This year I have been a bit of a road warrior. In fact, when I departed on a recent business trip to the US, I calculated that I had actually been home (in Santiago, Chile) about 4.5 months the entire year. Not a bad thing. I totally thrive off of being on the move, experiencing different cultures, exploring new spots/chefs/restaurants/experiences for our business. However, this last business trip was very different.
In mid-September, I made some major alterations to my diet. For a long time, I was constantly dealing with digestive annoyances like bloating, rosacea, water retention, and overall aches and pains. Like many of us, I took it as a given and part of the human experience. While my diet was already healthy, I sensed something was not doing me good. There had to be some level of inflammation causing these issues. I finally decided I was through with putting up with anything less than feeling amazingly healthy every single day.
I went to Dr. Silva, a neurologist/M.D. and homeopath who truly believes that food is our best medicine. While conceptually, I couldn’t have agreed more, during the hour consultation after a non-invasive scan to measure inflammation in the body, it became clear that I had to eat differently. I was a little skeptical at his detailed recommendations but decided to have a little faith and follow them without questioning. Overnight my diet became mostly fresh food. It’s actually easier to list what I can eat, then what I can’t. Abundant fruits, vegetables, salads. Alkaline foods like avocado, coconut oil, seaweed. Other wholesome foods like beans (especially adzuki and mung), non-gluten grains (amaranth, millet, buckwheat, quinoa, brown rice), and small amounts of fish and free range eggs in a vegetable tortilla. My breakfast went from cereal and almond milk to spirulina capsules with fresh grapefruit juice and a big bowl of seasonal fruit. Coffee? Tchau. Instead, I drink copious amounts of rooibos herbal tea with a touch of stevia.
The immediate results were inspiring. I dropped 5 pounds of water weight in the first week and actually was eating more fresh food than ever so I was never hungry. My sleep improved, my rosacea disappeared, and my energy levels soared. A miracle? Nope, just eating alkaline food. More than a diet change, it was a lifestyle change. A way of becoming my best self and supporting my health. We truly are what we eat.
Ten days into this, I had to leave on my business trip. Trips, especially ones focusing on food and wine, can be total eating landmines. How would I survive? I had stuck to my guns. It wasn’t hard. It took some voluntad, willingness. I also went shopping for a few pieces of new clothing. Let me tell you, with a skinnier body, the whole fashion game changes dramatically. Here are the strategies I used to make this business trip a healthy success:
Pack Your Lunch: Remember in elementary school how we packed our lunch to avoid the nastiness of cafeteria food? I think airline food is pretty much the same these days. Rather than try to make due with what their du jour is and if that fits into my diet, I thought ahead and packed out a Swiss chard tortilla (made with veggies and eggs) and raw veggies like celery and carrots the night I flew to Dallas. I packed my favorite tea along with two pieces of fruit (pears) for breakfast…no problema. Investment? A little thinking ahead and one good Tupperware container.
Keep It Green: I am totally obsessed with eating as many green vegetables as possible for their nutrients, calcium, and minerals. When it’s hard to load up on the road, I chug a big scoop of Supergreens food in the morning and afternoon, which is equivalent to a salad in a glass. I also discovered on very early morning flights that some airport terminals have Jamba Juice which serves a “green smoothie” made with greens, spirulina, and fresh fruit like banana and mango.
At Your Order: While I was fine eating out in Texas, a true state of foodies (at least in Dallas, Austin, and Houston), when I got to my hometown area of Central PA, I was shocked at how much bacon, red meat, and cheese went on absolutely everything. EVERYTHING. I had to get creative so I simply started asking to tweak a dish on the menu to my taste. Not in the mood for salmon again or just want a vegetarian meal? No problem, how about black beans. Or I ordered a bunch of yummy sides and soup. This strategy alone consistently saved me in numerous eating situations. That being said, I still savored many of my favorite “treats” like diver scallops from Maine, Northwest Pacific wild salmon, tempeh, and my love for Chinese greens like chom sui.
80/20 rule: In some cases, I had to relax a little and go with what was being served. I did have digestive enzymes with me, a lifesaver to fully digesting foods when I wasn’t adhering to food combining principles. I will confess one isolated cheese and chocolate meltdown. If it was any proof, the next morning I woke up to having my rosacea reignited. This made me further commit to permanently sticking to this way of eating. However, I didn’t beat myself up after slipping up. I just moved on. Most of the time we should eat 80% alkaline (fresh) and 20% acid-forming (beans, meat, etc.). My diet prior to this was exactly opposite. So I know that even if I slipped a little, it was about simply getting back on the train with the next meal. Consistency.
Snacks: When on longer flights, I always pack green bars like Green+ or anything that is raw with lots of superfoods like chlorella or spirulina. With a glass of water, it really does satiate you. In fact, one day in Dallas running all over the city and to Fort Worth, I had no time to even think about stopping for lunch with all the traffic. Thanks to the bars and fresh water, I was okay until dinner. I would not use these as a meal substitute all the time, however, for this type of travel situation, it saved the day.
Sweat: I make a point of staying in hotels that have well-equipped gyms. Even 20-30 minutes of intense cardio is better than none. I have to be jetlagged, zapped, or sick to not drag myself to the gym. In fact, the morning I woke up at 5:00am to go to the gym at the Grand Hyatt at DFW, I couldn’t believe how crowded it was. It offsets sitting on a plane or in a car all day. Going back to the 80/20 rule…80% may be what you eat, but 20% is absolutely physical activity and feeding oxygen to your brain and muscles.
How about you guys? How do you eat healthy while traveling?
