In brief, on Friday morning a good family friend died too young. He was a good man, a dad, a musician, and a career high school English teacher. I've known him since I was two and even though I'm not around him and his family anymore (I've lived in CA 14 years) it hit me hard. Craig was at my wedding in 2010 and he was diagnosed with cancer less than a year ago; it was one of those situations where you don't want to 'believe' it's happening- and then, well, it does. On Friday I ended up calling out of work because I just didn't want to be around people. I talked to my mom a few times and read some heartbreaking facebook posts and called it a day.
Saturday morning Adam and I made the last minute decision to drive from home (Redondo Beach) to Oakland to see his friend Bobby and his band play at a club. If I hadn't taken Friday off I probably would have talked Adam out of it, but I really wanted to get out of the house and out of my head. The drive took almost 6 hours and then another 40 min each way from hotel to the gig, plus about 5.5 to get back home tonight. As I cheerily put it, I added an another week's worth of drive-time commute onto my life in just 36 hours. It was 'worth it' to see how happy it made Bobby and the guys in his band when we showed up but... I'm wiped.
The reason why I'm motivated to share the randomness of the last few days is because I coasted through it without turning to Spice Drops, Combos, M&Ms, breaded fast food, or any other convenience store road snacks. We stopped at both McDonald's and Taco Bell and I made it through relatively unscathed as it relates to low carb- want to hear how? I know I'm bragging but the thing is I wasn't all middle-aged-paranoid-eating-disorder-style about it, I just did it.
Road trip stop #1- McDonalds 1pm Saturday. I ordered a grilled chicken bacon wrap. In the car I dug out the chicken, bacon, and mayonn-aisey lettuce and tomato pieces and chomped it down. I tossed the wrap. Boom. I didn't special order I just foraged for the good stuff.
Road trip stop #2- Cattlemen's 7pm Saturday. Chain sit-down place. I was hungry since I had really only eaten the innards of a $2 wrap sandwich, but I ignored the bread basket, enjoyed a blue-cheese salad, and then opted for veggies instead of the starchy choices, and was so full with my pound of ground sirloin that the cowboy chocolatey cake-pile dessert was honestly the least appetizing thing on the planet.
Road trip stop #3- On the way home we hit up a taco bell. Generally pretty barfy. I got the Cantina Bowl chicken with no rice. Done.
We had a CVS can of mixed nuts in the car, and I drank both water and zero calorie Monster energy drinks. There was also a free breakfast at the Quality Inn and I shoveled down some rubbery scrambled eggs and some coffee with half-and-half- AND I IGNORED THE SWEET BREAKFAST TREATS. Anyone who knows me would be shocked to see me sitting 5 feet from a danish and bagel display with a small pile of eggs and a coffee.
The best part? I'm so rarely hungry and I find myself 'naturally' eating smaller portions. Eating this way regulates my hunger, and probably my blood glucose levels (someday I'll get tested) in such a way that I don't want to sneak into the chevron and buy candy- even on a 6 hour drive. It's magic.
Excellent low carb choices!! I often forage the good stuff out...I will order a burger, and not take one bite of the bun. I love a good hunk of meat with cheese and bacon. I, too, have found that the more fat and protein I eat, the less I crave carbs and the less hungry I am in general. I have really come to believe that eating fat is not bad for you. Bring on the mayo!
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome! I did my first California road trip this summer and I totally know what you mean about resisting munchies on a long drive. The drive from San Francisco to LA was the toughest, but stocking up on healthy snacks (fruit and nuts plus plenty of water) helped.
ReplyDeleteWell done :)