For me, sticking to the Eat to Live diet can prove difficult on vacation. Not due to the lack of decent choices, but because it is so hard for me to MAKE those good choices. So many more restaurants have at least a vegan or vegetarian option and of course there are salads at pretty much every where you go. The salad dressing is of concern, but you can always ask for it on the side or ask for just some vinegar, lemons, or low fat options.
That all sounds good in theory.
But it is just so hard. Especially when you have been consuming the SAD (Standard American Diet) for much longer than ETL (Eat to Live).
I’d love to tell you that I made all the right choices on our trip to Houston, Galveston, and Austin in our RV. I had even cooked and prepped so many nutritious foods and stocked our pantry so that I was ready!
But then all the emotions and feelings and cravings came back when we were sitting in restaurants looking over the menu. It was like I was an addict and I had the choice between my favorite drug (SAD food) and something not that.
Plus, while my family is pretty good about eating ETL when I’m cooking at home and my husband has been on board, he’s of the mindset that, “Hey, it’s vacation!” And while that is his decision, it makes it harder for me to stick to healthier choices when I’m the only one….
I wish I was stronger. I’m just not there yet….
While I MOSTLY chose vegan or vegetarian options, cheese is my weakness. I’m not even sure why. I really don’t think it’s the taste of it. It’s something else that still has control over me when presented with that choice….ug.
Fortunately, there were black bean burgers on almost all the menus and while that was better than a meat burger or something else, they were on white bread. I just assumed they wouldn’t have whole wheat bread, but I also didn’t ask.
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Whole Foods is my new favorite store!
After I got back, I decided to go check out Whole Foods in Fort Worth. I had never been, but heard good things. I have been to Central Market in Fort Worth, but it’s so large and overwhelming, I tend to buy way too much!
Whole Foods is much smaller than Central Market and has SO many great vegan products and an awesome bulk section! I was able to find some special goodies like Engine 2 products by Rip Esselstyn – I got some no-oil hummus, black bean burgers, and his Rip’s Big Bowl Cereal my husband likes. All his products are completely WFPB no-oil compliant.
There was also a Cashew Queso by Siete that was in the refrigerated section hear the hummus. It’s so delicious and doesn’t have oil! WFPB is catching on!
Since Whole Foods is about a 20 minute drive for me, I may start ordering them off of Amazon – Whole Foods partnered with them so even if you don’t live near a Whole Foods you can get many of their products delivered! This is great if there are some special no-oil WFPB products you can’t get near you!
Related Reading – Want to check out my journey from the beginning? Start from Week 1 to follow me on my quest to Eat to Live!
Nutritarian Diet Food Journal Weeks 10 & 11
I combined these 2 weeks together since I was on vacation for 10 of those days and also because I didn’t bring a scale with me so I had no idea what I weighed until we got back.
Day 64: 150.5 pounds to start
2 days before we left for vacation
- Breakfast – Fruit & greens smoothie and coffee w/unsweetened almond milk
- Lunch – Lettuce Boats – green lettuce leaf filled with no-oil hummus, broccoli, spinach, roasted red peppers, & balsamic glaze
- Dinner – Hot dog, chips, and unsweet tea….sigh….fundraiser dinner at my kids elementary school and since I said no to my kids for all the other fundraiser meals I gave in….
Day 65:
Packing & food prepping today then left for Houston about 5pm.
- Breakfast – Avocado toast (Ezekiel Bread), blackberries, & coffee w/unsweetened almond milk.
- Lunch – Buffalo cauliflower, Thai Carrot Soup, and roasted asparagus
- Snack while driving – Kale Chips – I used Everything Bagel Seasoning this time.
- Dinner – Stuffed Bell Peppers (recipe coming soon) and Vegan Carrot Cake
Day 66:
Houston
- Breakfast – Avocado toast on Ezekiel Bread w/everything bagel seasoning, fresh pineapple, coffee w/unsweetened soy milk
- Lunch – Lettuce boats – green leaf lettuce, broccoli, shredded carrots, no-oil hummus, red onion, green onion, balsamic vinegar; Vegan Carrot Cake
- Dinner – Pizza, chips, and gatorade. Darn you pizza!!!
Day 67:
Houston and then Galveston
- Breakfast – Avocado toast on Ezekiel Bread w/everything bagel seasoning, coffee w/unsweetened soy milk
- Lunch – Stuffed Bell peppers
- Dinner – at NASA – thank you for having healthy choices! Vegetable soup and salad w/ lettuce, broccoli, chickpeas, green peas, red onion, red pepper, carrots, and balsamic dressing;
- Snack while driving to Galveston – coffee & Peanut Butter Cookies
Day 68:
Galveston
- Breakfast – Ezekiel Bread Avocado Toast and 2 whole grain blueberry pancakes
- Lunch – Tortilla Veggie Wrap – no-oil hummus, kale, broccoli, shredded carrots, green onions, balsamic vinegar; Vegan Carrot Cake
- Snack – Peanut Butter Cookies
- Dinner – Farro, Red Peppers, and corn; Ezekiel Bread avocado toast; popcorn
Day 69:
Galveston
- Breakfast – 2 Avocado Toast on Ezekiel Bread w/ Everything Bagel & coffee w/unsweetened almond milk
- Lunch – Smores….ummmm we had a campfire and one thing led to another….
- Dinner – Rainforest cafe – Anaconda Pasta (Quinoa pasta with marinara sauce and veggies); 2 margaritas (my other weakness)
Day 70:
Galveston….this is really where I started to give in to temptations….
- Breakfast – La Estacion Restaurant – Eggs, chorizo, & potato burrito; coffee w/cream
- Lunch – nothing – not hungry from our big “SAD” breakfast
- Dinner – Mama’s Flying Pizza (my hubbies choice…) – Veggie Supreme pizza, wine, and frozen yogurt
Day 71:
Galveston
- Breakfast – Fruit & greens smoothie ; coffee w/unsweetened soy milk
- Lunch – Jimmy’s Restaurant on the ocean – Black bean Burger, Bean Salad w/tortilla chips, and roasted veggies instead of fries
- Dinner – Bubba Gump Restaurant – Spinach Artichoke Dip, Etoufee, Mac and cheese, margarita
Day 72:
Galveston and Austin
- Breakfast – Avocado Toast on Ezekiel Bread, cantaloupe, blueberries, and coffee w/unsweetened soy milk
- Lunch – A bar restaurant on the Strand. We were in a hurry to get on the road and it was the least wait… Yes we could have eaten food from our RV, but my hubby wanted to eat on the Strand…. Veggie patty burger, fries; ice cream from La King’s Confectionary
- Dinner – Carrot cake (not hungry from such a big lunch)
Day 73:
Austin
- Breakfast – Avocado Toast on Ezekiel Bread, cantaloupe, blueberries, and coffee w/unsweetened soy milk
- Lunch – A bar restaurant on the Strand. We were in a hurry to get on the road and it was the least wait… Yes we could have eaten food from our RV, but my hubby wanted to eat on the Strand…. Veggie patty burger, fries; ice cream from La King’s Confectionary
- Dinner – Carrot cake (not hungry from such a big lunch)
Day 74:
Austin & drove home
- Breakfast – Avocado Toast on Ezekiel Bread, cantaloupe, blueberries, and coffee w/unsweetened soy milk
- Lunch – A bar restaurant on the Strand. We were in a hurry to get on the road and it was the least wait… Yes we could have eaten food from our RV, but my hubby wanted to eat on the Strand…. Veggie patty burger, fries; ice cream from La King’s Confectionary
- Dinner – Carrot cake (not hungry from such a big lunch)
Day 75:
HOME! Time to get back to 100% WFPB
- Breakfast – Fruit and Greens Smoothie, green tea
- Lunch – Whole grain tortilla wrap w/kale, black beans, brown rice/quinoa, riced sweet potato, avocado, & Everything Bagel seasoning
- Dinner – Tofu Marinara – my fave! – & steamed broccoli, corn, and carrots; cantaloupe; green tea (should not have had green tea for dinner because I couldn’t sleep well due to the caffeine)
Day 76:
I went to Whole Foods today for the first time and it was AWESOME!
- Breakfast – Avocado Toast on Ezekiel Bread, small Fruit and Greens Smoothie and coffee w/unsweetened soy milk
- Lunch – Went to Whole Foods for the first time! AWESOME! Vegan Sushi Burrito (Seaweed wrap, brown rice/quinoa, green lettuce, cucumber, green onion, carrots, jalapeno, avocado, & shallots) YUM!
- Dinner – Sweet potato, red quinoa, green peas, & chocolate cherry cookies
Day 77:
I found Engine 2 Brand products (by Rip Esselstyn – Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn’s son) at Whole Foods and even a Cashew Queso Cheese (no-oil) sauce that was so good! (it’s much cheaper buying in store at Whole Foods, but you can click the link to see what the jar looks like)
- Breakfast – Whole grain blueberry pancakes w/ground flax seed; coffee w/unsweetened soy milk
- Lunch – Veggie sandwich on Ezekiel Bread (Engine 2 no-oil hummus, avocado, spinach, arugula, shredded green/red cabbage & carrots)
- Snack – cashew nacho cheese on 2 organic corn tortillas
- Dinner – Soybean spaghetti w/ fat-free Marinara Sauce & peanut butter cookies
My weight loss on the nutritarian diet this week:
- Starting weight this week – 150.5 lbs
- Ending weight this week – 149.3
- Weight loss this week – 1.2 lbs
- Total weight loss so far – 14.7 lbs
I am SHOCKED that I didn’t gain more weight on those 10 days of vacation. I could tell I was really bloated from all the salt, but I expected more weight gain from all the added oils & sugar I knew I was probably getting. Before, when I was eating meat, I WOULD have gained so much more. I lost all the water weight within 1 day of returning and was at my starting weight before I left. Then over the next 3 days, I lost 1.2 pounds. CRAZY!
Although there were plenty of poor choices on my part, I did notice I was able to make at least some better choices each day which I think really helped not to gain weight. I didn’t completely blow it all day. I just wish I was stronger to not give in to temptation and social pressure of what other people are doing. I’m not there yet. But I’m not going to give up. Every day is a new day!