Whoa, life has been busy lately. Since moving two
weeks ago, I have been to 7 different gyms (I felt like Goldilocks- needed to
find one just right); to Napa and back, to Thetis Island and back; planning,
preparing and prepping all my meals; working fulltime; and, in the middle of
all of this, I have started taking an online course with the University of
California on nutrition and disease (which is super interesting). I also have a
couple of other things up my sleeve, but can’t reveal anything quite yet. So
much is going on, but the sun is out which makes everything just that much
easier :)
It’s Wednesday. Usually I would do a quick check in
to post what I ate, but there really hasn’t been too much of a change since my last
WIAW post mainly because I have just been keeping the menu the same to make
planning and prepping easier. I know what I am making, what I have to buy and
how it all totals up. Not too much thinking is involved, which is exactly what
I need right now.
So, instead, this Wednesday, I thought that I would
share what I have been eating while away. One of hardest things to do when away
from home (for either business or pleasure) is to stay on track with the food
plan. First, there’s the mentality of “I
am on vacation, I should eat whatever I want,” which can be troublesome. Of
course, vacations do usually mean a time for some indulgences and treats, but
why hurt your body and undo all your progress just because you’re away? That
doesn’t seem like a vacation. Taking the time to properly feed your body is a
treat and what your body wants- and makes you feel good J Secondly, food is not always immediately available
on vacation. Depending on where you are, where you are staying, and the time of
day, grabbing a snack (healthy or not) may be difficult, if not impossible.
And, eating out all the time gets expensive! Finally, going in with a plan and
being prepared makes is so much easier to stay on track and avoid temptations.
If you have put the time and effort into bringing your own food, it’s just that
much easier to stay committed. #noexcuses.
Since May, I have been to Vegas with my sister,
Napa Valley with girlfriends for a stagette, and Thetis Island with the hubby
for a wedding. For each of these trips, I planned a menu ahead, prepped meals
and packed snacks. Even when faced with various restrictions, such as crossing
international boarders, flying, or not having refrigeration, it is possible.
You can do it- I did! Below are the details from each trip with examples of
what I ate while away.
Vegas: Keeping it Clean in Sin City
When planning any meal plan, I always start with
the same questions. First, what do I need? I need proteins, carbs and healthy fats. Next, what am I
working with? What are my constraints?
Well, this trip included crossing the US border (so no fresh fruits or
vegetables) and flying (so no liquids- which, to note, apparently includes
yogurt L I learned that the hard way while in the security line up). Also, once
arriving at the hotel, I may or may not have access to a fridge and I
definitely won’t have a stove.
So, what am I left with?
Well, for carb sources, oats is an easy one. Delicious, nutritious and
portable. I can even pre-portion out bags, and mix with some protein powder for
an on-the-go meal (as long as I have access to hot water, which, you’d think be
easy enough). I can also bake a batch of my protein muffins to pack as well.
You can also buy these handy dandy pre-portioned and packed
bags that even come with a measuring pouch so you know how much water to
add. Someone was thinking.
For proteins, the obvious is protein powder. Again, delicious, nutrition
and versatile. I can pre-portion out servings or even just bring a tub to scoop
out of. I can mix it with water (or coffee!), stir into my oats or mix it with
yogurt. Enough said. Beyond that, however, proteins get a little trickier. My
usual choices, chicken, fish, and eggs don’t travel well (for obvious reasons)
and probably won’t make it through the boarder, or on a plane. This one
requires a little more creativity…
Healthy fats are easy to pack, with lots of options. There are nuts
(almonds, walnuts, mixed nuts), flax seeds and chia seeds. All can also be
mixed with oats (and protein powder!) to make a balanced, travel friendly meal.
Once figuring out the basics, I realized I probably wouldn’t want to
live on oatmeal, protein shakes and nuts for four days, so started to look into
grocery store options in Vegas. Guess what!? There’s a Whole Foods a couple
miles from the airport. Easy peasy. That opens up a whole new host of options-
like fresh fruits and vegetables, egg whites and yogurt. After confirming there
would be a microwave in the room (which seems fairly standard nowadays), I
started planning my meals. Here is what I came up with:
Meal 1 (pre-workout): Protein muffins (packed in my luggage frozen)
Meal 2 (post-workout): Oatmeal with protein powder and flax seeds with a side of egg whites
Meal 3: Salad with avocado and tuna
Meal 4: Yogurt and berries
Meal 5: Apple and almonds
Prep-wise, I brought the oatmeal, flax seeds, nuts and protein powder
from home and bought a carton of egg whites, salad mix, avocados, tuna, yogurt
and fruit at Whole Foods on the way to the hotel from the airport. Sure that
added a little bit of time and expense onto the taxi ride, but the extra $20
was well worth it and would have easily been spent of food if I was buying my
breakfast, lunches and snacks poolside at the hotel. I did also have to plan
ahead and brought a couple containers and plastic utensils to make sure I had
something to eat with in the room, although, it is easy enough to find around
the hotel too. Forget the minibar, here’s what our well stocked room looked like:
I also left room in the menu to enjoy a few dinners out (with a couple
glasses of wine) which was nice :)
And, it was all worth it. Not only did I have an enjoyable, relaxing and
memorable vacation, I was also able to keep up with my training and stay on
track which was very important as I was only 4 weeks out from my second
competition of the season.
Yay for eating clean and training mean in Vegas!
Napa Valley: Oatmeal and rice cakes with a side of wine?
A couple of weekend ago, I got to visit Napa Valley on a
stagette with my beautiful friend Katherine :)
Obviously, Napa Valley = wine. And I may be known to love a
glass, or two, of red, so I was stoked for this trip. I’m not currently “on
season” and training for a show, but I want to keep up with my training and
food plan because (a) I am working on Operation Bigger, Better, Stronger; (b) I
am prepping for some MAJOR opportunities coming up (more of the stuff I can’t
reveal quite yet) and I want to bring my best, and (c) for all the other reasons
listed above. I demand a lot from my body and it feels better when I treat it
right.
The tricky aspect of this trip, in addition to crossing
international borders and airport security, was the lack of control. I didn’t
plan this trip, it wasn’t my stagette, and there were 10 other ladies. Who knows
what we’d get up to (and we got up to a lot :P) or where we would end up (over
the four nights away we stayed in 3 different hotels). The good news is that I
could control what I ate by bringing my food with me. So, I packed up a little
bag of goodies:
In addition to the protein powder and oatmeal I took to
Vegas, I also brought whole grain crackers and rice cakes for carbs, flax seeds
and nut butters for fats, and some Vega and veggie-based bars to help round out
the nutrition since I couldn’t bring fresh fruit with me (although, I was able
to find apples and bananas along the way- either in airports, at Starbucks, or
in the hotel). Having all of this on hand was awesome, as I was able to eat
something immediately after my morning workouts and have things in my purse to
eat throughout the day when we were out and about.
Of course, when in Rome… I did also allow some room in my
food plan for wine and some tasty meals out, one of the best being at this
Italian place Ca'Momi Enoteca. It was
soooo delicious that I had two appys (to myself) and a whole pizza. Hahaha. I’m
still dreaming about all of this:
Mmmmm. All, so good. And yes, while a little (okay, a lot)
indulgent, overall, I was able to keep it on track most of the time, but still
fit in a few treats- the best of both worlds :)
Thetis Island: Back to the Basics
This was a trip I was really looking forward to (although, I
was really looking forward to all of them). But this trip was more like a
little retreat. We were going for a wedding, but made a weekend out of it.
Thetis Island is one of the southern gulf islands just off the west coast of
B.C. and it. Was. Beautiful! Luckily, we had found a nice little cottage to
rent that had a full kitchen, and we weren’t crossing any borders, or taking a
plane (just two ferries and a bit of a drive), which meant I could take
anything I wanted to eat!! Yay! This made things much easier. I created a menu
and packed up a whole box and cooler with fresh veggies and fruit, nut butters,
eggs, and yogurt.
I also had prepped some of the meals at home the night
before to have them grab and go so I could eat them anywhere.
On the ferry:
In the car:
At the picnic table:
Anywhere. This made it so easy. #noexcuses and lots of time
to enjoy the scenery.
And, even though I had planned and prepped all of that, I
still couldn’t resist the fresh berries at the produce stand and bought some blueberries,
cherries and peppers.
Again, I also allowed for some treats at the wedding. No
alcohol, but a little bit of cheese and crackers, and a chocolate covered
strawberry… or 5 of them. I couldn’t help it. They’re my favs :)
Anyway, the point of this WIAWA post is to share some ideas
for keeping on track while travelling. It’s funny, even though I have
now been through this a few times, it is still a little daunting and takes a
little figuring when a new trip comes up. Next week I’ll be heading to Chicago
(yay! I looooove Chicago) for a few nights. So, again, I’ll be faced with crossing international borders
and airport security and I am already stressing about what to bring. BUT, I
know it can be done, and I will do it. Sure, it’s not always easy, but it’s
worth it.
XOXO
J
