On the Road Again!

This will most likely be my last blog until mid-April as we're leaving tomorrow on a trip and won't get back until late on April 15.  We are flying to New Orleans on Wednesday and had planned to drive to Chicago (we fly Southwest in and out of Chicago Midway) on Tuesday afternoon, but a close friend in South Bend, Indiana passed away at the end of last week, so we are leaving tomorrow for his visitation on Monday and the funeral on Tuesday.  We'll head to Chicago straight from the funeral.

We're meeting up with friends in New Orleans (she lost 127 pounds and her husband lost 90 pounds on Take Shape for Life/Medifast!) and will spend a couple of days exploring New Orleans before the four of us head out in their motor home for a road trip to Phoenix where we will attend a Take Shape for Life health coach training conference.  Along the way we will stop in San Antonio and El Paso. Following our conference, we will travel with them to Sedona and the Grand Canyon for a few days before we fly home from Phoenix on the 15th.

So what's my game plan for this 19-day trip?  Planning . . . careful planning :-).  My husband and I sent an order of Medifast food to our friends in Lousiana and it will be in their motor home waiting for us when we arrive.  We ordered a case of Dutch chocolate ready to drink shakes and lots of crunch bars, pretzels and cheese puffs to make things as easy as possible (I love the "grab and go" convenience of Medifast meal replacements!). It will also help that all four of us have lost a lot of weight ourselves (and all four of us have been maintaining for three years or more), as we will hold each other accountable.  Being with other people who are also committed to living healthy lives is helpful!  Since we're in maintenance, we will most definitely enjoy some of the wonderful food New Orleans and San Antonio are famous for, but we will do so in moderation.  I've already given permission to my friend to do an intervention if necessary and tell me to just walk away from the food :-).  

Speaking of walking, we will be doing a LOT of that on this trip! Because the four of us are at a healthy weight and are focused on living a healthy lifestyle, staying active is part of who we now are.  

So the plan is to stay active, utilize Medifast meal replacements for most of our meals every day (saving us money and time as well as providing great nutrition and helping us manage our calories so we can enjoy other foods), enjoy those other foods in moderation while paying close attention to portion sizes, and keeping each other accountable.

I shared all of this with you for a couple of reasons.  First of all, I want to encourage all of you who will be traveling for spring break and/or planning summer vacations - it IS possible to have a wonderful time and eat healthy.  (I went on vacation and even took a cruise while I was on 5&1 and stayed on plan AND lost weight!)  My second reason for sharing this is to hold myself accountable - I've shared what my plan is and I'll report back on how I did when I get home.

Continue to work your plan, stay accountable, and, of course, choose wisely :-).  I'll do the same and look forward to reconnecting when I return!