, so her diet is built on simple dishes with minimal time spent in the kitchen. It is this approach, according to her, that allows her to eat in a balanced way; for many years she could not switch to this lifestyle due to the fear that it would take up all her free time. Therefore, the specialist well understands people who eat chaotically, not knowing how to do it quickly, tastily, and healthily at the same time.
Small Steps Instead of Sudden Changes
Changing eating routines requires effort at the initial stage, and the nutritionist emphasizes that she never promises clients "ease," because that would be a deception. She compares the process to training muscles: the first attempt is difficult, but subsequent ones become significantly easier, and over time a person can no longer imagine life without new habits. A sharp change in diet, on the contrary, often leads to exhaustion and burnout, turning balanced nutrition into another unsuccessful weekly attempt. Therefore, Leonova advises starting with one balanced plate a day and a few types of cereals and vegetables, rather than immediately restructuring all meals and buying the entire list of products.
A Balanced Plate Without Cooking
For cases of lack of time, the specialist recommends keeping products at home that do not require cooking, from which a full meal can be assembled in a few minutes. According to her scheme, carbohydrates are provided by two slices of whole-grain bread, lavash, tortilla, or crispbread; protein — canned tuna in its own juice, sardines, lightly salted fish, ham with a good composition, fermented milk cheese, or canned legumes. By adding vegetables from the refrigerator and any fruit, a person gets a balanced plate without any cooking.
Prep as a Practical Tool
Separately, the nutritionist highlights simple preps that save time throughout the week. She cooks two types of cereals and two types of fish or meat at the same time, and then combines them on a plate for several days, adding fresh or ready-made vegetables. This approach helps avoid monotony and stress from daily menu planning, while maintaining dietary variety.
How to Order in Restaurants Without Exceeding Calorie and Nutrient Norms
Eating in restaurants is objectively more difficult, since the customer cannot know exactly what and in what quantities is put into the dishes. Nevertheless, Leonova advises balancing the plate with what is available: ask to serve half a side dish instead of a large portion, supplement it with a vegetable salad and a full-fledged protein — not symbolic grams of chicken in a "Caesar" salad, but a full portion of poultry, fish, red meat, or seafood. Separately, she points out that the main problem of establishments is the excessive fat content of dishes, so preference should be given to less fatty menu options.
