Cuz I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane...........

This week I am heading off for a work trip. I'm going to New York which means:

-A lot of traffic
-Seeing lots of old friends
-Amazing Kosher Pizza- yum

This is a huge trap for me. New York has a lot of easy, delicious, and readily available food. I've been healthy for a long time, I'm at a healthy weight, whats the big deal if I take a few days off right?

Well, no, not right. A few meals off? Maybe- but breakfast lunch and dinner out and about at restaurants can add up to thousands more calories that I usually eat combined. And I probably won't get to exercise as much as I usually do which means I'l be burning less calories too(unless I run from Manhattan to Brooklyn- hhhmmmm...)

The other side of my brain starts picking up over here- "But I can't worry about my food too!" Which is true. I had a lot of things to tie up at work, tons of planning on details for the kids, not to mention all of the packing and repacking I did to make sure I don't make a fool out of myself in my hick town clothes in front of all of these New York professionals........

Deep breathe, this is all about planning, and reframing. I can plan ahead- and reframe some of my anxious thoughts with "I will be proud of myself, and will strengthen my resistance muscle if I can walk away from this trip having stayed in control and kept to a plan."

Ok- so here's how it can go:

I have decided that dinners I can go and have fun (but I must have a vegetable side dish at every dinner). Fine, easy, done with that.

Second, I decided to ask my friend who I am staying with what kind of cereals she had. She told me that she has my favorite healthy cereal and that she has some strawberries I can cut in. Perfect, done with that. (I hope she has good coffee, hhmmmm forgot to ask)

Third- lunches- which will be the hardest because I am at all day clinical trainings with only 45 minutes for lunch and a lot of restaurants in the area.

Ok, so I am bringing with me:
-a package of wasa crackers
-two apples
-two pears
-three hard boiled eggs
-avocado
-spices
-pre checked lettuce
-a batch of healthy granola bars
-some tea bags of my favorite mint flavored tazo tea

Seems like a lot right? Fits all into one Target back, and took me five minutes to pack up.

Ok, breathe in, breathe out- all better. I have a plan. I know what I'm going to eat, no excuses of needing pizza for breakfast lunch and dinner because I'm away from home. But I still get treats every night in terms of a more lavish dinner so I don't feel deprived.

Once you get your brain in the habit of doing this- pre-planning actually makes your life easier, not harder.

Well everyone wish me luck! Another good thing I just did is make myself accountable. Now you all know my plan so if you see me around next week- ask me if I kept to my plan. Knowing you all are out there will definitely make me stick to the program.

Have a good weekend!