I will be spending the entire week at BYU attending Education Week, an adult education event I try to attend every year. I'll be staying in a dorm. I'm suspending my day count because I don't want to miss any of the workouts/menus. But I'm still going strong.
The challenges? No exercise equipment, no kitchen, no refrigerator, restaurants and junk food everywhere.
The solutions? A pre-planned menu, a portable fridge, running shoes.
In order to avoid eating at the cafeteria or fast food restaurants, I decided to bring most of my food and store it in a little, plug-in fridge in my room. It has to be portable and small in scale. Then every morning I'll run and do as many seconds of the plank as I feel compelled to do. I'll also carry and drink water all day long.
Here's the menu I came up with:
Meal 1
1 whole wheat English muffin
1 hard-boiled egg
3 egg whites
2 slices low-fat ham
1 banana
Meal 2
1 pint skim milk
1 South Beach meal replacement bar
Meal 3
2 rice cakes with natural peanut butter
1 small apple
Meal 4
Cafeteria meal including mostly salad with protein and fruit
Meal 5
3 ounces tuna (in pouch)
16 raw almonds
1 orange
Meal 6
Rice, bean, corn, chicken dish (meal 4 from week 1)
The first day of my plan was a revelation. In spite of all my criss-crossing of the campus on foot and hoofing up and down hills, I felt utterly stuffed. I was actually dreading the next meal because I just didn't want more to eat. This feeling persisted to the point that I actually skipped the cafeteria meal and, instead, had a container of fat-free yogurt and a cheese stick from a vending machine.
I'm packing food again today. And I'm not a bit hungry. Walking past the doughnuts and fries and chocolate is really not even a challenge. Good eating.