I recently spent 2 weeks in Florida with my family and we had a great trip – walks on the beach every morning, swimming, yoga on the beach, sunsets, and BBQ’s on the water.
I love going on vacation, but especially with this last trip, I’ve noticed that my body doesn’t. I ate healthy for the most part, but I had a couple glasses of wine everyday, appetizers and went out for dinner a few times. After 2 weeks of this I noticed my digestion was off, my energy was low and I found my mood was affected. It was a great reminder of the power of healthy food.
When I’m at home I have full control over my diet, I’m in a routine, and I feel great, but when on vacation it’s difficult to have full control.
I’m not saying I don’t enjoy wine & appies on vacation, but in order to live a healthy lifestyle and meet your weight loss goals, it’s important to take control of your diet.
When you have control, you’re less likely to fall into traps that can sabotage your healthy diet. A few tips to stay in control:
- Take healthy snacks when travelling: avoid random airport & airplane food by bringing your own healthy snacks such as: granola bars (ie. Taste of Nature), trail mix, a cheese sandwich with mustard on whole grain bread, and an apple. It always seems like an unnecessary step when you’re busy packing, but trust me you’ll be thankful for it when you’re starving while waiting for your baggage. If you fill yourself up with healthy snacks, you’ll be less likely to grab something unhealthy out of desperation.
- Bring a healthy option when going out with friends: this tip is inspired by one of my clients. She’s so dedicated to her healthy meal plan that she brings healthy snacks out with her to the pub. If you have something else healthy to snack on you won’t miss the greasy pub grub. Your body will thank you, and you’ll feel empowered walking out of there knowing you didn’t give in to temptation, and you are in control.
- Create a weekly healthy meal plan: this is my number one recommendation if you want to accomplish your health goals. Take 10 minutes every week and plan the meals you’re going to make each night. Put together a corresponding grocery list, and buy your ingredients for your meals that week. With all the ingredients ready to go in the fridge, and your meals written down in the calendar, you’ll be much more likely to stick with it.
Speaking of meal planning, I’m really into slow cooker recipes lately. Now that I have a baby, it’s so much easier to cook dinner in the afternoon instead of at 7:30pm after he goes to bed. I made a great recipe last night that I want to share – Slow Cooker Thai Chicken Soup adapted from Foodiecrush.com. It was easy, healthy and delish. Enjoy!
Slow Cooker Thai Chicken Soup
Ingredients
2 tbsp. red curry paste
2 cans coconut milk
2 cups organic chicken stock
2 tbsp. fish sauce
2 tbsp. coconut palm sugar
2 tbsp. natural peanut butter
1-½ lbs. chicken breasts, or 2 packs of six chicken thighs (PC hormone & antibiotic free)
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 heaping tbsp. fresh ginger, minced (or from jar)
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced into ¼” slices
1 tsp. sea salt
1 cup snap peas, diced
1 tbsp. lime juice
½-cup cilantro
Sriracha hot sauce (optional)
Method
Turn slow cooker to low, and add the curry paste, coconut milk, chicken stock, fish sauce, sugar and peanut butter. Stir to combine.
Season the chicken with salt & pepper and add to slow cooker along with the onion and ginger. Cover and cook on high for 3 1/2 hours.
After 3 ½ hours, shred the chicken with a fork & knife and turn the heat off. Add in the peas, red pepper slices, lime juice and salt. Let sit for 20-30 minutes to all for peas & peppers to soften.
Serve hot into bowls and garnish with snap peas, cilantro and a few dashes of hot sauce, enjoy!
[…] because I usually have more time during the day to prep and cook. This past Sunday I made my Slow Cooker Thai Chicken Soup and it was so nice to have dinner for Sunday & Monday done by […]