Managing health on the road

Last week we decided it was time for some summer fun, and that usually means an extended roadtrip for us. We threw some clothes and toiletries in out bags and headed west and north, up California's and Oregon's coastline. Marvelous scenery! Cooler climate! No making beds or keeping house! After six days of sun, sand and surf, I miss my bed and my own cooking. But we sure had fun. We'll get home tonight...yeah!

Before leaving home, I touched base with Beth the Wellness Coach. We set some goals for me: walk for an hour every day, two days of complete body resistance exercise with the Spri Tube (I'm so glad I bought that thing!), keep my daily fat intake under 50 gms, and my daily fiber intake over 25 gms. The walking part was easy to accomplish. We hiked quite a bit, along the beaches, into the forests on trails, even walked the mall in Eureka one day. The resistance exercises were easy to accomplish as well. I'll even get a third workout in today. I'm happy to report that all my quad exercises are paying off and my knees are no longer giving me trouble. I climbed a lot of hills this last week and I haven't had a bit of pain. And the new shoes are still awesome! No shin splints either!

The dietary goals were much tougher to maintain. I tend to eat on the fatty side, so I try to track my fat intake throughout the day. I can then make wiser choices as the day goes along. But while on vacation I wasn't online at every meal, tracking my nutrients. And restaurants tend to cook with more fats than I normally do. I did make choices to skip dressings on vegetables and salads, but there were plenty of times when I just caved and made poorer choices, usually at the end of the day when I was more tired and my resolve was at an end. Still, I averaged only a 50 calorie increase per day over the whole trip. So, I ate a lower amount of food, but the calories were higher due to fats.

And even with eating as many veggies and fruits as I could get my hands on, my fiber intake was low an average of 5 gms per day. I tried to avoid breads, pasta, etc, but there weren't many whole grain choices on the road.

Well, I see that the car has been loaded up and the family is ready to go. So I'm signing off until after I get all the laundry done at home.