Were there any surprises? After cleaning out my cabinets, I’m proud to say there wasn’t much to throw away; I realized I wasn’t too off track. Woohoo! Recently I was out to dinner at one of my favorite seafood restaurants in beautiful San Diego. As I read the menu, I realized I would have issues with a lot of the sauces, condiments, etc that accompanied certain items, so I started to look for the most simply prepared foods. Finally when our server came around I started to ask her questions. (My wonderful nutritionist, Sally, has highly recommended that I stay away from certain foods  and combinations of foods for the next 6 months. Wait till you get a load of what they are!) Anyway, after about 11 questions, she asked me, “What are you trying to avoid?” When I started to give her my list, which included MSG and all it’s cousins, she was very honest with me and responded, “I know we are mostly MSG free, but let me check on those ingredients to confirm.” What a doll! I couldn’t believe her honestly. I appreciated the candor in her answers. I got to enjoy an amazing meal without feeling crummy the next day. Don’t be afraid to ask your server questions about whether or not they actually produce something from scratch and what actually goes into it. You may be surprised how honest those answers come. Although eating out may have challenges for some of you with food allergies or dietary restrictions, it’s definitely not impossible. It affords you the opportunity to educate yourself about food origins.