No bummin' on this beach!

Ah, the long weekend trip. What could be more relaxing than Easter on a beach in Florida? The problem is, while rest is essential for repairing the body from hard workouts, all that sitting around on planes, driving, and loafing on the beach just doesn't cut it when it comes to a fit lifestyle! Not to mention the unhealthy options served on beach menus. But don't worry, you don't have to take the tropics off your bucket list after all. There is a way to experience the travel and the beaches the healthy way. We started this trip out in the usual way, waiting for a plane to arrive. Don't you love all that rushing to wait? You get up super early to hurry to the check in, then you wait in a nice long line and go through ticketing and security. Then you rush to your terminal so you can sit and wait for 45 minutes before boarding. aha, 45 minutes, in a huge airport with tons of corridors, shops and people watching you say? This is our first opportunity to get ourselves a little calorie burn for the day. Comfortable shoes are a must, because we're going walking! When you're about to sit on a plane for 3 hours, a 30 minute walk isn't an extravagance, it's a necessity! I must tell you, there is something very soothing about walking around an airport when you're not hustling to get to your gate. The world actually slows down. You see everyone around you (and there are few places better for people watching than an airport!). Once we board the plane the test of wills kicks in. Stuck in tiny seats on a tiny plane for 3 hours with my magazines and my headphones. I'd recline my seat and sleep if I could (and after getting up at 4am to rush to the airport I sorely need it) but who can sleep at an 85 degree angle? So there I sit, boredom hunger creeping in. The quick breakfast I ate in the car is wearing off, but I come prepared. Instead of the low nutrition pretzels they hand me, I decline and whip out a protein bar and an Emergen-C to put in my complimentary water to help fight off the germs of the other 125 passengers.
Once we arrive and stretch out the stiffness, it's time to get some real food. We head to Barbara Jean's seafood on the river. Seafood restaurants are so tricky to navigate because even the well intentioned can be diverted by the alluring smells of fish fry. Barbara Jean's happens to specialize in lump crab cakes and creamy shecrab soup. Beach food is notoriously bad for you but it doesn't have to be. Fresh grilled seafood and veggies are not only super lean and nutritious, they're a tasty local fare that's just as much a treat as their fried evil twins. I opt for fresh grilled shrimp with a twist of lemon, and double vegetables (which they season VERY well). I am satisfied and without the heavy gut and guilt that comes along with "vacation food".
Onto the beach. The beach isn't just for bums anymore! Instead of sitting around like a beached whale waiting for the tide to come in, we whip off our shoes and start strolling. Gorgeous views, cool ocean breeze, sand between your toes, why would you ever want to stop??? A 1.5 hour walk on the beach (sunscreen please!) can easily equal a 400-500 calorie burn and you're not even suffering (who would have thought fitness could be fun!?!). I know I know, it's not your die hard, all out, sprint till you pass out cardio session, but this is about having a healthy life regardless of your surroundings. And if you're not with your in-laws making it a family affair, nobody said you couldn't strap on your running shoes and do sprints in the surf. The point is to get your body moving, wherever you are. And I can't think of a more serene place to break a sweat than the edge of the ocean!
Next time....Tampa: How to wear sunscreen and still feel the burn.

I Am Not An Animal!

Have you ever watched a nature show? I've been watching Planet Earth lately and it is so fascinating to watch the animals behave. If you watch long enough you start to see a pattern emerge....every single animal spends its day sleeping, procreating, eating, and searching for more things to eat. In the wild, food is not always bountiful and there is competition for resources. Biologically, creatures great and small are driven to find nutrition. They'll attack each other for it, even kill their own kind if they fear their resources are being threatened by outsiders. I believe these natural instincts are buried deep within us as well. Our ancestors had to hunt and gather and had to deal with great famines and sparse resources. These instincts have manifested themselves not only in our body's unfortunate response to weight loss (slowing down metabolism in anticipation of a famine) but also in our behaviors as well. How many times a day do you think about food? Go beyond emotional eating, beyond boredom snacking with your head stuck in the refrigerator. How many times have you been on a road trip and seemed desperate to figure out where lunch would come from, even when you just had a big breakfast? When you're on a vacation, how many of your stories involve the places you've eaten and the new foods you've tried? Local cuisine certainly has its place in experiencing a new culture, but why is it that we plan what we're going to do AROUND food? My husband and I realized that we have had "food goals" rather than experience goals while on vacation. We'll eat here, try these drinks, this soup, that dip, etc. Past trips have been focused not on the large group of old friends we'll visit that we seen only a few times a year, but how much we'll all drink out on the boat. Why is it that the views we'll take in walking on the beach or the new memories we'll make with old friends seem second to the most base of our desires-when can we eat and how much? Couple this with the standard vacation eating mentality "I'm on vacation, this doesn't count" or "I've earned a break, i deserve a little naughty food." and you've got a recipe for disaster. We have evolved far beyond the locust swarming the fields for a meal before moving on to the next feast, and we should behave as such. A little planning can do much to sate this primitive urge. Take protein bars, bottled water, nuts, beef jerky, a cooler with fruit, yogurt, lunch meat and bread for sandwiches, you can have ample food available to you wherever you are if you think a step ahead. Bend your thinking to what can you DO with your time rather than what can you EAT. Food will always be there. Keep your body and mind in check and you'll experience more (and eat more interesting food) than you'd ever expect. Remember just because YOU are on vacation doesn't mean your metabolism is. Whatever sins you accumulate on your free time will stay with you when you return to reality. Keep your metabolism, and your subconscious primitive urges, in check by staying on your healthy food schedule-small meals every 3-4 hours of clean, minimally processed foods. Then when it is time to eat, seek out the best local fare and enjoy the healthiest of what they have to offer. It may not be the tastiest item on the menu (who doesn't want fried seafood and french fries at the beach) but a fresh caught grilled snapper and fresh steamed veggies are a treat AND kind to your body. A small deviation for the local specialty that's not so clean certainly isn't the end all, in moderation. But remember nothing should be a license to go crazy and eat everything without thinking you'll have to answer for it. We don't have hibernation or fallow seasons coming around the corner, our food supply will be there day after day, same as always. And if the urge comes over you, remember that God blessed us with a far superior brain to his other creatures, one capable of controlling those urges instead of giving into them whenever and wherever they hit us. With the proper planning and a little self control, you can enjoy any event without any regrets. Should that primitive urge rise within you, just remember, you are not an animal!