“Failing to plan is planning to fail”
It’s so easy to make excuses during the holidays or while we are traveling. But based on my own experience with traveling a sh*t ton over the past three, I know for a fact that you can make it work if you want to. But you have to want it. And when you want it, you have to plan ahead. We make sh*tty decisions when we are frantic and have no other options available. But if you plan ahead, you’ll always have something available or a game plan to keep you on track. Your health is still most important, so act like it! Even when families or friend’s feelings are involved, remember that your health is the most important and you should treat it that way.
I’m working on getting transcriptions for each one of my previous podcasts, including this one, so I’m writing a bit more in detail in the description until then. And that way, if you don’t want to listen, you can quickly scan this! But know that transcriptions are coming! Hope this topic is helpful!
[powerpress]
When heading out to travel – do your research:
- Download the yelp app (searching gluten free and paleo)
- Google (duh)
- Ask friends
- Look at blogs and social media
- Plan some of your meals
- Restaurants
- Grocery Shop – Make meals for yourself
- Drink a ton of water – take a water bottle with you
- Pack snacks for emergencies
- Rx Bars
- Larabars
- Larabar bites
- Mammoth Bars
- Fuel For Fire Protein Packs
- Nut Butter Packets
- Plantain Chips
- Jerky
- Work with what you have
- Eat the meat off of a sandwich (when I have no other option, I’ll get a breakfast sandwich at a coffee shop and just eat the egg and sausage patty without the bagel/croissant)
- Get a shitty salad with no dressing or croutons
- Look up the ingredients at McDonald’s before you go there. Look at just the sauce ingredients alone!
- This is the ingredients in just the Habanero Ranch Sauce alone: Water, Soybean Oil, Corn Syrup Solids, Distilled Vinegar, Buttermilk Powder, Egg Yolks, Maltodextrin, Dried Cayenne Red Pepper Sauce (Aged Cayenne Red Peppers, Vinegar, Salt, Garlic), Sugar, Corn Starch, Modified Food Starch, Contains 1% or Less: Salt, Spice and Spice Extractives, Natural Flavor (Dairy and Animal Sources), Lemon Juice Concentrate, Lactic Acid, Habanero Pepper, Red Bell Pepper Powder, Sodium Benzoate and Potassium Sorbate (Preservatives), Xanthan Gum, Propylene Glycol Alginate, Apple Cider Vinegar.
When dealing with the holidays:
- Follow all the steps above
- Plan ahead
- Get to the grocery store
- Plan some of the meals
- If you’re heading to a holiday party
- Bring a couple of your own side dishes
- Load up on meat and vegetables first and then get smaller portions of the heavier food that you don’t want to miss out on since you only get it once a year
- Don’t forget that you don’t HAVE to feel uncomfortably full on Thanksgiving or other holidays
- For dessert – bring something you know you can have or have smaller portions of the dessert you truly love
- Drink lots of water
Reader Questions:
How to explain your healthier choices to your friends and family:
- Questions usually stem from insecurities (when it’s not just curiosity) so I just explain what paleo is, where it came from, and how good I felt when I started eating paleo. Explain paleo in a positive light instead of what you can’t have. And the more you stick to your guns, the more people will back down.
How to take part in family traditions (such as cinnamon rolls) and you don’t want to hurt their feelings:
- Remember first and foremost, your health is most important.
- Be able to explain yourself why you aren’t having something
- If they love you and respect you, they should respect your healthy choices
- Come up with an alternative for yourself – gluten free cinnamon rolls! (I’ve seen them in the frozen food isle in Whole Foods)
Dealing with friends and family without feeling high maintenance and while maintaining and good relationship with them and your own food:
- If these are important people to you, they should respect you.
- Pick the restaurant yourself
- Go wherever they want to go and just pick the best option like a bunless burger
- Bring your own food to some of the events
- Explain to your friends and family why you are eating a certain way and the ways that it’s improved your life
- It may be time to consider if that friend is still worth having if they are putting your down for making healthier life choices (I have had to end friendships because of that)
How do you know how much food to eat:
- Eat until satisfied, not full
Thanksgiving traditions?
- I go to my CrossFit gym to do a team workout then have mimosas afterwards and get a good buzz going! Best day of the year!
What should I make for lunch if I don’t have access to a microwave?
- Eat your lunch cold! Still delicious!
Happy TG Juli!! Just wanted to give you some food for thought on your podcast for this coming week (on babies). I agree that there’s a lot of social pressure to have a kid soon after getting married and at the end of the day, it’s nobody’s biz but your own whether you want to go for kiddos or not.
Here’s my thought as someone who felt the same way you do – I don’t hate kids, but I was never sure I want them. I spent a LOT of time at your age, exploring the idea of becoming a mom. I asked EVERYONE who had kids, what was their “why” for doing it, and could they imagine their lives being happy and fulfilled without them. Most said they didn’t have a specific “why”. It was just something you do. But interestingly, most also said they could see themselves being happy without kids, too. One person actually said, you REALLY have to want to want kids because they’re such a pain in the ass to raise (said in a joking, but not really way).
So at the end of my internal and external life exploration, I decided it wasn’t for me. I’m now 46, happily married and that question is probably off the table for good now, and although I sometimes wonder what if, I have to say, life is pretty fucking awesome. Weirdly enough, when I tell (some) people I chose intentionally not to have kids, they ask me who is going to take care of me when I’m older. I personally think that’s a really fucking lame reason to have a child. PS, because I don’t have kids, have enough money already to have a comfy retirement and to pay someone to change my diapers if need be. I don’t need to make/grow a person to do that for me.
Whatever you do, don’t fall prey to the fear of growing old alone. It seems to be the first comeback that most parents will give you. The reality is that kids grow up, go off to college, have families of their own, and may not even live in the same state as their parents when they are aging. Plus most parents don’t want to be a burden on their kids anyway.
I know it’s a huge decision to make and such a personal one, but I LOVE this topic. I wish more women would talk about this, and take the time to THINK about becoming moms before jumping in. I think we’d have less angry mommy bloggers drinking wine out of a sippy cup at the park, complaining about how the “system” doesn’t support women raising kids. Nothing against moms – they have the most important job in the world and I don’t know how they do it, but it is a personal choice, and one that thankfully, we have a 100% autonomy to decide for ourselves.
BTW – I’m sure motherhood is fucking awesome, too. I can’t say since I’ve never done it, but I do love being a dog mom. I get my maternal needs met picking up dog poop and getting all the cuddles, and I never have to pay for college!!!! 🙂
Good luck with your ponder!!!
omgggggggg. i literally JUST recorded my podcast about this topic then came over to my blog to moderate comments and yours is there first one to pop up. and it is EXACTLY what i just talked about. i even was just talking to my friend about it the other day and she said the same thing about a person to take care of her, and my answer was that she can save all the money she would have spent on a child and spend it on a bomb ass retirement old folks home lol. i really do hate that comment/excuse because i personally wouldn’t want to make my own children do that. i watched my parents do it for my grandparents and it’s sad and awful. anywho, this comment was pretty much the best comment ever and so amazing to know that there are some other women out there thinking through that kind of stuff, whether they decide if they want kids or not, at least some are thinking it all through. and know that you can have a really awesome life without kids, too! so thank you for leaving such an amazing comment!
Hi! What kind of collagen do you use? Pill form, powder form, etc? You’re awesome. Thanks!
i like great lakes collagen or vital proteins!
Hi Juli! I’m a huge fan of yours and really appreciate all of the awesome recipes/fashion and workout inspiration/life advice you put out in to the world. Your posts, Instagram, Snapchat, and podcasts always make me smile.
I just wanted to say that this particular episode really resonated with me, and that I truly heard your voice in the back of my head on Thanksgiving. I’ve been Paleo for almost 3.5 years now, so I know which foods make me feel crappy and I avoid those by default at family functions. It’s still easy, however, to get caught up in the “stuff yourself” mentality and to end up feeling completely terrible when the holiday is over. This year, I got my turkey, loaded my plate with veggies (that I brought), and had some mashed potatoes (which my mom made with ghee and chicken stock instead of butter and milk – yum!). I felt completely fine after the meal, while the rest of my family was groaning uncomfortably. I also made an apple crisp that everyone LOVED and I knew I could feel good about enjoying. I had one serving (with cashew milk ice cream), savored the hell out of it, and moved on with my life.
I’m traveling this weekend, and I already loaded up on healthy snacks to bring with me. Thanks to you, I feel more confident about enjoying the weekend without blowing the things that are important to me.
Thank YOU, Juli, for everything that you do. You rock!
that’s so so awesome!! good for you! it really is the best feeling just not feeling like complete crap afterwards. keep kicking ass and feeling amazing!!
This is the first Thanksgiving break when I haven’t come back feeling like a need to eat nothing but cucumbers for a week. I packed Lara bars, read menus and picked out what I was eating before we went out (including Hopdoddy), and was mindful of avoiding choices that would make me feel terrible later. I love all of your podcasts, but this one was especially useful. Thanks!
I had a major realization this podcast and I just want to say thank you!! I, like one of your other readers works really long hours and don’t always have the ability to get to a microwave for lunches. Sometimes I also feel like I’m always on the run that I barely have time to sit down for lunch, which I need to change and become more selfish. Suggesting to eat your means cold was the BEST thing ever!! I even love cold spaghetti more than I love it warm!! Pretty much a life changing idea!! I love your podcast!! And keep up the CUSSING!!! Thank you for doing what you do!