Mar
4
INTO THE WOODS AND OUT OF THE KITCHEN
Traveling could be a nightmare when it comes to nutrition and working out, but with a little preparation you can do just fine. I traveled eight hours this weekend from Buffalo, New York to Cincinnati, Ohio to watch my little sister star in CCM University of Cincinnati’s production of the musical Into the Woods.
I left on Friday and made sure to catch an early morning workout beforehand. For the ride I packed a bottle of protein powder, tuna cups, almonds, Uncle Ben’s 90sec microwavable rice, and sweet potato baby food. Don’t judge me! Baby food is one of the most convenient, cheap and clean go-to carbs possible.
Kale chips are something new that were introduced to me in the car on the trip:
- Buy a bag of precut Kale
- Put down wax paper on a baking tray
- Coat pan with Pam
- Spread Kale out on tray
- Spray Kale with Pam until it glistens
- Sprinkle sea salt and garlic powder on top
- Bake for 15-20 minutes on 375 degrees depending on desired level of crispiness
- Enjoy!
THEY TASTE BETTER THAN THEY LOOK!
Kale chips are the new popcorn. If you find yourself craving something try these. We ate them in the car with tomatoes. And by ate them I mean we devoured two enormous zip lock freezer bags worth in under 20 minutes.
I was on my phone whenever it was time to eat. I’m pretty sure just about everyone has Internet on their phone now and with that power you can look up the nutrition info to just about any restaurant imaginable. You’d be surprised how many restaurants have healthy sounding meals that really have all sorts of hidden calories. Phone aside, most chain restaurants usually have nutrition guides you can request. Take two minutes and look it up.
With this knowledge, every place we stopped at I was able to find something to eat. And if worse actually came to worse and there was no place to eat but McDonalds, you could always get a grilled chicken breast sandwich and gasp! Just eat the meat. Then buy a package of almonds at the gas station. Boom! Good to go.
My one cheat meal of the trip came at Terry’s Turf Club. It was featured on Guy Fieri’s show Diner’s, Drive-ins, and Dives on the Food Network. The restaurant only seats about 50 people and we braved the cold waiting in a line that went down the street for over thirty minutes. I ordered their famous burger and a bowl of filet mignon chili.
I’ll never enjoy another hamburger again because this was the greatest burger I have ever had! The chili was insane as well. I was actually giddy after this meal and am getting excited whilst typing this. I’m pretty sure I’m going to develop a case of TMJ now because I’ve been dreaming amount it non-stop. The burger was soooo juicy, NOT greasy at all, but the juicest burger I have had the pleasure of tasting. Definitely a highlight of the trip!
I only had one workout scheduled for the trip in my pithy hotel fitness center, and you know what? It was great. I always find when I’m forced to make do and get creative I have some of the best workouts ever. There wasn’t a lot of weight in the fitness center but there’s ways to make things heavier: 50lb dumbbells are not heavy enough for Romanian Deadlifts but they are more than heavy enough as the last exercise of a tri-set preceded by 50 slow high foot positioned leg presses and intensity increased lying leg curls. For cardio, I sprinted 25 flights of hotel stairs. Quick, efficient, and got the job done.
The trip was fun and even better is the fact that I don’t feel like garbage. My nutrition stayed relatively on track despite being constantly on the go, eating out, and not having a kitchen. If it’s possible to stay on track while traveling, it’s more than possible to stay on track while you’re at home during a normal week. It just takes a little effort.
