Monday Nutrition Tip of the Week: You Can Take it With You

It's popular belief that winter is the time when people pack on the pounds. But for my money, it's more difficult to eat clean in the summer.

You've got your pool parties with chips and dip, barbecues, trips to the ice cream store when it's really hot. And I haven't even addressed vacation yet. When you're away from home you can find all kinds of quick, unhealthy food to eat.

Last week Zach and I were in Austin for three days; Zach was there for work, and I tagged along to enjoy a few days sans children thanks to my parents. Our hotel was downtown, just blocks away from some very fine dining establishments. We wanted to enjoy some good food while we were there, but not completely blitz our clean diet with heavy breakfasts, greasy lunches, and decadent dinners. 

First up: breakfast. Thankfully, Shakeology is quick, travels well, and tastes great even without a blender. (I thought about bringing the blender, but thought I might get strange looks as I toted it through the lobby.) We each brought a shaker cup, a Tupperware container with a few scoops of vanilla whey protein powder, and voila: breakfast for all three days. I usually have my shake for lunch, so I was curious to see how long it would keep me full (especially with no extra fruit or peanut butter). No worries; I drank my shake at around 8am each morning, I was not hungry until about 11:30am.

We kept lunch simple and light. The first day I ate at the most magical Whole Foods of all the Whole Foods stores, the 80,000 square-foot flagship location in downtown Austin. The second day I ate at Leaf, a "fancy" salad place. On our way out of town on Thursday we ate at a great little pita place called The Pita Pit, where I had a spicy black bean veggie pita. 

Because we had eaten sensible lunches, I didn't feel bad when we branched out for our first Indian food experience at The Clay Pit. Rumor has it that Indian food probably isn't the most healthy option, but it sure was delicious. The final dinner in town was prepared by some good friends, and was both delicious and healthy: sea bass (another first, yum!), acorn squash (my favorite), and roasted brussel sprouts.

Oh yeah -- I didn't even mention that Zach packed a container full of raw veggies and hummus, and some protein bars for snacks. That bridged the gap between meals and prevented him from snacking on all the doughnuts at his conference.

With some planning and consideration, a vacation doesn't have to take your diet off the rails. Carry a cooler, or use the fridge in your hotel room to hold your healthy snacks. In the long run it will save you both money and calories.

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Workout of the Day
P90X One on One: Yoga MC: 2