"It's Impossible to..."

"It's impossible to eat healthy while on the road."

True or False? Fact or Fiction? Reality or Excuse?

I had another business trip this week. It was only a 2 day trip with one client meeting. Much easier than last week's 4 day trip with 7 client meetings. My coworker and I were flying from Boston to Memphis. Right at my gate was a Legal Seafood. I ordered grilled haddock and broccoli to go.

Great move for the diet, but little did I know, our plane was a small regional jet. It was actually the broccoli that smelled more, but I'm pretty sure I got some looks of disgust from other passengers for smelling up the plane. At least I fit in the seat. 

I used to use the entire seat belt. Physically, I hardly even remember what being this big feels like. I will never forget what it feels like emotionally.



I love taking off and seeing Boston, with the deep blue ocean surrounding it. It reminds me of how, in just a month or two, we will be able to take long walks on the beach with Jaxson and Mario.

 

We landed and it was dark in Memphis. Surprisingly, it was just as cold as in Boston. We took a shuttle to our hotel, and ordered salads for dinner from the hotel bistro. A completely healthy day of eating while on the road.

The next morning, I attempted a short workout in the hotel gym. I ran some intervals (1 minute on 1 minute off) for about 12 minutes. Then I made up a circuit. The only dumbbells they had were 15lbs, which is very light for me for a chest press, so I did 3 sets of 40 reps combined with 12 tricep dips in each set. I ended with 48 jumping lunges. At least it was something. Always better than nothing.

We ordered the scrambled egg breakfast "with no bacon, no home fries, and not toast". The waitress exclaimed "so, basically, $10 for nothin'?!"

 

Our client meeting went very well. Each time I present in front of executives, my confidence increases. I am really actually starting to feel comfortable. I'm glad my job constantly gives me the opportunity to develop and grow in so many areas.

Back at the airport, we found a Moe's Southwest Grill for lunch. I ordered a steak and chicken bowl with veggies and lots of pico di gallo and guacamole. I was so hungry, I did not stop to take a picture of it. Disclaimer: I am not a food blogger.

And then, things took a turn for the worse. It was announced that our US Airways flight had a mechanical which would result in an 30 minute delay. Then it was and hour. Then it was "we will give you an update when we know more". Then it was "if you have connecting flight come see us". We ended up being delayed enough that we would miss the last connecting flight back to Boston out of DCA. 

Our company got us re-booked on Delta. As we were about board, they announced that plane had a mechanical. And before we knew it, we missed the last connecting flight back to Boston out of Atlanta. Eventually we did fly to Atlanta that night, landing at about 10:30pm.

A Delta agent gave us a voucher for a night's stay at what she described as the "fancy Best Western" as well as a $6 meal voucher for dinner. In total we spent 8 hours at the Memphis airport! We were spent. Tired, hungry, and at least I know I was very cranky as well. I told my coworker "Don't worry. We will make this right."

We found a bar and I promptly announced to the bartender that I wanted a very fruity martini after the day I had had. He delivered. He muddled real strawberries with some triple sec and 2 oz. of vodka and of course sugar! He also sugared the rim. It was a work of art - the perfect pink color and tasted amazing. I wish I could have taken a picture, but both of our phones were completely dead at this point.

The bar closed, and now we were even hungrier. Which is how we decided on Burger King. I had a Whopper and small fries. Please note that prior to this, the last time I had Burger King was over 3 years ago. It was good, but not that good. Please also note that the $6 Delta voucher did not cover my $8 Whopper. Cheap-azz-b!tches.

We finally made it to the fancy Best Western, where I only got an hour and a half of sleep to due a combination of train whistles, airplanes taking off, thunder, and my room being right off of the main lobby. It was safe to say that my eating the next day was out of control, and not paleo, because I was so tired. Being tired is always a trigger for me in terms of eating poorly or eating too much.

So, can you eat healthy while on the road? 

Yes, you can, most of the time. My philosophy is that you should when you can, because you don't know when you won't be able to or won't want to. 

When you get to the terminal, survey your options, and don't go with your nose (freshly baked bread and Cinnabuns always smell the best). Ask yourself, which restaurant is going to have the best protein options? Then get some healthy sides of fruit or vegetables. For snacks from the newsstand, raw nuts work the best. Just make sure to read the label and that there are no oils like sunflower seed oil or cottonseed oil added (read more here in this article from Mark's Daily Apple: Healthy Oils).

When traveling, sometimes things will happen that are out of your control, and you will splurge, just make sure to enjoy it and realize it's part of the 80/20 deal. Our evening in the Atlanta airport turned out to be quiet fun and memorable. 


And I leave you with a picture of Jaxson at doggy daycare. I love that his daycare constantly posts pictures on facebook so I can see what he is up during the day. Jaxson gets the concept of "balance" and not stressing out too much. Here he is taking some deep breaths and just smelling the air.