I travel frequently for work. One problem I discovered was by the third or fourth day of each trip I was feeling bloated, sluggish and generally bad. The last trip I purposefully ate less and since it was a bit longer trip made a grocery run early on. While I didn't eat a tremendously clean diet and still enjoyed eating a variety of foods prepared a variety of ways (it was in Georgia, so you can probably put two and two together....) I generally felt much better. I also began swimming again, which is discussed in this post.
Since I was in Georgia, I had to go to one of my favorite all-time restaurants: Krystals! Yes, I know they are horrible. Yes, I now drink Coke Zero while eating them. But since I only get to eat them maybe 5 times a year (including at the Krystals in the Atlanta Airport) they are a go-to cheat meal. I have to admit that one indulgence had a quick impact on how I felt. I didn't get sick per se, but I could tell my energy level was off, my stomach felt uneasy and I didn't have the energy/hunger/gut-strength feeling I can maintain in balance when eating better meals over a few days. The stomach uneasiness lasted over two days, which is about how long full digestion and elimination happen when generally well from what I know.
The second meal was lunch yesterday. I am on the road yet again and also visited a long-time favorite restaurant I don't get to often. Dixie Grill on Oahu, Hawaii is a great place, and trust me, their food is much higher quality than Krystals! This isn't an indictment on them, unless I can blame them for how good it was. First, they give you popcorn to munch on and I LOVE POPCORN! So I had to eat it all (yep, had to....). I also got the Cuban Sandwich, which came with probably enough fries for two or three people. The sandwich was great, the fries were awesome, and the tray of 6 BBQ sauces was put to good use on both of them. I was a good boy and cleaned my plate. Which is the second "reminder" and proof I've made the right call reducing restaurant eat-outs on these trips. It was way too much food and nearly 18 hours later I am still full. I'm not bloated and uncomfortable, but if I ate a base food court lunch (more simple starches, some fried) and a restaurant meal tonight I'd be setting myself up for a bad week.
Lessons here are 1) Take friends to Dixie Grill but get a to-go box when the food arrives. It's too good not to go back, but I know I'll eat all the food they put in front of me if I don't box it up immediately.
2) Keep making sandwiches, buying fruit and salad supplies and eat many smaller meals throughout the day instead of these monster simple carb/fried meals.
UPDATE: Wow, I posted on almost exactly this topic back near Thanksgiving in this post. The good news is portion control over the holidays and these last few trips have netted some good results-while I still need to build my strength back up, I've dropped a good bit of the weight I gained in 2013. My wife has done a great job too by cleaning up her diet and walking/playing soccer.
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