The Traveling Caveman

Since making this change to my dietary lifestyle, I have been on a few business trips that required me to make choices.  For those of you who follow the 80:20 rule (80% Healthy, 20% Whatever), this really wouldn't be much of an issue for you if you only traveled occasionally.  But, what about the hard-core Paleo enthusiast or the road warrior who travels much more than 20% of the time?  There were three options that I went with while on the road, but the first thing you must do before you are sitting down looking over the menu, is determine:

What Are My Non-Negotiable Menu Items?

That is going to be vastly different from one person to another.  One may have a gluten intolerance that doesn't allow him/her to eat it at all.  Another may have a CAFO hatred so severe, that he/she would NEVER eat meat that is not grass-fed.  However you determine your non-negotiable items, it doesn't matter.  That is a personal choice that should have zero outside influence.  My non-negotiable items are:

1.  Wheat - I will not consume any wheat/gluten knowingly.  The main reason is that I just don't like the the way I feel when eating it.

2.  Refined Sugar - I will avoid all items I believe to be sweetened with sugar.  If it happens to be and I didn't know it, I won't stress, but I do my best to avoid it.

That's it for me!  I travel so infrequently, that I don't feel the list needs to be any longer.  If I ever start to travel more, I think the list may grow, but we will cross that bridge when we come to it.  Once you have your travel plans made, you will then be able to determine if you can...

Buy Your Own Food

On one trip, I stopped at Trader Joe's and grabbed some healthy options that were Paleo friendly and made my own food at the hotel.  Now, this will only work if you are traveling alone and if you are lucky enough to be staying in an extended stay hotel.  I purchased organic free-range eggs, uncured pastured bacon, organic spinach, organic cheese and some raw nuts.  I made myself some eggs and bacon with sauteed spinach in the hotel before going out for the day.  That beats the pastries and dry cereal you get in the hotel lobby.  At minimum, you can start your day well.  This is the least likely option, but, it is an option that I have exercised and felt good about.  If you can't make your own food, another option is to...

Fast

This one can be a slippery slope!  Again, opportunity is key here.  If you are in an all-day meeting and/or you are out with a group of people and they are serving boxed lunches or pizza, fasting may be your only option depending on your non-negotiable menu items.  Don't draw attention to yourself and politely decline food that is offered to you when people notice you aren't eating.  This is not the time to talk about why.  If you want to tell them you are fasting for personal reasons, you could do that.  Most people will avoid extending that conversation any further knowing the potential religious consequences.  This option only works for "working" lunches where you have access to your laptop or tablet to conduct work while the rest are eating.  You can also leave the room to "make a phone call" and just avoid it altogether.  Just remember, you may be missing out on some networking opportunities any time you skip a meal.  If you don't want to miss out, you should...

Get What You Can And Don't Stress

The quickest way to make a bad impression on a business trip is to be a damper on the mood.  Most of the people who are traveling for business are looking to enjoy themselves because it takes them away from the stress of everyday work and, for some, the stresses from home.  Not only that, it's a chance to socialize.  Let's face it, once the real world rears it's ugly head, socializing is at a bare minimum compared to the time period immediately before!

Actually, CAFO meat will kill you!

So, don't stress about your food choices and be a "Debbie Downer" for the rest of the group.  Take your non-negotiable list with you (in your head, of course) and make smart decisions.  Don't talk about how 90% of the menu items are crap.  Don't gross people out with facts about CAFO's and what that food is doing to their bodies.  Just order food you know you can live with and have a good time!  If you want to have a drink or two, please do!  Since one of my non-negotiable menu items is wheat, I chose wine over beer.  It's really that simple.  Nobody is going to judge you except for the meat-heads at the table who think they still are in college.  That's fine!  Smile and shrug it off and have a good time anyway.  They are the ones making a bad impression, not you.

Conclusion

Traveling for business usually accomplishes one or more of three things: 1) Networking, 2) Professional Development, 3) Business Development.  None of those can be accomplished with a bad attitude.  Remember why you are there and get the most out of your time.  Acting too good for everyone around you and/or climbing into a Paleo shell will only cause you grief in the end.  You never know who will be making decisions about your next promotion/job opportunity.  Do you think they will promote/hire a mopey introvert who can't make personal connections with people, or the person who is confident in their choices and takes the opportunity at hand to network and have a good time?

The only time to talk about why you make the choices you make is if someone asks.  If you are passionate like me, this will open the flood gates.  Keep the conversation simple and leave the door open for them to conduct their own research.  In the end, you will not convert them with your words.  They must convert themselves.  Don't be a Paleo evangelist.  Evangelists are annoying!  Just give facts and talk about how it changed your life.  You will be respected for making such a tough decision for your future.  And, respect is always an important thing.

All Aboard...

Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy ride on this coaster!  I have struggled with my weight my ENTIRE life.  I can very vividly remember coming home from school in the fourth grade, in tears, because the school nurse came around and weighed everyone and I had hit 100 pounds, at 10 years old.  Not good.  My son is about to turn eleven and he weighs 72 pounds.  But I can remember being mortified that I weighed more than the boys in my class.  It wasn't a good feeling and I always thought it was my fault for eating frozen pizza and Little Debbie's and not moving enough, even though I played basketball, volleyball and softball.  Junior high came and was brutal.  I was still overweight.  My home life sucked, I stress ate, boredom ate, and ate emotionally to fill voids.  High school wasn't much better, never had a boyfriend and it seemed no matter what I did, I could never look like the popular girls.  What was I doing wrong?  I have no idea how much I weighed because I never got on the scale, too depressing, but I hated being a size 14, however, it would get much, much worse.

My senior year of high school and freshman year of college was my smallest.  Why?  I took up smoking.  I have no other explanation because what I ate never changed, but I found myself fitting into a size 10 jean (maybe 160lbs) and loved it.  The added attention from college guys didn't hurt either.  ;)

[Side bar -- I am not a petite woman, nor will I ever be.  I am about 5'9", relatively muscular and pretty average frame.]

My freshman year of college, this was December of 1999, my parents announced their divorce and I had just started dating my husband, so over the next year, my weight crept up quickly.  

Fast forward to March of 2002, found out we were expecting our first son.  At my six week appointment, I tipped the scale at 244 pounds and a size 18/20.  Even now, it's hard to admit that number.  A far cry from that size 14 I was complaining about!  I feel bad for that person that ate her feelings and didn't know any better.  I would tell her so many things if I could.  I gained 11 pounds with that pregnancy, bringing me up to 255 pounds by the end of it.  Gave birth, via c-section, to a 10 pound 7 ounce baby boy (at 41.5 weeks) so I weighed less than my starting weight!  Baby weight, what baby weight?!

Me at my heaviest (outside of pregnancy), 240lbs.

Sept 2004

When my son turned one, I decided to get serious about losing weight because I didn't want to be a lazy couch potato, and wanted to have the energy to get out and do things with him!  So in the first three months of 2004, I dropped 50 pounds, by walking and eating better (got down to 178 pounds).  BUT I didn't learn anything so as soon as I went off my 'diet' I put the weight right back on.

October 2006, still overweight.

In 2005, I got pregnant with baby number two and at that six week appointment I was 202 pounds.  I gained about 25 pounds with that pregnancy and gave birth to a 9 pound 4 ounce baby boy (at 39 weeks) via repeat c-section.  After that I think I maintained between 210-215 pounds for awhile.

Family Vacation, July 2008.  Yep, STILL overweight.

In 2008, my weight was creeping up again, as I had some traumatic events going on in my personal life and was not eating very well.  I was back up to 225/230 pounds and at the start of 2009 once again, hopped on that coaster of trying to lose it again for my 10 year high school reunion.  Which, I did succeed at doing, by September of 2009 I was back down to 180 pounds.

10yr HS reunion - SKINNY, but not healthy.  September 2009

I struggled to keep it off the next year and when I celebrated my 30th birthday in 2010, I was at 190 pounds.

December 2010, on my way back up.

April 2012

July 2012

Then, fast forward to summer of 2012, I had packed on another 20 and was about 210 pounds.  And I thought I ate pretty good, drank diet soda...  We had some very bad days, of course, but it didn't seem like that could cause such an overall gain!  It was depressing, and I hated what I saw in the mirror.  I had resigned to the fact that I would never wear a two piece bathing suit and that I couldn't sustain any kind of real weight loss.  I despised clothes shopping.  Bathing suits, bras, pants, nothing cute ever fit.  And of course, I blamed myself.  Surely it was a matter of will power, right?  I was just as brainwashed as the next person, that low fat was how you lost weight.  Eat less and exercise more.

I have been paleo for seven months now and have been maintaining 170 pounds for the last five!  If you look back, that's the lowest I've weighed since college!  But the best part is, I am off that roller coaster!  Heck, I'm not even inside the theme park anymore.  I know now!  I know what to eat, I know how to keep the weight off, I know what I will never eat again and I know what makes me healthier.  I have educated myself and I can never be obese again and it feels really good to say that.  Plus, I am never hungry!  By filling up on healthy fats and proteins, you stay fuller much longer than if you're eating empty sugar carbs.  Boy, did I put my body through the ringer all those years of yo-yo dieting.  Losing and gaining weight like that is not healthy for your body!

Summer 2013

Fall 2013

It's not really a secret, the key is really just eating real food.  REAL food, not fake food.  Not stuff in cans, cartons and boxes.  Food that grows, food without labels.  The food we were meant to eat.  If you can't grow it yourself or kill it yourself, you shouldn't be eating it.  Period.  If you eat crap, you're going to look like crap.  Are there times I want to eat that Licorice or Milky Way?  Absolutely, I would be lying if I said I wasn't sometimes tempted.  But it's so easy to resist, because I have educated myself.  So when I am craving something sweet, we have dark chocolate (quality ingredients and at least 85% cocoa) or I make a paleo friendly treat.  I have a much healthier relationship with food now.  I eat to live, I don't live to eat.  Food isn't constantly on my mind, my stomach isn't always growling and I am nourishing my body with excellent nutrition.  I eat things like pastured eggs, kale, avocado, carrots, parsnips, and Brussels sprouts and grass fed beef, and I love every bite of it!  When you know better, you chose better.  I cannot say this enough - educate yourself.  It makes it so much easier to maintain your weight loss.  And it's also important to find your own balance, whether it's 80/20 or 90/10, whatever fits your lifestyle and gets you to where you want to be.  Everyone can do it.  You don't have to spend another day being overweight!  Learn from me and get off that ride.  Take control of your life and your health!  And say good-bye to your fat pants!!

Now my size 12 pants have to be held up with belts!  And for spring break in March, we are taking the kids to Disney, and I just may be buying a two piece to pack.  :)