Meal One
1 1/2 eggs
1/4 cup homemade salsa (tomatoes, cilantro, fresh garlic, lime, salt, onion powder, pepper)
1/4 cup green peppers
1/4 avocado
Meal Two
2 oz grilled chicken (homemade)
1 slice watermelon
1/4 cucumber sliced
10 black olives
Snack (@ movies w/kids--not a Zone meal since I had no protein blocks)
1 cup air popped popcorn from home
1/4 cucumber sliced
4 pieces of chocolate mint candy (about 1 carb block or 8 grams)
1 slice Ezekiel bread w/butter
Meal Three
@Los Cabos Mexican Restaurant
5 chips w/salsa
1 chicken fajita w/cheese no tortilla shell (about 2 oz chicken)
1 tablespoon guacamole
1/4 cup diced tomatoes
Meal Four
3 oz grilled burger homemade
1 slice Ezekiel Bread
2 teaspoons mayo (expeller pressed, organic)
1 teaspoon ketchup
Meal Five
1 scoop protein powder
1/4 cup plain low fat yogurt
1/3 banana
1/3 avocado (small)
water/ice
Well, here I am five days later since my last post. It has been a difficult time for me since this journal represents my accountability forum. It is difficult because I have to admit I failed miserably in the last five days to stay on the zone. But, the good side to all this misery is that my theories in the MyFoodNanny.com are correct for me (maybe even for you): in order to eat healthy you have to plan ahead or you will default to whatever is available or put in front of you (i.e. at a restaurant or with a crowd of people). More on my trip to Dallas later...
O.k., here is the low down on the trip to Dallas. I did not plan enough in advance by packing Zone meals in my cooler. This is a no brainer, but I did not do this. My excuse? Well, I got too caught up with Vacation Bible School, last minute laundry, packing, and play dates. Next time, I will prioritize by getting groceries for the trip and preparing some Zone meals in advance.
We left for Dallas at about 10 am. I had a Zone meal at 6am, and there goes the first mistake. I began the trip on an empty stomach. I was not driving or in control of when or where I was going to eat. In order to be polite and not come across as a psycho Zone eater, I decided to go with the flow and eat whatever was available. My options were to fast several more hours or eat a Kashi bar and some sesame sticks and/or some fruit. I ate all of the above; but I was not satisfied and subsequently felt more hungry every hour that passed.
By the time our party arrived at the restaurant of choice, I was divulged of another wonderful piece of information: a member of our travel party was having a birthday! This is great for enjoying life, but not great for attempting to stay in the zone right before a Crossfit Certification, and after a whole day of being out of the zone. I completely lost all my sensibility and rationale. After a whole week of abstaining from mexican pastries and other temptations of VBS, I dove into margaritas, chips and salsa, enchiladas and tres leches (mexican style cake)! Not only did I eat in the "party zone", I also went to bed late, and had to wake up at the crack of dawn. There you have it: over load of sugar and alcohol, and lack of sleep. The result was that Saturday, Sunday, Monday were three days of fighting insulin withdrawal, depression (not clinical), and getting my mind back in the game. Why did I want to give up? I don't know. I guess I just want to succeed so much. I am frustrated that I can so easily fall back into bad habits. I don't mind doing the celebratory things that come with hanging out with friends and being together on a great road trip. But, why couldn't I wait until a better weekend--like a weekend where I was not required to show up to a two-day, intensive (end expensive) physical fitness certification that required optimum fitness and concentration/focus?
All said, it was an awesome weekend as far as the company and the certification. What was frustrating was my lack of self-control at the beginning of the weekend that set the tone for me physically and emotionally for the rest of the weekend and the following week. Today is Wednesday, and I am back on track. But, I am still feeling the effects of the weekend: alcohol, ice cream, cake, chips, etc. I guess it was worth it to have fun because of the friends we were with; but I wonder if I let them down in some way by not living up to my platform of healthy living.
Hopefully, next time, I will remember that it all starts with something as simple as planning in advance!