I have blogged before about spending a large amount of time on the road for work travel. On top of that, the motorcycle ministry I'm part of also seems to "ride to eat, eat to ride" more often than not! So over the past year and a half I've noticed I eat probably 75-90% of my meals out-everything from a small snack/ice cream to fast food combo or my "made-up" combo (more on that later!) to full sit-down meals with shared appetizer, salad and big supper. Is it any wonder my waistline was increasing and my health and energy levels decreasing?
Starting last November (as detailed
here) I began disciplining myself to eat more fruit and veggies while traveling. November was the second month of what turned into what has turned into 6.5 months of being on the road nearly 50% of the time. But as I mentioned in later posts as I traveled, both better choices and portion control, plus working out at least a little, has resulted in better energy levels, much less of the bloated feeling I used to get every teach due to overindulgence, and a leaner appearance. I messed up one night last week while on the road and definitely paid for it-I didn't feel right until afternoon the next day. I'm sure it was the starchy appetizers, large BBQ sandwich and lots of fries that did me in.
Now I am home, and here's where phase II starts. Yesterday I was at another barbeque place (Phil's-my favorite in San Diego). I know how big their sandwiches are, and how they crush you with fries in the "small" order. So I get a to-go box right out the gate and give away some of the fries. Still an enjoyable meal, the basis for supper last night, and a good meeting and fellowship with some guys I rarely get to sit down with. I've found most restaurants give you twice as much food as you need, partially to justify their higher prices. I'm also going to try to only eat out 1 meal every other day this week. I hit the grocery store after church and stocked up on fruit, some salad makings, some green beans to saute' and 5 pounds of chicken thighs. I ripped the skin off them and stacked them in the crock pot with some chicken rub a friend makes. Two are going to be supper tonight and depending on if I have to share (my wife doesn't normally eat thigh or leg chicken or turkey) I'll have about 3 more meals worth.
But there are some landmines eating at home too:
1) Corn chip strips have 13.5mg of sodium PER STRIP! Serving size is 11 strips.....meaning my normal "serving" is probably 3-4 servings and nearly .5 grams of sodium!
2) We are out of mustard, so I put mayo on the sandwich. Quality mustard is a must to keep sandwiches interesting, even if piled high with raw veggies. If no veggies and no mustard my consumption of mayo will skyrocket, since I normally only eat it in tuna.
3) My wife and I are going to have to spend less time working and volunteering or better manage prep and clean-up time. OK, that should read, I need to help with prep and clean-up time if I want home-cooked food! Diet isn't the only project I'm working on right now.....
4) Initial food and seasoning costs for fresh "whole" food must be balanced with eat-out meals. While $35 for mainly groceries today seems high, that's only 4 or so lunches, let alone suppers. I'll cover half of that cost today. And I'll have chopped garlic, sweet chili sauce and sandwich fixings, plus the chicken thighs still to eat.
So between the advice in this and other posts about how NOT to eat on the road and some ideas on eating at home, I hope this helps as you try to eat healthily and "as close to the way God made it" as you can!
Update 4/7: Ate a lunch I packed, and despite snacking (daughter #2 brought home almond M&Ms, which ARE health food, well sort of, dark chocolate covered almonds are!) I'm eating leftover chicken, green beans and other stuff here. Chicken thighs turned out great and I froze a third of them for later this month.
