Four Months of Eat To Live: An Infographic
I need rest lessons.
So, as we’ve already talked about, I came home from Texas with a lot on my mind. And my old normal in situations like that involved running to the refrigerator or drive thru.
Thank God those days are gone.
Then my more recent normal was tuning out in front of the tube. It’s been an escape. From thinking, from fussing with all the junk rattling around in my head and heart. Ahh, blessed entertainment. I’d flip mindlessly for hours. But it rarely worked anyway. Because in the 200+ channels available to me, none of them held any interest. Like going back to the same old, dry well and being surprised there was no water.
But it was my well, dammit. My old, comfortable, go-to dry well of mindlessness for times like these. Like food used to be. Familiar, routine. Like and old flannel shirt that your wife wants you to get rid of but you just can’t because even though it’s full of holes and smells funny, it’s yours.
And now it’s gone (the TV, not the flannel shirt). And I’ve spent the last few days pretty pissed about it.
It’s only been a week and I’m really seeing just how much of an addict I was…I am. Before we left for Texas there was the hope of adventure and a thousand other things to distract me. Coming home, there it was: the weekend. 48 hours staring me in the face with nothing but my thoughts. Blech.
I find myself sitting in a chair, for as long as my coccyx will let me anyway, and literally not knowing what to do with myself. I think I will read a while, but that puts me to sleep. Which must mean I need to rest, but it’s the middle of the day. There are dozens of chores around the house that need my attention - weeds in the yard and garden that could hide a small African nation, some water issue with the upstairs shower, but all I want to do is what I’m used to and I can’t.
I need rest lessons.
A Texas State of Mind
I’m sitting in row 21F looking down on the Austin skyline. Somewhere in the shadow of those skyscrapers is Mellow Johnny’s. And just around the corner, the great folks at Whole Foods at Lamar and 6th Street. Over my left shoulder I can barely make out the southern edge of the hill country. Nestled just south and underneath that low cloud cover are my new friends Mary, Rob, Hannah, and Catherine. More than friends, really. More like family I just hadn’t met. We’ve turned northeast now, reached our cruising altitude of 21,000 feet, and Lady Bird Lake is slipping into the horizon. In about four hours I’ll be on the ground in Louisville.
I can remember the first time I ever came to Texas. I’d always dreamed of going out west. Like most boys I guess who came of age with Larry McMurtry, Marty Robbins, and Willie and Waylon and the boys. It was the early 1990’s and me and Craig Hawkins set out to visit two different seminaries: one in Ft. Worth and the other in New Orleans. Our first leg of the road trip took us from Alabama to Texas - in July.
They say you know you’re in Texas in July when the trees are whistling for the dogs, which is why back then at 350 pounds I never went anywhere without a towel to wipe the East Texas sweat constantly running down my chubby cheeks.
On that trip I learned four things:
- That thing about us being made of mostly water? Totally true.
- Never cross a ferry in the Louisiana bayou in the middle of the night with your car doors open…Cajun mosquitoes carry switchblades and will cut you.
- Long road trips without a plan will test the hell out of a friendship…we didn’t speak for like a MONTH afterwards.
- There was a Texas-shaped hole in my heart I never knew I had.
Even as I write that last one I struggle for it not to sound silly to my ears, like Louis L’amour-esque glorified romanticism. But isn’t romance the essence whole of life?
I am almost committing an indecency. I am trying to rip open the inconsolable secret in each one of you - the secret which hurts so much that you take your revenge on it by calling it names like Nostalgia and Romanticism and Adolescence. - C. S. Lewis
I’ve been a lot of places in the U.S., but they all land small inside of me in the shadow of Texas. Something in my heart stood up and took notice when I first landed in the Lone Star State. It was the same for me when I finally landed in Africa. I’d never been, had no real reason other than something God set deep in my heart. The connections I made with the land, the people, and the culture - whether in Texas or Zimbabwe - were real and instant. Put whatever spin on it you want, there’s no denying that once my loaded-down 1988 Ford Mustang crossed the border into Texas, I felt like I’d come home.
As things turned out, Jesus led me not to Texas as I’d first dreamed, but back home to Louisville where in short order I’d find the love of my life and set about building (or rebuilding) a relationship with my mom that’s become a real and true friendship. In all the years since my love for Texas never left. It just got buried under - by responsibilities, by distractions, by life. And now with Austin in my rearview, Texas is doing the two-step on my heart all over again.
When the desire is too much to bear, we often bury it beneath frenzied thoughts and activities or escape it by dulling our immediate consciousness of living. It is possible to run away from the desire for years, even decades, at a time, but we cannot eradicate it entirely. It keeps touching us in little glimpses and hints in our dreams, our hopes, our unguarded moments. - Gerald May, The Awakened Heart
Trying to put words to all this…it misses something. I think it’s something to be experienced, not described really. Think of your dreams, your deepest heart’s desires. You do have them, don’t you? Or have you, like so many of us, bought the lie that we are to kill desire because it hurts too much. And with it, we kill our hearts altogether:
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.- “Dreams”, Langston Hughes
Over the years of walking with Jesus I’ve learned the hard way the importance of becoming a student of the movements of my heart. Solomon said, “above all else, guard your heart, for out of it comes a wellspring of life.” (Proverbs 4:23). The wisdom of that advice has played itself out over and over in my life. The heart is key to our true selves. We have to pay attention to what’s going on there if we have a snowball’s chance of finding life. The heart is where Jesus lives. Where he speaks. One time when a bunch of folks were whining to Jesus, demanding he prove to them he was the Messiah, he responded simply: “my sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me.” (John 10).
Right now I hear Jesus saying, “Pay attention to the movements of your heart. That’s me.”
I’m learning to listen.
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me.”
Every major movement of God in my life has been preceded with this same pull of the heart. Before I came back to Louisville, before I met Renee, before I started on this journey towards health and fitness, before every job change. Before anything at all significant in the last twenty-four years of walking with God.
Now every one of those situations played out differently. At the time they were unfolding I didn’t have anywhere close to the sort of clarity I’m describing now, not until long after the dust had settled (read: scared shitless and wandering around blind, soothed with medicinal Big Mac’s and multiple trips to my therapist). But even with the crazy, unexpected, rocky terrain (and maybe because of it) I’ve been able to read a divine purpose funneling me more and more into the man I was born to be, thank God. Ain’t no doubt - these deep movements of the heart are the spiritual warning light on my dashboard and I’d do well to pay attention. To what? I have no idea.
But there were some hints this week: watching Renee’s heart come alive with an old friend and Texan transplant, a potential job opening in San Antonio tailor made for me, remembering my Lone Star lost love, and let’s not forget Austin: full of tofu eating, bike riding weirdos just like me.
This is big y’all. Texas big.
This is God’s Word on the subject…”I’ll show up and take care of you as I promised…I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I’ll listen. When you come looking for me, you’ll find me. Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.” - Jeremiah 29:10-14, The Message
Day 4 in Austin: Mellow Johnny’s, great friends, and oh by the way we’re moving.
It’s EARLY morning on day 4 of our trip here, more like midnight of the 3rd day, but you get it. In case you missed yesterday’s post, you should know we’re moving to Austin. Like next week probably. Or tomorrow. Details, schme-tails.
Ever since Larry Wharton’s class Literature of the American West in my undergraduate days at UAB, I’ve had a love affair with Texas. I tried to go to graduate school in Ft. Worth, but Jesus had other plans to get me back to Louisville. There’s just something about Texas - the history, the ‘feel’, the landscape, the people - love it. But, having never been to Austin, I was clueless about this town. There is SO much to see and do here. Everybody that heard we were coming just kept saying, “Austin is just so cool, you’ll love it”. And now I get it. It just is. Cool. Except in July, but it’s a dry 105 degrees.
Ok, first things first - update on nutritarian life on the road. Like I wrote yesterday, it’s almost become a non issue. This is huge for me. Just like when the addiction to food began to fade in my every day life at home, these two trips back to back have given me so much confidence. I can live this way. I CAN REALLY LIVE THIS WAY. And not panic or feel compelled to eat for entertainment or out of habit. I haven’t even wanted to. No one is more surprised by this than me. Being nutritarian in the South ain’t easy, but this ain’t the South. It’s Austin. And everywhere you turn somebody is riding a bike, walking their dog, running, or carrying a Whole Foods shopping back. After this trip, I’m back home until July when I’ve got two back to back trips: one to D.C. (already tested those waters and I’m not too concerned), and then Costa Rica. Nutritarian out of the U.S. But now I know I’m up for it. This is just crazy, ya’ll.
Now, the REALLY cool stuff. Last night after the workshop, no trip to Austin is complete without a visit to Lance Armstrong’s bike shop.
The name itself just screams the coolness of Austin - Mellow Johnny is simply a play on words of the french words maillot jeune, which means “yellow jersey”. For you non-cycling geeks, the yellow jersey is awarded to the overall winner of the Tour deFrance. Of which Lance happens to have 7 of them babies, all hanging in the shop.
With all of Lance’s victories, Mellow Johnny has become one of his nicknames. Which is hilarious when you think about it. A lowly American coming to Europe and tearing it up 7 times, then opening a bike shop who’s name completely makes fun of the French. That’s balls.
And speaking of Lance’s balls, they’re on display in the shop. Don’t believe me? Yep. Hanging on the wall right outside.
Don’t seem ‘em? Let me ‘splain. See, when Lance was battling testicular cancer he underwent a surgical procedure to remove one of his testicles. “Juan” sounds like “one” with a Mexican accent, and “Pelota” means ball in Spanish. And from there you get the coffee shop and cafe in the bike shop: Juan Pelota, or “one ball”. It’s another nickname that Lance uses from time to time when traveling, checking into hotels and such, in order to keep a low profile. Is that not freakin’ hilarious?
Ya’ll, I was like a kid in a candy store in this place.
And even came away with some shiny new candy, er, um, cycling jerseys, to take home…
The food, people, attitude, vibe, and feel of Austin has been great, no doubt. Jesus has delighted us at every turn. Mellow Johnny’s was a real treat. Whole Foods now knows me by name. But honestly, ya’ll, that’s not the best part. This is.
Having a ring-side seat to my wife’s heart coming alive. Getting to love on my new friend - hell, she’s more like family - Mary. Watching the two of them giggle, cuss, and carry on like they did 38 years ago when they rescued each other in a small town in Western North Carolina.
My heart is so completely full. Jesus, the adventures you take us on sometimes just take my breath away…I love you. You. You take my breath away. I just love you.
Day 3, on the road in Austin: packing my bags
Mornin’ ya’ll! It’s day 3 here and I just thought you should know that I’m packing my bags. Not to go home. We’re moving to Austin. Because this town is awesome. If you are young, active, interested in health and fitness, or a music lover, then there’s few better places than Austin, Texas. The weather is wonderful almost year ‘round (if you like 100 degree desert heat in the summer). And, if that’s not enough, this guy lives here:
So far I haven’t run into Lance…YET. Or found his 8,000 square foot home. But I keep stalking bikers every time I’m out, so stay tuned. And, after today’s workshop that brought me here, tonight’s agenda includes a visit to this place:
Mellow Johnny’s, the local bike shop owned by Lance and some of his cycling buddies. The grand opening was back in 2008 and it’s part museum, part working bike shop, and all awesome. I smell a new bike jersey in my future…or two. Can’t wait!
So last night’s adventures downtown took us back to Whole Foods for dinner. Shocking. But I gotta tell ya’, in a place like Austin, any fears I had about traveling and staying 100% ETL are simply gone. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve even SEEN a fast food joint. Maybe I’ve just stopped looking, but the atmosphere here takes all the worry and aggravation out of trying to battle the standard American diet. We can relax and actually not think much about it and just enjoy being here, visiting old (and new) friends. Anyway, back to last night.
One of the cool things about the flagship Whole Foods here is their restaurant in the store, Good Greens.
All of the food they make and sell is 100% plant based, nutrient dense, and raw (as in not cooked). For those of you fence-sitters who still think that equals boring, check this out:
Not quite the ‘rabbit food’ you thought, eh? And ALL OF THIS you can easily make at home. The ingredients are simple and it’s all based on the work of the folks at Engine2, and is perfectly compatible with the nutritarian lifestyle. ZERO added fat/oil, ZERO added sugar, and made from only whole, real foods. For example, tonight we hung out with our new friend Michelle.
She’s the chef of the Good Greens restaurant and hooked me and Renee up with a wonderful, totally raw, plant-based dinner to die for. She even knew Louisville and has been to support her mom and GRANDMOTHER who BOTH competed in the Ford Ironman held in Louisville every year. She’s so friendly, and just oozes health and fitness. But they make her wear gloves when she handles the food so the ooze doesn’t get all over everywhere.
Renee and I usually have a piece fresh fruit after dinner, but we decided to try this:
Believe it or not, you are looking at a RAW, 100% ETL legal, made from REAL FOOD apple pie. Michelle and the folks and Good Greens make it in house. The ingredients? It’s super complicated:
- Apples
- Pecans
- Dates
- Lemon juice
- Cinnamon
That’s it. No added sugar. No oil. Nadda. And it was wonderful. Not the sort of thing you’d want to eat everyday, as the dates are fairly high in sugar by themselves - fresh fruit is still optimal. But I want you guys to see that when you choose to live a truly healthy plant-based lifestyle, it is anything but boring. Or bland. Or some kind of food- drudgery. The possibilities are endless. All it takes is a little creativity, and a Michelle or two.
Day 2, on the road in Austin: GREEN is the new AWESOME!
One of the things that I’ve become accustom to with my plant-based diet is having a super delicious, nutrient dense green smoothie everyday for breakfast. And when I say everyday, I mean EVERY DAY. Not some days. Not every now and then. Not when it’s convenient. I carry them everywhere. And have for at least 6 years, ever since some good friends gave us the gift of a VitaMix blender.
So, when I have to fly of town for any reason, it’s always a struggle (like I could take down a plane with collard greens or something?!). Because we’ve already established that I have control issues.
Well not this time!
The flagship (or as I prefer to call it, the mothership) Whole Foods store here in Austin has a fabulous smoothie bar and last night, my two new friends Sarah and Allegra, came to the rescue!
What makes these smoothie baristas so cool? Well, Whole Foods offers a menu of smoothies to choose from:
But to be honest, many smoothies are actually WAY too much fruit and fruit juice, with a little bit of greens thrown in, giving you too much fructose (sugar) and a higher glycemic load than optimal (see the aforementioned control issues). The ideal plant-based diet heavily relies mainly on vegetables first and fruit second. But, when you’re out of town, you make do. When I explained all this to Sarah, she asked for my smoothie recipe, which starts with water base, a TON of kale, and only a little fruit for palatability. Plus, we don’t want to use juice when we can blend the whole fruit itself and not lose the health benefits of the phytonurtrients and fiber.
Sarah tossed out a laid-back, Austin kind of, “no problem”, and voila!
Two not-on-the-menu, phytonutrient packed, blended, green goblets of goodness, just like I would make at home, that got our day off to a perfect start. Major kudos to the gang at the Lamar Whole Foods in Austin. Ya’ll are the best!
I found the mother ship!
Like a lone cowboy wandering the desert alone in the hot, West Texas sun, our hero staggers over the hillside…do his eyes deceive him? Could it be?! Yes, YES…
It is the mother ship! THE flagship Whole Foods Market in Austin, Texas. Pardon me while I weep…
Complete with a 100% Plant Strong restaurant called ‘Good Greens’…
Row after row of nutrient dense goodness…ahhhhhh…
So if you can’t tell, we made it to Austin. Our nutrient dense eating plan is safe here. I’d love to tell you all about it tonight, but it’s getting late and 5am comes early tomorrow. But before this tumbleweed blows quietly into the night, I just HAD to share these with you. Not only is the most amazing Whole Foods ever created just 4 miles from our hotel, the real reason we’re here (other than my three-day date with the inside of a conference room courtesy of the Federal Government)…
…after some 27 years, my wife Renee is reunited with her best friend from childhood, Mary Kiser!
Mary and her family make their home in Austin and things worked out perfectly for Renee to join me on the trip so we could all finally meet. What absolutely delightful people they are! And by delightful, of course I mean completely psychotic (the good kind) and hilarious. We shut down Whole Foods and Renee has a date with Hannah in the pool tomorrow at UT Austin for some swim coaching from a world-class athlete. (Pictured right-to-left: Rob Kiser, Hannah Kiser, Mary Kiser, Renee Jones, and yours truly)
Ok, ya’ll. It’s almost midnight and this lone cowboy is fading into the sunset. More updates from the road tomorrow…
Round two of ETL on the road!
Get out your shit kickers and tune up the guitar. We’re headin’ to…
Austin, to be specific. And we can’t wait, ya’ll!
Work is sending me there for a three day conference and things worked out for Renee to be able to go along. A little impromptu mini-vacation - can I get a ‘hell yeah’?!
So while I’m slaving away in a hotel conference room, learning more about how to drag people kicking and screaming through their horrendous past, Renee will get the chance to reconnect with two old friends from high school that she hasn’t seen in years!
There will be live music everywhere.
There will be karaoke.
There will be honky-tonks.
And there will be daily visits to THE flagship Whole Foods store that started it all!
After a successful Eat To Live one day trip to St. Louis, this will be a week long affair for the both of us. We’ve got travel food packed for the flight up, our plan of attack for staying 100% nutritarian away from home, and can’t wait to see what Texas has to offer a couple of music lovin’ vegan health nuts.
Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter for all the updates from the road!
Saying goodbye to another addiction and hello to a happy cocyx.
In the last few months I’ve talked mainly about the physical changes that I’ve been going through. Probably because they were so unexpected, and because they’re freakin’ awesome. But honestly, more significant than that have been the changes going on under those new spandex drawers.
For instance, when I first gave my full attention to the CRAP that made up my diet (even though it was considered healthy by most American standards), I freaked out. With regularity. For about three weeks. I literally felt like somebody was killing me. Like I was going to starve. I panicked. I had thoughts like, “if I’m not going to be eating, what am I going to do with myself?!” Like I actually sat around and thought about food 24/7. Now there was a time in my life when that WAS true, but that hadn’t been so for at least seven or eight years. Or so I thought. Why was I suddenly being so irrational and distressed?
Because I’m an addict.
I realized that I myself was addicted to a variety of substances: nicotine, caffeine, sugar, chocolate, to name a few…finally I realized that for both myself and other people, addictions are not limited to substances. I was also addicted to work, performance, responsibility, intimacy, being liked, helping others, and an almost endless list of other behaviors. At the time it seemed just fine to be addicted to some of these things, but others I would have much preferred to be free of…my concern for them was not something I could control. They were compulsions. - Gerald May, Addiction and Grace
As the tentacles of my addictions to food and eating have slowly been ripped out by their toenails, I’ve noticed something I don’t like. I’m addicted to a lot of other crap, too. It’s one of the reasons, I think, that Jesus taught us to fast from food from time to time. Once we stop freaking out about starving to death (which now sounds completely silly), we get a sort of clarity that was shrouded before, usually by cheese. Or bacon.
Next on the list?
Television.
Ever since I read On Writing by Stephen King (his memoir on, well, writing), wherein he encourages would-be writers to toss the tube, I have been gradually more and more convinced that I spend too much time in front of the TV. That gave me some awareness of the problem, but I could ignore that. No problem - just like I did with food for years. Never mind that I still bitched about not having time to write, read, spend time with my wife, family, or friends, train for endurance events, and fit it all in. Amazingly I still managed to find time for endless reruns of How It’s Made on the Science Channel. And watching Air Force One for the 872nd time on TNT, which has become the new Con Air apparently.
Then I met Rich Roll. Well, not actually - YET. But I feel certain it will happen one day. (Rich, I’m not a stalker, I promise. Unless you like that. Then I totally am. By the way, if you want to know more about Rich and his story, which if you’re breathing air you SHOULD, then be sure to check out his new book, Finding Ultra. You can pre-order from his site - go check it out. But finish reading this post first.) On his blog he wrote about his need to be intentional about essential time to manage his career, family, and train for Ultraman competitions. My awareness piqued even more.
Then my ass started to hurt.
Apparently a long kept secret of skinny people is that it HURTS to sit for long periods of time, even on cushy couches and such.
This is my coccyx. It hurts like a mother.
Next, TV started becoming more, I don’t know, stark somehow. As if it’s one looooong product placement infomercial designed to subliminally kill every living soul with a dump truck load of fat, salt, and sugar. Which early on tempted me, then amused me, and finally pissed me off.
See the progression? Time is more valuable than ever, TV’s pissing me off to watch it anyway, and my ass hurts. Fact: Jesus can speak through your coccyx. I love him for being himself with me, and I get the message. Time to let TV go.
And this week I did.
The DIRECTV account is officially suspended. And, of course, I’m in mini-freak-out mode. Already wondering what the hell I’ll do instead of mindlessly veg out waiting for my ass to go numb. Immediately I thought of all the things I won’t be able to watch this summer - the Olympics, the Tour, Wimbledon. Which I probably wouldn’t have watched much of ANYWAY. But that’s what addiction does.
Addiction exists wherever persons are internally compelled to give energy to things that are not their true desires.
Don’t know exactly where all this change is headed, but that’s part of the adventure. So the TV is gone until September 1. That’s the starting point Renee and I agreed on, because that, people, is the beginning of football season. I’m an addict, not a masochist.
Putting my control issues to good use and taking ETL on the road
Anybody that knows me well will tell you that I have control issues. Most of the time I make them work for me, but sometimes they become a prison. Or a baseball bat. But that’s another blog post.
Since beginning Eat to Live in January, I have never been away from home where I am GUARANTEED being able to eat the most nutrient dense food I can get my hands on. Well, for the next five months, I’ll be traveling to: St. Louis, Austin, TX, Washington, D.C. (twice), and Costa Rica. Some for business, some for pleasure. All without a clue of what lay ahead for me in the culinary world. Enter control issues.
I’ve spent the last few days planning out my strategy. First stop, St. Louis:
Just arrived tonight - check out this fabulous view from my hotel balcony!
Thanks to Rip and the gang at Engine 2 and their recent post about traveling to Hawaii, I was reminded that liquids are the only thing that’s forbidden by the lovely folks at the TSA. Which in itself is completely ridiculous. Again, that’s another blog post.
I’m only in St. Louie for a day, so I set about designing food that would travel well in my carry-on bag.
I took a quick run when I got home from work, showered, and then was shuttled to the airport by my lovely wife - so no time for my typical dinner. While I waited for my flight, I broke out an Ezekiel Tortilla, banana, organic Fuji apple, and a liter of water from the airport shop. Break the tortilla in half and roll up half the banana and you’ve got an instant tropical burrito (add some raw almond butter for an amazing, healthy combination. No almond butter for me today - still limiting my seed/nut intake for now). All of this made a great, quick dinner. I felt satisfied but not full - the goal when you’re eating to live. And inside that carry-on/dinner table is tomorrow’s feast:
Which made it safely through airport security without a single question or bag search, up to 30,000 feet, and all the way to my hotel room. No spills. No mess. And my underwear doesn’t even smell like garlic. On deck we have (left to right):
- Two Antioxidant Rich Breakfast Bars to start the day.
- An Ezekiel Tortilla stuffed with roasted veggies, roasted tofu, cooked cranberry beans, and topped off with Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime Seasoning. This will be great as a portable dinner on the way home tomorrow. My meeting ends at 4:45p and I have a 6:40 flight, so no time for anything leisurely.
- My favorite ‘go to’ salad mix. About 20 ounces of raw veggies (with a few roasted ones thrown in) consisting of romaine lettuce, red leaf lettuce, shredded carrots, shredded beets, radicchio, and raw peas. And another Ezekiel Tortilla to act as a wrap with the salad. This is basically dinner for me every night at home and I absolutely love it.
- Last but not least, a few pieces of fruit for after lunch and dinner.
Now there’s no way I’m going to ruin this nutritarian feast by schlepping on some high fat, salty, sugary mess that tries to pass as salad dressing. So, in my recently acquired, TSA approved, lovely little 100ml bottles from Meijer, we have THIS:
200ml (or about 6-7 ounces) of my wife’s Zesty Tahini Dressing. With zero added fat, zero added sugar, VERY low sodium, and 100% delicious, REAL food.
All perfectly tucked away in my hotel fridge.
Just six months ago I would have told you that this just couldn’t be done. In reality, what I would’ve meant by that was that I didn’t want to take the time to do it. I’d rather use inconvenience as an excuse to eat crap in the airport, stress out over the money I’m spending in restaurants, and end up with a full-on guilt fest driven by my addiction to food, fed by a Dominoes Tuscan Veggie Pizza order to the hotel room covered with enough cheese to give Mickey a coronary. No more.
In reality all this took me about 15-20 minutes on the internet figuring out what’s legal to carry on-board, and about an extra 10-15 minutes putting the meals together last night. They took up about a third of the space in my carry-on, which is no problem at all for a one-day trip. That’s it.
If I can do this, YOU can totally do this. Follow my twitter feed for the next day or so and I’ll let you know how it goes. Got an early start tomorrow where I’m sure to be surrounded by danish-scarfing colleagues wondering what the hell I’m eating. Sarcasm is sure to abound. It will be awesome. Later!
PS: You should also totally go check out my daughter’s blog over at Learning The Skinny - all about her and her family’s Eat to Live journey. Because she’s awesome. And because she just ordered a new bikini. Way to go, Jenny! Love you!!
