Eating on the Road

Since beginning my weight loss journey almost eleven weeks ago, I haven’t really faced any challenges that threatened my new resolve to make healthier food choices. I haven’t eaten out, or been away from home for a meal since starting Weight Watchers, so it’s been easy to stay on track.

Yesterday I had to drive to my sister’s (about two and a half hours away) for the day, and then back home again yesterday evening, and I faced my first hurdle (or two).

Hurdle number 1:

In the village where I grew up and where my sister still lives, there is a little chip truck where they serve the most awesome fried foods. At lunch time, my sister suggested to me that, “you could cheat, and we could go to the chip truck for lunch!” My response was, “No, I can’t cheat, and go to the chip truck. I’m not doing a diet, I’m making a lifestyle change.” Instead we went to the grocery store and came out with salad, grilled chicken, and fruit.

I’m really glad I stuck to my guns on this one, because I know I would have felt guilty, and not enjoyed anything I would have gotten from the chip truck. And then if I gained or didn’t lose on Monday when I weigh in I would have felt even worse.

Hurdle number 2:

On my way back home, it was getting pretty late, and I was still over an hour from home so I had to stop for supper. I had my Yorkie, Truffles, with me so I had to get something that I could eat in the car, since he flips out when I leave him alone and even if he didn’t, I wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving him in the car alone.. That’s him below after his bath on Wednesday night, and in his car seat yesterday.

Truffles after his bath

Truffles in his car seat.

The town I stopped in is not very big so I didn’t have a lot of options to choose from, the easiest was the McDonald’s on the main street. I pulled out my iPad and looked up the restaurant’s food values on my Weight Watcher’s app. My experiences with fast food salads have not been great, so I figured if I was going to splurge I wanted to at least enjoy what I was eating, but I still wanted to stay on track.

After perusing the list of items, and looking at the points values, I finally decided to order the 6 piece Chicken McNuggets (8 points), with Hot Mustard sauce (I ate half a serving which was 1 point), apple slices (0 points), and a black coffee (0 points). For reference, with 40 points per day, I usually allocate approximately 10 points per meal which leaves a points for snacks.

I was very proud of myself for being strong and not going overboard, just because I was travelling. It gives me hope for next week when I’ll probably be eating out for a couple of days. And the best part was that I enjoyed the food and didn’t feel the least bit guilty afterward, because I had stayed within my points, and made some (semi) healthy choices for my meal.

If you’re trying to make healthier choices do you try to plan ahead? If you splurge on something not so healthy, do you find that you regret it or feel guilty later?