Rhew The Nation -- Keto Trip Planning

Y'all, Deek and I just got back from the most amazing cross-country trip ever!! Be prepared for posts on cool things to do and things to skip if you're planning a trip across the nation! Oh, and pictures...lots and lots of pictures! ;)

South Dakota -- a surprising "must see" place

Despite some financial randomness that has sprung up over the past year, Deek and I were able to squirrel away money specifically for this trip. It's very important to us that all vacations be paid for upfront and never be put on credit (we adhere to Dave Ramsey's Financial Freedom method). After spending years (before me) with a credit card addicted person who nearly drove him into the financial ground, Deek can only enjoy vacations knowing they're not being put on credit. And I'm an uber budgeter, so it's another way we're a perfect match!

We keep getting the question, how did you stay keto and LOSE weight on vacation? So, I thought I'd start this blog series by answering that burning question. First, it required a lot of food planning. Second, we packed exercise clothes and made reservations at hotels with fitness centers. Though no one enjoys exercising on vacation, we made a point to do it on days when we weren't walking/hiking to explore things. But I'll go into more detail on the food part since that's the element most people have asked us about.

Before we went on the trip, we did a ton of planning. As I mentioned before, Deek and I are doing keto, and we're having *major* success. I just did a side-by-side comparison of myself before starting and now, and WHOA! I can't even post it because the before is just too embarrassing. Anyhoo, we knew we didn't want to get off this keto train, not even for an epic vacation. So, we planned and planned.

Our daily snack packs

Here are some of our helpful "staying on keto" tips for traveling cross-country:

1) Get a cargo rack for your food storage. I'm short, so we needed something on the back of the car instead of on the top. We got one like this (used the "trip prep" part of our budget for it)...

2) Get a great storage bin to put on the storage rack. I got this fabulous one at Walmart for only $12, and this sucker kept our food in good condition despite dust and rain storms.

3) Think about where you will be going. For the first leg of the trip, we took a northern route, so we decided to pack cold items in a cooler. On the way back, we took the southern route. We'd been warned of temperatures potentially in the 110-115 range (though it actually never got above 90), so we elected to do shelf stable food only for that leg of the trip.

4) Pre-pack as much food as you can. It saves you money, and you have snacks right at your fingertips. I broke everything up by day. We had breakfast, lunch, and snack bags for each day (we budgeted to eat dinners out). In the morning, we'd pull out that day's worth of food. We'd put the cold stuff in the inside cooler and the shelf stable stuff in the door for easy access.

If you can tear your eyes from the incredibly sexy man in the picture, note his shelf stable collection of food in the door.

5) Measure, measure, measure. We packed a lot of macadamia nuts and pecans since they're high in fat and low in carbs. But we measured out each portion. That made tracking our macros (in My Fitness Pal) super easy. 

6) Stay hydrated! We personally love electrolyte water (Whole Food's 365 and Life Water are our favorites) and Bai drinks.

Strawberry Lemonade is my favorite, but Deek likes the blueberry.

7) Research shelf stable foods because they're so much easier than dealing with a cooler. You might not think there are a lot of options for keto, but there are! Here are some we found:

--F Bombs (love the name, and the flavor is exceptional!)

--Duke's Smokies. We found these at New Seasons in the PNW, but we were pleased to find out you can order them online too!

--Heart Healthy Nuts by Planters

--Pistachios by Wonderful (my favorite is the salt and pepper) 

--Pepperoni Stix by Hormel

--Epic -- There aren't a lot of Epic products I like, but I *did* like this one!

-- Premier Protein Shakes -- I'm allergic to the proteins in milk, but Deek loves these!

7) Know what you can eat if you decide to eat out. Deek and I had pre-planned places we could eat and what we could eat at those place. But we did leave room for spontaneity. For example, in Independence, MO, we ate at a charming little place called The Salty Iguana. Deek is semi-obsessed with iguanas, so we know it was the perfect place to eat! For the record, Iggy's Hot Pot is all that and then some. Mmmmm!! I would consider a trip back to Independence just to stay at the awesome Stoney Creek Hotel and eat at The Salty Iguana again! 

Examples of food you can pre-plan to eat out:

--Wendy's -- 2 Jr. Bacon cheeseburgers without the bun and condiments

--Subway-- Italian Hero (meat and cheese only), Italian BMT (meat and cheese only), Subway Philly cheesesteak (meat and cheese only)

--Mexican -- Fajitas without the wrap

8) Have fun. Now, please know, I'm not saying you can't have fun on vacation too! Like I said, we thoroughly enjoyed our meal at The Salty Iguana, and it stayed within our keto guidelines. But as I mentioned in another post, I am hypothyroid. Because of that, I have to be careful with keto and have a high carb day once a week to keep my T4s and T3s doing what they're supposed to be doing. Our vacation allotted us two high carb days, so we strategically planned them for the PNW (at Deek's favorite restaurant) and Vegas. We ended up eating at Pinup Pizza in Vegas and getting the largest slices on the strip!

Deek's back home and eating with his family at his favorite place!

Pinup Pizza--biggest slices on the strip!

If you're thinking of traveling while on a specific eating plan, it CAN be done. Deek and I both LOST weight on this trip, and we came home feeling great. Keto gives us tons of energy, so we were able to fully enjoy this vacation. We didn't come back with that vacation bloat and fatigue that so often happens from too much indulgence. 

Even on a long, cross-country trip, you can stay keto, make room for some special treats, and return home with a great sense of accomplishment!

Stay tuned for more about our epic trip!

The Truth About Diet, Food, and Exercise

If you've read my bio, you know I used to be a fitness trainer. More specifically, I trained runners. And I was a runner. <cue sound of record scratching> Did I just say "was a runner?" Did you read that right? Yep and yep. So, let me just put this out there. I'm not writing this blog to be all "this is what you should do" and "this is what you shouldn't do," but instead, I'd like to be open and lay out my journey in hopes it will help or inspire others.

I think I would describe my shape as an "upside down funnel." I have small shoulders and a lean torso, but man do things balloon out at the bottom. My grandmother, who is a twin, says I have "twinning hips." LOL! I played a lot of sports in my youth, particularly soccer, so I have large quadricep muscles. Basically, the bottom half of me is out of alignment (in my opinion) with the top half.

Me as a teenager with a artist who painted Gone with the Wind portraits.

Excuse the quality of my parents' old camera. LOL!

I had a very dark period in my life, and during that time, I watched what I ate and exercised a lot. I could control my food when aspects of my life were out of control. And I could exercise to relieve stress and escape. During that time, I was super fit. I began running, and soon, I began training runners as well. I took up boxing, kickboxing, and lifting for cross-training.

First place! WOOT! 

(Notice how my smiles are often forced unless I'm with friends or special family members, and sometimes even then. This is part of the dark period. BUT you'll notice a BIG change in the genuineness of my smile when Deek enters my life)

My running partner and soul sister, Dawn. She's also a Dream Team member!

Ninja mud run with my girlies!

Cross-training

More cross-training

Once, prior to deciding to run half marathons, I tried this diet called Primal from Mark's Daily Apple. I felt amazing eating that way. My body really responded to the higher fat, lower carb idea, and I thrived physically. But I had to stop that eating plan in order to run longer.

Super slim on the Primal eating plan

As a long distance runner, I learned bad habits. Since I'm so small, I burn my entire daily caloric intake during a 10+ mile run. I tried to do it the right way--eating healthy foods after my runs--but I just couldn't consume enough calories to make up for the deficit. I'd get sick, shake, or feel like passing out (and that's with consuming Gatorade and gels during the run). It got so bad, I even went to see a nutritionist. But nothing worked...until I discovered the secret. Post-run, I'd eat a bowl of EnviroKidz Koala Crisps (yes, I ate kids' cereal; it's good) with chocolate coconut milk. After my shower, I'd have half of a large pizza and a 24oz Coke. Only then did I not feel like passing out. Sounds great, right? The only problem was, I was eating pizza and drinking Coke! And I got used to eating that way...

Half marathon with my bestie (aka: "twin") from high school

Thankfully, the dark period came to an end, but with that came lots of new stresses. Instead of eating right, I turned to food for comfort. I stopped exercising as much, but I kept eating like someone who ran and trained a lot. Pizza, Coke, Wendy's Junior Bacon Cheeseburgers comprised way too much of my diet.

Fries... Man, do I love fries.

And I continued to eat that way for quite a while, without any repercussions because I'd been so fit beforehand. Then, Deek and I decided to start dating, and a bright, happy light shined in my life. I wanted to get back into better shape (Deek was super into fitness and very buff).

Deek at the gym with his very serious trainer! 

Soon, Deek spent half of his time on one coast and half of his time on the other, and we knew that wouldn't work for much longer. So, we decided I would move to the Pacific Northwest with him for a while and then he would move back to the South with me for a while. I ran my last half marathon in March 2014, packed up, and moved across the country to live with Deek.

Last half marathon

Everything is awesome, except running 13.1 miles in the pouring, freezing rain!

For the first time, I was truly happy. So you'd think my eating would improve, right? Well, Deek and I started doing what we call "happy eating." LOL! We ate *because* we were happy. Yes, we worked out together too, but we had trouble establishing a good workout routine because we moved, sold houses, and traveled back and forth across the country several times. Just when we'd get on a good fitness/eating roll, it would be time to take the train across the country to the South for a month. Let me tell ya, that really messes up those good habits!

Panda Express

Yep, more Wendy's

Pizza

But we did some running and lifting and a lot of hiking and adventuring.

Kiss before our run

Deek ran is first official 5k race

Weight training

But despite the workouts, the pounds crept up on both of us, thanks to our bad eating habits. When we moved back to the South, we vowed to get those pounds off. After a few stutter-starts, I'm pleased to say we've FINALLY figured out an eating and workout routine that has consistently slimmed us down! We returned to that eating style which had worked so well for me in the past, Primal. 

Drinking my protein shake

We eat higher fat, lower carb meals. It takes some planning, but we're both committed to it. I'm so grateful that Deek's not one of those guys who thinks cooking is a "woman's job." We do it together, and we can get the meals made so much faster because of it. And we've found ways to work in some of our favorite foods!

Meatsa! Crust is made from ground chicken. Oh, so good!

The exercise program is straightforward and easy to do. We focus a lot on bodyweight training, and we sprint once a week (tabatas). Boy, do we hate tabatas, but they're great for us! And we walk...a lot.

We found a pedestrian bridge in the South. How very Pacific Northwest!

And guess what? The pounds are falling off. We're losing weight, eating in a way that works for our bodies, and getting/feeling fit. We have energy to do what we want to do and aren't limited by the extra weight. In fact, we just had an epic date weekend where we went ziplining over a waterfall. This course required a good amount of upper and lower body strength, and we completed it like a boss.

Headed out to zipline! 

(Note the genuine, big, goofy grin my handsome husband puts on my face!!)

I'm not one of those people who believes every diet is a one-size-fits-all. I've tried my fair share of ones that worked for other people but didn't work for me (NutriSystem, Weight Watchers, SlimFast, counting calories). I am hypothyroid, so the calories in/calories out methodology is pure bunk for me. I have to eat an endocrine based diet (diabetic, South Beach, paleo, primal), or I will not see any results. I also have a protein based body, meaning I run best on protein and fat instead of carbs. Carbs leave me feeling immediately hungry, shaky, and unsatisfied. 

Me after tabatas, but it's also how carbs make me feel. LOL!

And I'm done running. I no longer need to go for a long run to destress or escape. I'm insanely happy with my life. And I'm convinced that running, ironically, started me down this path which led to weight gain. I was always hungry and ate more as a result. With bodyweight training and sprints, my hunger stays in check while my heart and muscles get the necessary workout.

Chillin' on da porch with our protein shakes after a workout

And I can fit into my old clothes again.

(Deek kept taking pics of me during our date--to a primal friendly place--and telling me how beautiful he thinks I am. #LuckyGirl)

I'm thankful to have a partner who works with me on fitness and exercise goals. He's my true partner in every aspect of life, and he puts the smile on my face and the skip in my step. I adore him more than words can ever express! I'm thankful to be on this fitness journey and this life journey with such an amazing man!