Traveling

I travel fairly often. Not as much as some, a lot more than others. Traveling for me doesn't always mean overnight. Sometimes I'm just out of the office. But being out of the office during the day can be almost as tricky as being in airports. At the office, I know the places I like to have lunch, especially the salad place, Mixt Greens. I can have a semblance of a routine in the office that helps me eat well.

Airports can be tough; driving can be hard. I am increasingly willing to forego crappy food for something workable. I will drive around and look for what I really want instead of settling for a breakfast burrito that won't fill me up and will wipe out a bunch of WW points anyway.

One thing I do is I bring snacks. Fiber One bars are good, and they keep me satiated long enough to get to a meal. They are two points (three for peanut butter). Yes, they are processed food. But for what they are, they're pretty good. And they can be a very nice alternative to a candy bar (which I mostly don't eat and mostly don't miss).

Starbuck's--the skinny latte is great and gives me a milk. The breakfast sandwiches are good. The oatmeal, too--two points with nothing in it. The brown sugar is one, and the dried fruit is two. The nuts are another two. I skip the nuts, and I often only have half the fruit. In a pinch, an Egg McMuffin is only 7 points. That works, too.

Subway--don't fight it. It can be plenty of food for not much in the way of points. That was lunch.

I go to groceries a lot when I can. I get some fruit, veggies if they're easy (but I don't like most raw ones unless they come in a salad), and a sandwich or a roasted chicken.

Tonight (Dallas, Oregon!) I did that--roasted chicken, an artichoke salad (the oil was more than I wanted, but it was olive oil, so I get in some good fat), a couple of oranges, and a bagel. I wanted some bread. That put me a little over my points for the day, but not the week. It's Thursday and I'm not even close. I have a Greek yogurt for dessert if I want it, but I'm pretty full right now. And I have an orange left, too.

I didn't eat the dark meat on the chicken. Don't get me wrong. I love it. But I've had enough. I'm going to toss the rest of it. I'm not going to feel guilty, either. It was a five dollar chicken, and if I could mail it somewhere they need food, I would. But I don't need more than I have had.

This was pretty much my day. I repeat it fairly often. I don't really feel deprived. I feel pretty good about being careful, about not feeling bloated and gross after eating too much delivery pizza. I considered ordering a pizza because I was on the road this morning at 5am. It was tempting, but I'm glad I made the effort to go the grocery.

One more tip: shellfish is your friend. Now, this may not play well in non-coastal areas. I have an indigenous food rule when I travel: you only eat food indigenous to the area. No jambalaya in Iowa, for example (tried that). Chicken is a good bet. Buffalo is very lean. Fish.

Ok, so that's pretty much what I do. It takes some discipline. Easy is almost never that great for you. But if thin were easy, no one would be fat.