This article offers a peek Behind the Curtain at Healthy Anywhere. Here we share origin stories and updates from the healthy trenches. This week features a note and video from founder and Chief Enthusiast, Leigh Balkom.
Eating out with high standards for healthy food is hard work!
Anyone who’s known me over the past 20 years or so would know that Healthy Anywhere has been a decades-long passion and pursuit of mine.
It’s all part of a lifelong adventure in chasing healthy.
You see, I’ve had the experience of feeling vibrant and healthy… And, I’ve also had the experience – like many of us – of feeling quite unwell.
And through it all, I know the night and day difference that leading a healthy lifestyle can make…
The difference I feel when I’m eating clean, healthy, real food – vs not – is profound.
And I know the unique challenges of wanting to eat well at every turn!
Especially when you’re eating out, and you’re on the go with so many things going on. You just don’t have the time to research and find all the best places to eat that are sustainable and healthy – never mind delicious!
It can be overwhelming.
To sum it up, I’d say: High standards = Hard work.
Developing a system to find good, healthy food
I spent much of my 15-year corporate career on the road – often flying 100k+ miles year after year. And no matter where I went and no matter how many destinations — I remained dedicated to eating healthy anywhere.
I developed a systematic method to review restaurants and surface my best options.
Even if I was just at home – searching for healthy takeout around the San Francisco Bay Area, scouting a restaurant for dinner with friends, or taking work colleagues out on the town – every single time, I’d go through my process and in-depth review.
All to ensure that where we were going would be delicious and that folks would enjoy it – and that the restaurant was sourcing as sustainably and cleanly as possible – and that I could find something good and healthy for me too!
I became a PRO at finding “good food” for all. Colleagues would routinely come to me for recommendations around the Bay Area and other major US cities.
I’d follow food critics and renowned bloggers for each location. And of course, I’d mindfully scope the public ratings and reviews… I’d maintain condensed lists of restaurants I wanted more info on.
I’d pour through each restaurant one by one and get as much detailed info as I could from websites and more, looking into the menus and even into the farms and purveyors that supply the restaurants. My goal was to get a nuanced, deep understanding of the quality of the ingredients and the healthfulness of the dishes.
I wanted healthy, sustainable, and delicious.
Yes, this perhaps was an unreasonable level of deep-dive analysis! This was long before I became a certified holistic nutrition consultant, too.
Finding delicious, healthy eats in Washington, D.C.
I’ll never forget being stuck in Washington DC one weekend after work and sitting there, Friday night in the hotel room propped up on the bed, feverishly working to come up with my last-minute “list” for the weekend adventure. I was determined to make the most of it and hit up as many delicious healthy spots as I could.
I had a Top 100 DC restaurants list on one screen plus a few other reference articles by Tom Sietsema, a longstanding DC area food critic. I compiled an initial spreadsheet of highly regarded spots that looked like they’d have healthier-leaning options and then dove super deep into those.
I started with around 150 restaurants and after much deliberation, emerged with my own short “hit list” of 5-7 top spots, plus a few Organic juice bars and coffee shops I wanted to scope out.
Of course, with that level of effort and elbow grease, it was great! I enjoyed beautiful healthy eats all weekend. But I sacrificed much time and effort for it — very late Friday night and into Saturday.
A penchant for analysis
Perhaps it was an unreasonable level of effort, but that’s how I rolled no matter where I was going – whether it was down the road, across the country, or around the world.
With an engineering background, I became a systems analyst right out of college, then went on to manage engineering operations before later moving on to business strategy and sales.
My mom was also a systems analyst and a college math professor – so I suppose you could say this analytical stuff runs in my family!
And so I put it to use for my own personal benefit – ever since 2003.
Formalizing a system to find healthy food anywhere
It wasn’t until recent years that I decided to properly build this system out, to bring benefit to other like-minded health enthusiasts.
The build has been a long, thoughtful process and journey, full-time since 2018. As of March 2023, we have over 55k pre-screened restaurants selected to go through our deep scoring and verification process.
So far I’m finding, when we get into an area, there’s a top 2-5% of restaurants that are truly remarkable. These are typically mission-driven independent restaurants that passionate about regenerative agriculture and/or clean and local organic foods.
It’s my mission to bring these delicious, sustainable and healthy eats to you – not only nationwide but also worldwide.
We do all the hard work and put the results right at your fingertips through our mobile app.
We cover all the details you’d wanna know:
Is it Organic? 100% Organic? Regenerative? Locally-sourced? Do they have good veggies & leafy greens? Anti-inflammatory fish? Pasture-raised meats? Clean oils? Gluten-free and/or Dairy-free?
These details are front and center, alongside practical info you need to navigate, know what’s open or not, etc.
Find delicious healthy meals all day
Let our unreasonableness be your superpower!
Get out there and enjoy delicious healthy food, without the fuss.
If you can’t wait to get your hands on our app, you can get early access over here!
Otherwise, be first to know when we hit app stores by signing up to stay posted below.
Thanks for joining us on this journey in eating and living healthy anywhere!
Discover remarkable healthy, sustainable, and delicious food near you.
Healthy Anywhere
Conscious. Clean. Curated.™