My Challenge Within a Challenge has been exactly that: a Challenge. With a little ingenuity, I've been able to make it work. Salads are the easiest thing to order when out. Oil and vinegar on the side, all kinds of veggies, and a little chicken on it. For dinner last night, I ordered steak, told them to hold the bacon bleu cheese butter sauce that it came with, and had it with steamed broccoli. However, I didn't count on getting altitude sickness. Wow, that was worse than the worst hangover I've had, which is the primary reason there was no blog post yesterday. Once I could finally keep water down, I looked in the kitchen for a food option. I was green, and greens were definitely not going to work for my first meal. I briefly eyed the Goldfish like a hungry shark, but decided to let them live another few hours until my little guy demolished them. I went for a cheat, my first of the challenge, but kept it within bounds - Costco's peanut/raisin/m&m trail mix. It seemed to replenish, I kept it down, and started on the road back to feeling better.
my new t-shirt. couldn't resist.
Traveling is really no big deal with Paleo, as long as you plan. While my kids are packing sandwiches to throw in their backpacks for a day on the slope, I'm putting protein powder and my drink container in my backpack. I will probably eat 2 oranges today instead of one, but the fructose helps with the energy to keep up with teenage boys as I descend 3,000 feet. We made two stops, the first one at a Costco in Denver to get drinks and snacks for the kids, and the second one at a health food grocery store in a nearby town for food to stock our condo kitchen.
So, whether you're on the road for a day, or travelling across the country, plan. Google makes it easy to find what you need. I hope your week is off to a healthy start, and no doubt you are seeing physical changes in yourself and feeling encouraged. I've been reintroduced to my old friends the collarbones and sternum, whom I can finally start to see again. They've been hiding under the winter blanket of subcutaneous fat, but they're back. I've had to put a belt on my jeans, which I haven't done in awhile. Celebrate the little changes that you are seeing, even if it's a simple collarbone. We've made a lot of progress in 2 weeks. Only 2 more to go, and the progress will be that much more.
Love the shirt...
ReplyDeleteI had the challenge of planning a days' worth of meals while working the Inauguration Monday. No access to refrigeration or a microwave, and DC police were getting all hung up on coolers, even for officers working the detail, so no big organ transport box for me this time. Also, the event was for an unknown duration, so I needed to space out my meals to last as long as possible.
I made it through it by prepping all my meals the night before. I heated up my breakfast right before I headed out. I got some jealous looks as I ate my eggs, citrus carnitas, mushrooms, onions, and green beans as everyone else got a muffin and an orange juice. Na-na na-na boo-boo.
For the rest of the day, I picked stuff that packed small and required no heating. Hardboiled egg whites, protein shakes, apples, meatballs, sweet potato and green beans (not too bad cold), and raw carrots rounded out the day.
I also broke down my 14 blocks into mostly 2 block meals, extending the time the food would last me. It got me through what ended up being an 18-hr day without feeling hungry or low on energy.
Great job Geoff! Because you planned, you had it all together. I'm sure there was no shortage of food vendors and tents with non-paleo garbage everywhere. It's amazing what we can eat cold or room temperature now. I will grab a chicken thigh out of the fridge and eat it while I'm chopping my vegetables. The carnitas sound amazing, can't wait to try them. Good job on managing a very difficult work day!
ReplyDelete