Back home!

I'm finally back home after my Texas adventure. I left Texas with about a half inch of snow and I wake up this morning to the same amount of snow on the ground in VA. I think something isn't fair about all that, LOL.

But onto things that ARE fair - I did my weigh in this morning, curious to see how I did while in the boarderlands...and I am down 1 lb from when I left on Tuesday morning. This is extremely awesome in my opinion, as eating on the road is hard...especially when lunch is being provided to you by the company and dinner is out every night. Here are some tips and ideas from my trip that I will make sure to incorporate in the future.

1. Exercise. This is the easiest thing to control and I made sure to prepare for nights in the gym. I worked out both nights of my stay in the hotel gym. I also brought two dvds - Turbo Jam and Yoga for Weight Loss - with me, so if the hotel gym was full I could still go do something. I also walked a lot for no good reason...took the stairs at the company, walked from concourse to concourse at the airport instead of taking a tram, ect.

2. Bring your own food. I packed two goodie bags as I mentioned earlier and they were invaluable. One was the breakfast bag, which I didn't really use since the hotel breakfast was essentially the same thing as what I brought - oatmeal packets. But the snack bag was always there in a pinch. I packed Z-Bars (lower calorie and better tasting Cliff bars designed for kids but perfect snack size for adults), dried fruit 100 cal packs, almond/walnut 100 cal packs, organic fruit leathers, and mints/gum. You can always steal fresh fruit from the hotel continental breakfast and be on your way, prepared to know exactly what you are snacking on. And since plane snacks historically suck...it'll keep you full when all they are offering are peanuts.

3. Eat the local cuisine. When you travel - don't go to Applebees or Chilli's...go to whatever the locals recommend. This is a smart idea because it usually means better LESS processed food. We went to a steak house that was fabulous - on a cattle ranch. The beef was fresh and amazing. The sides were all natural and delicious as well. The next night we went to a Mexican restaurant (hey what else do you do in the Boarderlands) and I got fajitas - the healthiest and most delicious part of a Mexican menu. They tasted amazing and yet I didn't spend a ton of calories. Go local when you travel and expand your taste buds without expanding your waistline.

4. Don't deprive yourself. This is a non travel tip as well = but you have to monitor your cravings and desires and give in occasionally = in moderation. Something else in my goodie bag I was saving to mention until now - a Toblerone. I brought my own chocolate - something I could eat in small little triangles and when I wanted something..instead of impulse buying...it was there and ready to go. If everyone is eating cookies...have a single cookie if you really want one. Just be mindful of what you are eating and where you are going to account for it in your calories in and calories out equation. But indulgences make a healthy diet livable and more importantly, sustainable.

Those are my travel tips and considering how many trips I think I will have this year...I'm sure I'll be able to refine and add to them over time. I think the most important thing I did on this trip was balance the eating by eating real food and exercising...instead of eating a lot of processed crap. Real food always trumps processed food...and you really can't go wrong if that's what you are eating, home or away.