{Trying} to Eat Well On Vacation

I took two back-to-back vacations recently and had great plans to show you how well I ate on both trips - taking clean eating on the road, if you will. This has been modified to show you how well I ate on the first trip. HA!!!

Before I do that, let me address the second trip. Our trip to Kansas lasted a week, and I really did try hard to be good. I did. I packed healthy snacks and made promises to myself that I would not overdo it. And in truth, I should have and could have tried harder to stick to my guns. I learned a lot on that trip about how not having a detailed plan results in falling so far off the wagon that you can't even see the wagon anymore. Maybe I'll unpack that more in another post sometime. But I said it to let you know that I'm truly NOT perfect at clean eating and I had my share of flat-out-fails this month.

But the trip to the lake was successful, so let's talk about that!! When Ryan and I headed to the lake for a weekend with his family, I had the wedding just a week away and a class reunion looming in the foreseeable future, and I really didn't want to mess up!

So if you're wondering how you can eat well on a trip and still have fun, here's a peek at how I did it that weekend.

I started out by planning ahead. Before we left, I made plans for healthy snacks for myself. Snacking is what gets me every time. Lake cottages are filled with bags of chips, trays of cookies, and many other not-so-clean deliciousness. And I contributed to it! I took a big plate of cookies and a loaf of zucchini bread to share with the family, but I wanted to have a stash of healthier options for myself {and Ryan did eat some of it, too}.

First up: fruit. I cut up a huge watermelon and took it with me. Ryan hates watermelon {WHAT!?!?!!?} so I normally don't buy it, because I can't finish it by myself. But since I had people to help me eat, I treated myself to a watermelon, and I have to tell you, it was an exceptionally tasty one!

I also made a batch of energy snacks to munch on when everyone else was enjoying cookies.

I planned out a bunch of Shakeology snacks, but I think I only ever made one the entire weekend. I should have been better at that, but the unusual schedule kept me from doing my protein shake - or any meal - at my normal, predictable times.

I also took yogurt, granola, and berries for my breakfasts, because I knew the standard fare there is donuts and/or biscuits and  gravy. {Delicious, but not clean!}

And a bag of peanuts for another snack option:

On the way to the lake, Ryan and I stopped at Culver's for dinner. Oh, be still my beating heart. Butterburgers, fries, and mixers. And yet, I chose this:

It's a strawberry chicken salad that is TRULY delicious. I used to think fruit and cheese and meat and vegetables didn't belong in a mix like this, but I really do love this salad. And I was so proud of myself for starting the weekend well.

When they served sandwiches for lunch, I just skipped having a bun on mine, and I went for watermelon instead of chips. {And I was so hungry that I didn't take a picture of it.}

On nacho night, I had mine on a bed of lettuce instead of a bed of chips, and I went light on the cheese and heavy on the beans. 

When we went out to eat with Natasha and her family, the restaurant didn't really offer specific healthy options, so I got a salad and didn't eat all of it.

While I tried to keep the treats as healthy as I could, {low fat milk in my coffee treats, etc.}, I did enjoy a delicious frappe and a sampling of Ryan's treats throughout the weekend!

All things in moderation, right? Now why couldn't I have remembered that the NEXT weekend?

It actually went well, and I felt considerably better physically when I kept the eating as much on the up-and-up as I could! The best thing I did for myself was coming into the weekend with a plan and bringing my own food!

Also linking up with my friend Tamar today!