STRATEGY TIME: What to do when you travel

STRATEGY TIME

What to do when you travel 

One of the biggest challenges that I have experienced with flexible dieting and have talked to many others about are maintaining both sanity and consistency when you have to travel. The biggest issue for me when I am on the road is that I have less control over the foods that are available and the schedule that I have established for hitting my numbers throughout the day. I travel much more frequently now with work and am still in the process of figuring out the best way to make this system work when I am on the road.

Ultimately, I think there are three strategies for when you are on the road: 

1: Take a break and enjoy - sometimes this is the best opportunity to just take a little break from the counting, tracking and planning. This is definitely the strategy I would recommend if you are going on vacation. Take full advantage of the situation and just enjoy yourself, the people you are with and the destination. As long as you are not totally out of control everyday, you will be able to get right back on track when you get home. Your mind and body will thank you :)

2: Do your best, don't stress and estimate as best you can - This is the mid range option and probably the most practical. This will allow you to still keep things in check as long as you aren't stressed out by the fact that things may not be exact. 

3: Plan and pack - If you have a very specific goal and really want to stay dialed in while you are gone then is the the most involved and consistent option. With this strategy, you can pre-package and plan all of your meals for your time away to make sure you are able to meet your numbers with accuracy. This will take a lot of preparation and creativity but is definitely achievable.

All in all, every one is different, every one has different goals and every trip has it's purpose. These are just the three tactics that I will use when I am on the road depending on the situation and how I am feeling with my current training and nutrition goals. 

I recently bought these two travel friendly options to try and make this situation a little more manageable: 

Digital pocket food scale This is about the size of my cell phone and easy to toss in my purse or carry on to use as needed
*bought on Amazon -- click the link above*

Travel size bathroom scale This is about the size of a license plate, lightweight and easy to toss into my carry-on
*bought on Amazon -- click the link above*

FOOD CHOICE TIP: Variety is the spice of life

FOOD CHOICE TIP

Variety is the spice of life 

One of the tougher components of a macro-based nutrition regimen is the ease of a routine. If you always eat the same things then you always know what the macros are. For some people this works and eating the same thing day in and day out is totally doable. However, for the majority of people variety is the spice of life and they need to work different foods into the mix in order to stay on track. Here are a couple things that I do regularly when I feel like I need to change it up:

*Eat Seasonally -- that way you are eating the food with the most flavor

*Buy what's on sale -- it will force you to learn how to cook and prepare new foods and saves some cash.. Double win!

*Recipe hunt -- Pinterest.com can be your BFF here

*Stalk your friends on myfitnesspal if they share their diaries to find some new food ideas

*Have breakfast for dinner or dinner for breakfast

*Think back to your childhood and recall things you used to love to eat and work them back in somehow 

*Go to the grocery store in off hours -- it will be less busy and you can browse the aisles for new food options without getting run over by the masses -- this is the one time you don't want to go to the grocery store with a list -- just go in and shop and see what you find to put in your cart.