Blog

This week, you and I will go on a little bit of a time travel, back to last year and bring back a very valuable post. Enjoy!

 

It’s summer, it’s vacation time (hopefully) which means (again, hopefully) traveling. But staying healthy while in transit is not always easy.

You know exactly what it’s like – you get to the airport, need to eat and there is nothing that suits you and your healthy lifestyle.

*sigh* Que: deep breaths mixed with hunger frustration. Godfrickingdamnit.

Do you have to throw all your efforts away and give in to the powerful fast food calling?

In a word: o’course not.

Granted, it is a lot more difficult than just grabbing the first thing you see. And it may require planning ahead a bit more than before. But it’s definitely not impossible!

Here is my Ultimate Guide to Staying Healthy While Traveling:

 

Challenge #1 – At the airport

Every fast food joint seems to be screaming your name when you walk past. First off, well done for not giving in and walking away!

If this is not an option (we both know there are less equipped airports out there), go in and try your best to stay away from the super duper size extra meal with extra this and that.

Instead, choose the one thing on the menu that has the most vegetables. Nope, the vegetarian burger does not count. Is it a salad? Great! Ask if they can add on some grilled chicken or a burger (just the meat though!). Also ask if you can have the dressing on the side, or if they have olive oil instead. Ask for water to drink, air travel dehydrates you anyway, so it’s best to stock up already before.

While this isn’t your ideal meal, it’s so much better than scoffing down a burger with fries and a coke.

Your other option is to take a food with you. Choose snacks that are easy to transport and nutrient-dense so you don’t need much of it to fill you up.

Suggestions include nuts, vegetable sticks, cheese cubes, avocado slices, fresh coconut slices, fruit bars, and hard-boiled eggs. Apples and bananas are usually easy to find (and make a great snack when paired with a packet of nut butter, available in most health stores) All things that are easy to eat without utensils.

You can also make homemade granola bars made with a little honey and filled with dried fruits and nuts, if you’re feeling creative.

 

Challenge #2: On the road

Wow, this one is certainly not easy.

Gas stations are among the most challenging places to stay healthy. You’re tired from sitting in the car for so long and really happy to get a leg stretcher.

At the same time, there is a cascade of unhealthy snacks and meals, all wanting to jump straight in your mouth.

Stop, take a second here. Are you sure you’re not just tired and bored to tears of watching kilometer after kilometer of concrete swish by you? If so, grab a bottle of water and go outside for a 5 minute walk.

If you really are hungry (as in, it’s your mealtime and you have to eat), consider your options first. What dish could you eat the most of? Leave the rest. Can they make you a special dish combined with things from a bunch of dishes? Very kind and open minded of them, and you’ll benefit greatly as well. If you’re at a gas station, choose protein-filled snacks, such as sunflower seeds, nuts, as well as fruit and nut bars, dark (85%) chocolate, or a banana.

Also: Investing in a small cooler will significantly reduce your chances of giving in to the drive-through cravings. You can fill it with your own favorites (perhaps some if them mentioned above?), including water bottles to keep hydrated.

 

In any on the go setting, a sandwich might be a suitable option. Don’t stop reading just yet. If you feel like making a  sandwich to take along, choose whole-grain bread (or do like i do: wrap it all up in a lettuce leaf or between larger bits of bell pepper to avoid grains.) Look for sandwich meats that are free of nitrates and preservatives, add some lettuce and sliced avocado (yummy, and a super healthy fat source, in comparison to mayonnaise, for example). Make sure you layer any condiments you might enjoy (pickles, mustard, tomatoes…) between the meat slices so the bread, or lettuce wrap, doesn’t get soggy.

 

Challenge #3: Restaurants

Eating well at restaurants can be tricky. But again, not impossible. (How do you think people with food allergies or other medical reasons do it?!)

Anyway, of course you want to indulge on vacation. And believe me, you should indulge.

But, remember that indulging at every meal will make it harder to get back into your healthy routine when you get back home. An idea is to choose one meal a day, or every two days, as a guilt free indulgence. Please, do skip the breadbasket so you’re not filling up on empty calories before the meal though!

Anything that is grilled, broiled, steamed, roasted, baked or poached is a great choice. Dare to ask for vegetables instead of whatever starchy side they have originally paired your food with. Or, order a salad with olive oil and fresh lemon juice and eat that before your starchy part of the meal.

 

Challenge #4: Hotel breakfasts

Holy guacamole, I do love me some hotel breakfast! It might just be the best thing in the world.

That doesn’t mean you need to be rolling out of there, fueled up on sugar, bad fats and feeling crappy (if only to get your money’s worth!)

Although hotel breakfasts tend to offer a lot of high sugar, high carb foods that aren’t necessarily associated with healthy eating (pancakes, French toast, waffles, processed cereals etc), there is one ingenious point.

Because it’s a buffet, you have the choice of what to eat. I know, it’s a fantastic opportunity to test your willpower, but try to choose more protein, such as eggs and add veggies to your omelet if you can, vegetables, nuts, fruit, yoghurt… To go for the cheese section is still better than to go for the sugar and starch.

And, most importantly, ENJOY having someone else make you breakfast for once.

For the serious health nuts (although self-proclaimed such, I don’t do this): you can pack your own individual oatmeal breakfasts in small plastic bags. Add rolled oats, cacao nibs, shredded coconut, dried cherries, and almonds. Pour the mixture into a bowl covered with water or coconut milk the night before, store it in the fridge and your breakfast will be waiting for you in the morning.

 

To summarize this long post, here are 3 main points:

1. Fill up on protein to cut down on the temptation of fast food.

2. Do your best, but don’t feel guilty if you don’t succeed all the time. It’s near to impossible.

3, Sometimes you need to prepare in advance to keep at your healthy lifestyle. But remember its totally worth it. Do you remember how you felt when you were still eating all that crap?

 

It’s also important to allow yourself a splurge every now and then. And: don’t isolate yourself from being with friends and family because you fear there won’t be healthy options. There is usually something on every menu that you can make into a healthy meal. Just see above! 🙂

Unexpected numbers can come at you in any shape or form.

A speeding ticket you definitely didn’t expect. The bill for your groceries (wait, what the heck did I just buy…? Gold?). Your phone bill after a month of especially exciting news, that clearly everybody needed to know (and sometimes Facebook just doesn’t cut it). The amount of (really annoying) red little numbers on the screen of your iPhone.

Or these sneaky numbers can be health related. Your weight. Your blood pressure. The amount of carbs in a chocolate bar.  Or, your blood glucose reading.

What they all have in common is that split second of freezing. The world stops spinning for just a fraction of time, and your hopes, ideas, and yes, even self esteem just plunges to way below sea level. 

I’m sure you know what I’m talking about, and I’m certain you’ve experienced it, too.

I recently had one of these come and slap me across my very unexpecting face. Naturally, this happened at my doctors office.

A few days ago, I went for my bi-yearly diabetes check up with my endocrinologist.

Finger pricks were done, blood pressure, weight and circumference were recorded and I landed back in the waiting room for a few minutes.

The visit started really well, I didn’t have to wait long (yay, always a bonus!), and my doctor seemed to be in a good mood.

In short, all was well and good. Until she gave me the result of my HbA1c test.

It had increased, not decreased. There was a higher number staring back at me from her bleary computer screen than I’ve seen in more than 1,5 years.

*GULP* 

“But… all that effort… I’ve done everything imaginable to tame this.” I almost stuttered, feeling those darn tears burning inside my eyelids. Why the eff was this happening? Surely she must know, she’s a doctor, right? … were two of the thoughts that immediately hit me.

“Hanna. It’s nothing that you’re doing wrong, you’re handling your diabetes really well” she replied (and I almost fainted for the opposite reason, because I’ve NEVER heard that before!)

“It’s not your diet, it’s not your exercise, it’s not the sleep, it’s not the stress,” she continued, “it must be something else.”

Ah, so she’s basically as clueless as I am myself. Well, that’s a relief. Kind of.

“We’ll put a continuous glucose meter sensor on you for a week and see if there are any unknown peaks in your blood sugar. And we’ll check your thyroid again, along with a full blood panel. How’s Monday to start wearing the sensor?”

“Ehm, yeah, I guess…” is all I could say at this point.

She followed me to the laboratory, where my favourite nurse (thank god) already waited for me with a needle, ready for a blood test.

Throughout this, I kept feeling those effing tears burn, making the nurse think I’d suddenly developed a paralysing fear of drawing blood for tests. After reassuring her she’s awesome and the best one I’ve ever known for taking my blood, I just switched off into thought mode.

What’s going on? How can I have missed such high blood glucose spikes that would make SUCH a difference? I mean, I know there were 2 instances I had no control, but seriously? What else can I do? Is there anything else i CAN do? What’s wrong with me? I give and I give and I give this disease attention, energy and sacrifices on a daily basis – why can’t it just play along?

My ego clearly wasn’t ok with this result.

I mumbled thank you to the nurse, and headed out the door. I walked 3 km downhill  to my house, crying, being angry, annoyed and frustrated all at the same time. Cursing my own body for being so shit. For not working properly, and for putting my life at risk.

The rest of the day I cancelled everything I had planned and watched tv. That’s how numbing this was for me. (Although Season 2 of Orange Is The New Black is absolutely brilliantly awesome.) What can I do? What else can I remove/add/do in my life that would help me out of this crap?

I already do and give and sacrifice so much for this, things that, if I’m honest, I probably wouldn’t take as seriously if it wasn’t because of my disease(s). I meditate, exercise, recently begun exploring EFT tapping, I work with my attitude, emotions and anything else that can kick me out of my routine daily, I drink tons of water, I eat healthily and according to how I’ve figured out my body does best (and (almost) never have cheat meals), I take my medication and supplements on time, I don’t stress very often, I do the things I love, the things that make me happy (like my job!), I have a routine and keep to it, I make sure I spend enough time on my own so that I don’t take on too much… I’m seriously depleted of things that I could be doing more to accommodate the diabetes in my body.  It feels like I give everything I have, but I just can’t win. And that feels like crap.

The following day I realised what it was: nothing. I can do absolutely nothing else than I already am to improve this. All I can do is to keep going. Just like I have before. This may seem daunting to you, but for me it was part of healing from the shock and coming back.

How you react to an unexpected number is completely up to you, you always have a choice. But you need to have the courage to brush yourself off and try again, after the initial shock has passed. Sometimes it isn’t even your fault at all – you can do everything completely right and still get an unexpected number.  Especially when it comes to an autoimmune condition. But it’s so essential not to give up, even though it very well may seem a lot easier at the time, and to stand up and tell this number to go shove it, because that’s all it’ll ever be – a number on a paper. You can improve, you can and will do better, but that number is still going to be the same. Whether it’s your weight, telephone bill or your HbA1c result.