Planning is Key When Trying to Stay Paleo When Traveling

Now that I am more recovered from my trip there are a few things I wanted to share from the overall experience with regard to eating well and health and fitness. First off, it’s Vegas and we all know the Vegas of the strip and business travel is not the day to day Vegas that the residents experience and it’s not tailored to health and wellness. It’s about debauchery and mischief. They pay people to ensure that the engagement tactics, sights, smells, food, entertainment all point people to those two things. So it’s tough to stay on the straight and narrow when you are there. I witnessed first hand how difficult it can be —

The hotel our company meeting was at was a bare bones suite hotel off the strip. It had no hotel restaurant and no other eateries nearby and we were asked to not rent cars because of the shuttle service that the hotel offered. So there I was: no car, no restaurant – nada, zip.  I did bring some general snacks with me -Larabars, some packets of Justin’s Almond butter, and an apple and I found some gluten free oatmeal for my son a while back and grabbed a few packets to bring just in case. Well I am glad I did and you will see why shortly —

I got in around noon Monday and thought the hotel would have a restaurant – nope. So the hotel shuttle was there and kind enough to bring me to a Whole Foods nearby, where I created a salad from their salad bar and picked up a few other things for snacks in case I needed them and grabbed a few bananas for good measure.

In the morning – I went down for breakfast and they had NOTHING Paleo to eat. No FRESH food at all. They had eggs from the carton which has gluten and who knows what else, hash browns, muffins, waffles, bagels, yogurt, oatmeal and a bowl of fruit that was sitting in water that led me to assume it was frozen fruit –which I can’t stand. The idea of fruit sitting in water just makes it so unappealing.  What’s a Paleo eating girl to do? I took out that gluten free oatmeal, ripped open the packet of almond butter and stirred it right in there. So while not Paleo, it was as close as I was going to get in this place.  I also ate the banana I had bought and called it breakfast. I do have to give props for the coffee — it was really good coffee!  Coach Jerry said to me this AM: You embraced the true Paleo spirit and foraged for food!  It’s all about Planning!!

When I got to the meeting there were gift bags on each of our chairs. Inside was a bunch of SWAG, including a granola bar. The meeting coordinator was very thoughtful and came up to me and said I know you don’t eat that so I brought some fruit roll ups for you –they are gluten free. I almost spit my coffee out — as nice as that was, the thinking that a fruit roll up was even remotely an alternative for me was so indicative of the problem with overall nutrition today. I politely explained that I don’t eat that stuff, she said but it’s made with real fruit juice and I added — and high fructose corn syrup. I thanked her for her thoughtful-ness but declined the substitute. Again, i really did appreciate that she was trying to accommodate me but it was definitely another reminder of how off base many are about nutrition.

Then I found out that lunch was from Panera: sandwiches and salad with lots of cheese, croutons and dressing. I talked with the meeting coordinator and called the Panera and explained my situation. They were the nicest people and created a special salad for me with grilled chicken. Stamped my name on the box and delivered it with the rest of the order!

I did have quite a few people mention how hard it must be to eat the way I do –and I am so used to hearing that now that I just say, it’s really not – just takes planning and I feel great. Not sure they really believe me because I heard more than once how crazy people think I am about my fitness and health focus. Crazy, Focused, Committed, Addicted – call it what you want. Our bodies are designed to move and fueling it with quality food can’t be wrong.

On that note — I wasn’t a complete angel in Vegas. I had some drinks, had some creme brulee and mashed potatos but the point is -I’m home now and am getting right back on track with my goals.

It’s been four full days of rest days — and I got back at it this AM. Sometimes really letting your body rest and recover can make all the difference in making big gains in your overall progress.

warmup

• 600m jog
• bear crawl
• inchworms
• high knees
• sprints
• 10 handstands holds
• DROM

Skill
KB Snatch

WOD

• 10 burpees
• 20 squats
• 30 KB Snatch
• 40 KB Swings
• 50 walking lunges
• 40 KB Swings
• 30 KB Snatch
• 20 Squats
• 10 burpees

time: 14:50 (did 25# Snatch, 35# Swings)

So was the break worth it?  I felt like I was going to puke around the 2nd KB swings round and started to get a cramp, but yes it was worth it. It always is!