Packing a few LCHF friendly snacks (which can double as a light meal) for my drive to TX.

I’m driving to Texas today to help Dr. Mom move. She’s coming to live near me in the Commonwealth of Virginia (Yeah, Virginia is to uppity to be a regular state).

So blogging will be light, although I’m hoping to take a lot of photos, especially of amazingly unhealthy truck stop food that I come across (but won’t eat).

I’m driving for about 2.5 days so yesterday I hit the grocery store for my low carb, high fat (LCHF) road snacks and/or light meals.

• Macadamia nuts
• Pepperoni
• Green olives (yum!!!)
• Avocado
• Havarti & cheddar cheese
• Hard-boiled eggs
• Heavy cream (for coffee)
• Unsweetened ice tea

Once I finished shopping it was time for  food prep – weighing and bagging individual serving sizes. I plan to eat dinner at steakhouses. I find it’s the best way to stick to my low carb way of eating.  For lunch, either I’ll make a light meal out of my snack combos or I’ll order a plain burger (sans bun). I’m packing mixed greens, diced tomatoes and home-made dressing for an easy salad.

Once I reach Dr. Mom’s place I’ll hit the grocery store.

Meal Planning In The Lone Star State
Usually when I stay with mom I wing it as far what I’m cooking. Not this time. In addition to running lots of errands with her, I’m spending the bulk of my time packing and cleaning. I don’t want to run into a situation where I get too hungry. That’s when mistakes happen. The last time that happened I went through 3/4 of a bag of potato chips. So I’m just pulling one of my old menus.

The only change I’ll make to the menu is swapping out a couple of dinner proteins for shellfish, something I can’t do at home. My husband loves shrimp, crab and lobster, but he’s deathly allergic to it. So I never allow it in the home, even if I like shrimp. Just too much temptation for him.  Mom prefers seafood and it’s a good way for me, a non-seafood eater, to learn to tolerate it (I won’t say love it…I just can’t do it).

Rules Of The Road
Usually when traveling I want to lose weight and end up maintaining it. I’ve learned to accept this. After all, it is so easy to tell yourself, “I’m on vacation. It’s OK to indulge.”

I’m not against indulging. It’s just that indulging doesn’t mean dessert after every meal. It’s so easy for bad eating habits to pop up.  When traveling,  I have 5 rules I follow.

1. I only try something that I cannot get at home.
2. My good eating habits do not go on vacation with me.
3. If I eat it, I write it down
4. Only 2 days during the week does my carb count go over 20g and cannot exceed 50g (to keep indulgences under control).
5. Remember – the trip is about having fun/visiting family/relaxing – so keep food in its proper perspective.

I’m not weighing in until August 29^th…more than a month away. I hope for weight loss, but maintenance is a win too. The 5 rules usually keep me steady and in control. The good news is that I’ve had 3 years of practice so much of my good habits are on autopilot. I no longer have to think about making the healthy choice. I just do it.

That doesn’t mean I eat mindlessly. Oh no! When it comes to eating, I pretty much follow the advice of Professor Mad-Eye Moody:  “CONSTANT VIGILANCE!”