The giveaway winner will be announced at the end of today’s post!
Our first day of traveling was a success!
We got to Lynchburg, VA late Saturday night and settled into our hotel.
Any hotel that serves free popcorn to their customers is alight by me!
I took this morning off from working out, and while Wes was out running I went downstairs for a light breakfast.
Strawberries and coffee are always a great early morning choice! Was it just me or did the daylight savings time change mess with anyone else? I was up and wide awake at 7:00 am, and trust me that does not normally happen!
As I mentioned in yesterday’s post we arrived a day or so early in Virginia to celebrate Wes’ grandmother’s 90th birthday.
We were excited that it happened to coincide with our traveling and were looking forward to seeing family that we hadn’t seen in over 2 years since our wedding.
We had a great time visiting and catching up, and spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the town.
One thing we have to be careful about during these two weeks traveling is our diet. We still want to eat healthy, but we realize that a majority of our meals are going to be out at restaurants.
Last night we started to get a little hungry, but wanted to find somewhere healthier.
We ended up choosing Bob Evans. I know it may not seem like a typical “healthy” option, but we were looking for somewhere with options.
I have found that one of the tricks to eating healthy on the road is to pick the restaurants that have more options. This allows you to get what you want and makes it easier to customize.
My choice tonight was the vegetable omelet.
A side of fresh fruit and a piece of dry whole wheat toast.
Eating out and eating healthy can be tricky but I have found by researching and finding restaurants that have lots of options allows you to have the most success.
Finally what you are probably here for, the winner of the ENERGYbits Giveaway!
Congratulations…….
Jessica! (I will be emailing you today to get your information and have your ENERGYbits on the way to you!)
I have another awesome giveaway coming up for you soon – so stay tuned!
What do you make sure to do to eat healthy while traveling?
I love the pics of Wes … he very often has an “I am only enduring this because I love you” look on his face 🙂
I had to do too much work travel from Jan – August this year (pretty much every week back & forth to the Corning plant near Lexington Kentucky for a project). What I did was try to eat as many meals as possible in my hotel room using groceries bought at a local supermarket. It is not only healthier and more ‘in control’ – it is much cheaper! (yes, I do try to save the company money when I can 🙂 ).
So I would hit the store, but water bottles, fresh fruits and veggies for snacks, yogurt, small thing of peanut butter, and so on. That way I could control my intake …
We had a couple of hotel days when we were in Stroudsburg PA getting our older son shipped off to Europe for the summer, and we did the same thing … and it was excellent. We still found a local bakery, but that was just to augment the fruits and yogurt and made for a much healthier trip.
Enjoy!
Haha I love that you said that! That is 100% probably what he is thinking. I have to take pictures quickly or he starts getting annoyed and wants me to stop. He is sweet to do it for me 🙂
That is a great idea! I wish we were staying in a hotel more than one night at a time and I could really buy more, the problem is we switch hotels almost every night. I did snack up on some water and healthier snacks though that will not go bad and I can transport them from one to the other!
Sounds like you are quite the pro at this!
I put my ‘expertise’ to a combination of work travel, vacations and having kids. With kids, I feel we haven’t left home for someplace an hour or more away without a cooler of some sort with water and snacks, etc. Now with marching band competitions up to 2 hours away, the kids bring their own cooler full …
On vacations starting years ago, we would always rent cottages rather than stay in hotels. More ‘homey’, allows for some nights eating in, and a better home base. As an added benefit we not only controlled the food source, we cut expenses WAY down! We never went back to always eating out.
Typically when I travel it is for a few days, and only a couple of times a year. At my previous job 99% of my travel was to Silicon Valley, and I had gotten a few hotels to stay at that had amazing healthy breakfast choices. For the last 5 years at Corning, I traveled about 6 times total, so I would just ‘make do’. But when this project started I quickly realized that ‘a few trips’ was going to become ‘several months’ … and that I needed to take control of my nutrition (‘food is fuel’ after all!)
So my suggestion? Get a little cooler, buy some stuff, and get a bag of ice every day. 🙂
Glad you’re having fun! I agree with Michael that shopping at local grocery stores is best when you can; otherwise just do the best you can – there is almost always SOMETHING that you can customize off of the menu to meet your needs. Not being afraid to ask for what you want/ need is another one (that is sometimes hard for me) … like asking for your toast dry, or asking for veggies sauteed with little to no oil. It’s a challenge, but it’s definitely possible!
Totally agree with you Megan – it is really hard for those of us who are natural introverts and non-confrontational … but no one else is going to look out for our health and diet. And too often in restaurants we get over-sized portions, and the caloric figures on the menu are just not in line with what we are served. Go with your gut on those things, ask a few questions if needed, but don’t be afraid to protect your health.
Speaking of which, I’ve mentioned my wife is allergic to apples, and a few months ago we were out at a restaurant while traveling and she liked the look of a ‘mixed berry’ dessert, I have no idea why, but I decided to ask if there were apples anywhere in the dessert. The waitress didn’t think so, but after mentioning her allergy she said she would check … turns out there WAS apple juice in the biscuit … which would have caused problems (probably just a 2-Benadryl allergy attack).
Agree Michael! I used to be very introverted and didn’t want to ask for things a certain way, but after doing it for so many years now I don’t even think twice. I may have gotten a few weird looks but like you said no one is going to look out for my health other than me!
That is great that you asked about the apples! My sister-in-law is allergic to milk so we have always been sure to ask. You NEVER know what things have in it. My brother is allergic to shell fish and he can’t even eat things if it has even been close to shell fish so our family is always the first to ask about just about anything and everything and how it is prepared!
Completely agree Megan! I used to be scared of asking for things a certain way at restaurants but now I am all for it! I make sure to get what I want and usually most restaurants don’t even bat an eye when I request something!
Oh, I’m Jessica…wonder if it was me or another Jessica that won?? Around my parts, Subway is the only restaurant/fast food place that I can find healthy options.
I will be emailing the winner this afternoon! I’m not at a place I can access it yet but will let you know this afternoon! Sorry about the confusion!
Jess – it looks like it was you! I just emailed you 🙂 Congrats!!
I find as long as there is Subway and Starbucks when traveling, I can eat pretty healthy. And restaurants tend to at least have something on the menu that’s healthy. Glad you had a good time! 🙂
Very true Em! I already hit up Starbucks twice since we have been on the road 🙂 No subway yet though!
I try to bring some healthy bars and other snacks while traveling. I also try to pick up a veggie/fruit smoothie drink along the way so I know I’m getting a boost stuff at least once on the trip.
I wish I could find a veggie juice place nearby! I would love to try out some healthy juices and know I am getting a good boost! 🙂
Living out of a hotel is tough, we spent 17 days in one with two kids under the age of 4 and the food options at the time were limited. There’s only so much McD’s Happy Meals a kid can take before they are bouncing then bonking. We try to book rooms with a kitchenette and tend to buy a lot of our own food when travelling. If we can’t get a kitchenette we will grab whole roasted chickens, salads, fruit, cheese etc and put our own meals together.
I travel a lot for work – usually one week each month, so I know the pains of living in a hotel for a few days all to well. I used to feel like travel time was “treat time” and go out to eat for every single meal, but thats pretty expensive and eating out usually ends up in eating way bigger portion sizes than necessary! Now if I know I will have a microwave and mini-fridge, I’ll get some microwave meals, oatmeal or cereal and milk, stock up on fruits and veggies for snacks. Just gotta make it work, and since I’ve started doing this, I’ve stopped gaining weight while travelling each month!
Hope you enjoy the travelling and that the interviews work out well for your husband!