Travel: A Dieting Travesty

Change is hard for me. I don't know how else to say it. A change to routine throws me off entirely. Airport food, airplane food, hotel room service food, unknown food sources food, alcohol, traveling alone - all of those things threw me off.

Most times, I try to impart success stories, ideas, tips etc to reinforce the hard work I am doing on my journey and to get other people on board with making small changes. However, this post, today, is about publishing mistakes and errors in judgment so I can try to develop strategies for the future.

A change to my routine has always been the hardest thing for me to overcome when dieting, exercising, and trying to be as healthy as possible.

I spend last week in the UK for my new job - meeting my boss and his boss for the first time in person. The trip was great from a professional perspective, but I fell VERY short in being remotely healthy.

Let's start with the good things I did to prepare:

• I brought two workout outfit
• I brought high fiber granola bars to use as snacks during the work day, and before meals
• I brought my journal so I could write down everything I had eaten

Now let's talk about the reality of what happened:

• I ate a fruit or veggie at least once a day (not five a day like I was supposed to)
• I didn't journal at all
• I gave myself a free pass to eat dessert with each and every dinner
• I worked out twice (one a four hour walk, and the other an actual fitness center run/bike 30 minute sweat session)
• My body clock didn't match up with the eating schedule of where I was, so I ended up in a starving and gorging pattern. 
• I ate the majority of my granola bars on the plane over to Europe because the meal they served was inedible
• I had seven alcoholic drinks
• No home cooked meals - every meal was out
• No food in the house when I got home

In retrospect, I think I could have been much better during this trip - so now I want to devise some strategies for next travel experience.

1. Limit alochol to two drinks per week
2. Bulk up (even more) on fruits/veggies during breakfast
3. Pack more healthy food so you don't rely on local options and you can better manage hunger
4. Pack an empty water bottle to use at the office
5. WRITE IT ALL DOWN no matter what!
6. Limit desserts to twice a week
7. Ask about substitutions even if it seems like you're the annoying American
8. Drink more water
9. Walk after dinner since you can't sleep yet and you probably just over ate
10. Make sure I have a few frozen things ready for when I come home so I don't have to add another take-out meal to the week. 


Does anyone else have any ideas? I wouldn't say that every meal was a nightmare, but dinners were tough because of how late in the day they eat. I failed to recognize that my constant hunger was a combination of other things. 1. I wasn't just hungry, I was hungry for the good stuff & 2. At some point, tired and hungry start to blur together and feel the same way.

It's going to take me another two weeks of hard work to make up for last week. It's my own undoing, as usual. I am back on the wagon today, as my weekly weigh-in is Wednesday. Not sure I can lose it all in four-and-a-half days, but I am going to try.

Let me know your strategies for coping with changes to your routine. I'd love to hear them

Why do I want to make soup when it's so hot out?

As mentioned in an earlier post, Bo-Ganics made its first delivery last week. I'll admit, a few things went into the trash, but that was because we had a crazy boil water decree. I cooked the swiss chard today, just like I cook spinach - it was gross. I read that it's only really good when it's fresh. Also, the cabbage is still in the veggie drawer.

Almost everything else has been consumed though, so we're doing pretty well! I had two zucchinis that I was unsure what to do with, other than cook them or turn them into bread... so I found a recipe for Zucchini Bisque on all recipes.com. I made a few modifications, so my recipe is below:

Zucchini Bisque:

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 2 1/2 cups shredded zucchini
• 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup skim milk

Directions 

In a large saucepan, saute onion in oil. Add zucchini and chicken broth. Simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes; add seasonings. Puree on low in a blender. Return to pan; stir in cream an milk and heat through.

It was so easy to make, and you can do it all in one pot if you have an immersion (hand held) blender. I have a Braun hand-held that I like very much. It's not too creamy, it's nice and flavorful without being overpowering at all. 

After the success of that soup, I decided I'd try a roasted red pepper soup. This was a good move, because I got to use another Bo-Ganic onion! I cheated a little because I didn't roast the red peppers myself, but what the hey! This soup has onion, carrots, potato, garlic, parsley, and the red peppers for veggies. I forgot the parsley in mine, but it still turned out wonderfully. Thanks to Gina for the recipe posted on her blog! 

Oh, and to top off my insanity, I turned on the oven to make some quick drop biscuits from my Cooking Light Cookbook. They were delicious! 

My upcoming self challenge will be to make risotto. This month's Cooking Light Magazine has a bunch of risotto recipes. I think I may use the Zucchini Bisque as thickener for a nice spring risotto. We'll see if that works. Bo-Ganics should be dropping off two more organic zuchs tomorrow! 

As and aside, we got organic, free range chicken eggs with last week's delivery. They were the best eggs I've ever eaten. The taste difference is noticeable. We can't afford organic eggs all the time, but man, it's worth it just to taste what a REAL egg tastes like. 

  

The Healthy Lifestyle Triangle

There are three components to a healthy lifestyle. At any given time, at least two should be employed to maintain or lose weight. At best, all three are employed.

1. Healthy Diet
2. Exercise
3. Sleep

These three things, used in conjunction are an extremely powerful tool to help you achieve your weight goals, or maintain your already sexy figure. When working all three of these things you will see and feel a difference in yourself; more energy, positive thinking, achievement of goals both physical and mental. But when all three start to go by the wayside, things don't go as well.

We all live in the real world people, so it isn't always possible to get all of these things happening at the same time. As much as we try, sometimes it's just an impossible task to get enough sleep, eat right all day, and hit the gym as well. Even though we strive for this combination to achieve our best selves, settling for two out of three is another conscious decision we can make.

If you can't eat right, make sure you're working out and that you're getting enough sleep.

If you can't workout; make sure you're eating right and getting enough sleep.

and

If you can't get enough sleep, make sure you're eating right and working out.

It's all about balance - and making sure your triangle stays in shape.

For those of us trying to lose weight, I'd recommend trying to get one more hour of sleep a night for a week... just get into your bed and close your eyes, even if you don't feel extremely tired. If you have trouble getting to bed, try cutting out late night sugar or caffeine as well. The extra hour of sleep can go a long way into helping your body to recover from the daily workout, and burn off those calories. Since virtually no one gets enough sleep, it also might give you more energy during the day. We all have a DVR now, right? So there's no excuse to turn off the TV early and get some shut eye.  Going to bed at an early hour is important when you're asking a lot of your body. Give it a try!