Monday, January 3, 2011

Thoughts on travel and coming home

I really do love to travel. But more than that, I love to come home! I have found it is really hard to live my lifestyle on the road. I do plan ahead, but there is really no way to do it all when I'm not at home.

Food on the road. I plan healthy snacks and meals for the road. But let's face it--there are not a whole lot of options if you are in the middle of nowhere Wyoming and hungry. And vegetarian. Can someone please invent a healthy fast food restaurant? With a drive-thru, please? Last night I had Annie's Organic Bunny Crackers and a Kashi TLC cookie for dinner. Probably better than a Big Mac, though.

Food at other people's houses. I am not complaining--we were at my Mom's for most of this trip and she is a wonderful cook--and very health-conscious as well. I just think when other people are cooking, I tend to eat more. And then there is the whole issue of being on weird schedules and having to eat other places that don't have a lot of options. We went to a great cowboy dinner with my parents--all the food was cooked in dutch ovens and it was great. But cowboys aren't really very health conscious. I ate pinto beans, roasted potatoes, salad and a roll. The kids and Ryan loaded up on the chicken and beef (they'd better get it while they can!) At Ryan's grandma's 100th birthday party the food was catered by Wallaby's (Ryan's parents' restaurant.) It is very tasty stuff!!! But they are known for their meat, which I obviously don't eat. We also ate late (bad planning on my part--I should have packed a snack!) By the time we ate I was FAMISHED and almost threw the whole vegetarian thing out the window to have some pulled pork. But I resisted and instead ate my body weight in salad, potatoes and bread. (I do highly recommend the food at Wallaby's! If you are ever in the Lindon, Utah area--it is awesome!)

Working out. This was really hard this trip. The weather made things quite tricky. I had been so excited to run with Ryan. We only got out ONCE! You really can't run in three feet of fresh powder over a layer of thick ice. I didn't have any access to a treadmill. I tried to be as active as I could. I did Pilates with my mom just about every day. I also lifted free weights and used my kids as weights to strength train as well. I just have them hop on my back in weight order (Lincoln, the lightest goes first) and I do squats and lunges. Then I have them lay straight as a board in my arms and do curls. This works well in hotel rooms also. Oh and I ran laps with Kirby in the 7 degree weather at every rest stop and gas station we stopped at yesterday!

Anyway--now I'm home!! I'm excited for a new year and a fresh start and my own work out room and treadmill and elliptical and running partner and no tempting food every where I look! There's no place like home.

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