Say NAY to Travel Weight



Roy and I had to travel for work again, and the last few times we traveled have definitely been horrendous for our bellies. It's so difficult to maintain healthy lifestyles when you don't have kale shakes for breakfast, and there's a surplus of cheap, free, delicious yet non-nutritious food at your disposal. It's silly how I used to say that if I had more time and money, it would be easier to lose weight. Silly, because when we travel for work and our corporate cards are being charged, and the conference rooms are stuffed with a wide variety of goodies, we tend to eat the crappy sugary snacks, and order fattening entrees and dessert. I will admit that it's difficult to order a salad and skip dessert when you're at a corporate dinner while watching your coworkers eating pasta and double chocolate fudge cake.



Play "Eye of the Tiger" while you look at this photo. Yeah!!!

This time however, I promised myself to work out in the hotel fitness center every day we were there, and to eat as healthy as I possibly could. I packed my cute gym outfits and sneakers, opting to make room for those items in my suitcase and skip packing my oh-so-cute boots that I only get to wear about five times a year (darn you Florida for infringing on my boot rights!)



"Sweat, baby, sweat, baby".... ok I'll stop...

I'm proud to say that while I could have possibly done better at the eating portion, I did work out each day I was there. There was an evening we went to Fogo de Chau, and I just couldn't bring myself to eat more salad when the price of the dinner was $46.50 a person. I did indulge a bit in some of the delicious Brazilian cheese puffs (Pao de Queijo) and ate far too much cheese (umm hello!! Grilled mozzarella? I think so!) But I'm not going to beat myself up about it because negative reinforcement and discouragement will not make me healthier and happier, ever. It's just as hard to not be down on myself as it is to say no to chocolate drizzled sin cake, but they're both equally as important to work on.



Yes, it's not some fancy shmancy $10 bag of tea from the health store, but it works. And it sure beats soda! AND it was complimentary!!!

So instead of poo-pooing my carb intake, I patted myself on the back for opting for an apple with peanut butter and green tea instead of the bags of chips and free chocolate muffins available to me when I wanted to nosh. And I politely asked my boss if we could skip on dessert when we had already consumed enough calories in the wine and beer we were sipping. Ok, maybe I wasn't so polite as I was demanding, but he's cool like that and he acquiesced (albeit, slightly begrudgingly.) 

Pretty decent snack! An apple, peanut butter and some yummy pomegranate green tea!

It's a work in progress to not obsess about food so much and instead, to find ways to make myself proud of my decisions and ultimately reach my goal. I want to get back to my super fit and super happy self, so these baby steps help me. And as I've said before, I try to encourage myself and set little goals that I know I can obtain. I may even surprise myself. This time, not only did I actually use the fitness room like I promised myself I would, I was on the elliptical far longer than I've ever been able to do before. 45 minutes! (I snapped this photo while cooling down).

The longest I've ever gone! Go me!

What are your tips for healthy lifestyle habits when you're traveling?

Til next time!

-Kale Queen