Traveling Healthy

I just returned from my first trip since starting this new healthy lifestyle. I have to admit, I was a little panicked. What is my will power falters? What if there are no healthy options available at the event? What if the hotel doesn't have a treadmill? And on and on and on... I really didn't want to fail and there were dozens of excuses I could use to fail. So, I decided to make a plan. Failure not being an option, I put my big girl undies on and set out for a great weekend. My plan: 1. Drink lots of water. (I did...lots and lots and lots) 2. Pack snacks for the hotel room...carrots, hummus, apples, bananas, almonds. (I ended up packing almonds and boy, did they come in handy. If I hadn't had them, I would have hit the vending machine.) 3. Cruise the buffet before I dig in, then I'll know what my options are and choose the best ones. (Very helpful, I was able to make good choices and leave off what I could live without like the wonderful mac and cheese that I felt like jumping into). 4. Realize if I leave hungry because my options aren't good, I can eat afterward. (Again, those almonds came in very handy!) 5. Stay away from fast food restaurants (Do I really have to list this one???). (The only fast food I had was McDonald's oatmeal and a Wendy's chicken salad with vinegarette dressing.) 6. Choose from the broiled, baked, raw and unsauced (I know that's not a real word Mr Spell Check!) side of the menu. (One night everything was sauced. I chose the fish and ate a little of the sauce.) 7. Take the stairs (I may have to rethink this one since I fell down all those hotel stairs last August). (There were no stairs.) 8. Make it priority number 1 to do my 20 minutes of walking with or without a treadmill. (A real first. I found the hotel treadmill and actually enjoyed my walk!) 9. Think about how good I'm going to feel (and look) in a few months. (This was easy because my sweet hubby told me how proud he was of me on the day of the wedding.) 10. Realize if I have a weak moment, it's not the end of the world. (I did have a weak moment, I ate a small piece of what appeared to be homemade sour dough bread and a piece of key lime pie. However, since I'd chosen fish, salad and an undressed potato, I don't think I did too much harm.) 11. Celebrate my victories (think happy dance). (After getting home, I was proud of myself and that sense of pride is priceless.) 12 And speaking of dancing, dance the night away instead of sitting on the side looking like a frumpy ole preacher's wife. (There was no dancing however, I did my best not to look like a "frumpy ole preacher's wife"! The wedding was beautiful, the weekend was relaxing and now that I know I can eat healthy and make healthy choices, I'm not going to panic the next time I go on a trip. PS (My husband said he couldn't believe how much more energy I have after just 12 days of living healthy and I really do, it's amazing.)