I had never road-tripped across the US. But if you and I are friends on
Instagram, you know that I am doing that very thing right now for the first time.
Jade and I left Los Angeles,
where he was working on a project for a number of weeks, on Monday and trekked to El Paso, then Austin, then New Orleans and then Florida, all before heading back to NC later this week.
A few things:
- I hate road trips (sorry Texas, but what the heck, it took us 2 full days of driving to get through you? I need landmarks to feel like I am making headway...)
- I become slightly more obsessed with food while in the car for 10+ hours a day. Which was
confusing.
Considering #2 above, I learned quickly on the first day that I was going to have to get some new nutritional tools on board to handle, well, being bored. Because in the car, there’s little else to think about or do besides eat. It’s boredom, mindless eating at its best.
So it took me a second to get some new strategies in place, and here’s what I learned:
1) You actually have to
eat according to a clock when you are driving all freaking day.
One of the biggest nutrition “rules” that I rallied against over the past few years was the idea that you have to eat every 3 hours. For me, this kind of eating had become a sort of prison where I was never in touch with my hunger and cravings because I wasn’t allowing my body to feel (and then deal with) those sensations. Not to mention, hunger has a behavioral component
so if you are eating every 3 hours, you are essentially training your body to be hungry every 3 hours. When you loosen up on the timetable, you get in touch with your biofeedback, and you begin to trust YOU, rather than relying on some arbitrary meal plan.
So, bottom line? I hate monitoring the clock to eat, and I just don’t anymore. I monitor my hunger and cravings and allow myself to feel them in the moment and then stay mindful to make healthy choices,
regardless of what time it is.
Buuuuuut. In the car, all bets are off because boredom makes focusing on food way easier. Think about it, eating is the path of lease resistance. You have to actually try to not eat every second.
So, I found after day 1 that holding yourself accountable to only eating once you reach a specific time does work for portion control and physique maintenance. And in order to do that
without eating your arm off, you have to stay mindful. Feel the boredom, recognize it. And then surf it. Until it’s time to eat. And maintain that mindfulness through your meal.
An example. Yesterday, it was “time to eat” so Jade and I pulled off at an exit in northern Florida and started making our way to a Whole Foods Market we spotted on the map. We were casually looking for a place to eat, and all the while I am feeling my hunger and cravings in the moment
(i.e. staying mindful) and it would have been easy to grab a quick burger at Micky D’s or hit The Golden Corral, both of which we saw immediately. But we persisted, a few more miles. And a few more, still hungry. Still mindful. Until finally! Our patience was rewarded when we spotted a Zoe’s Kitchen, which we know has an amazing Protein Power Plate, with chicken, cabbage, onions and feta. Perfect. A little patience and mindfulness pays off, so long as you stay aware of your sensations. If there
wasn’t a Zoe’s, we’d hit whatever and order a salad with chicken. NBD.
