Traveling and staying on low carb

Hi , I was so happy when I saw this group started. LKets see if any of you can help me. I have been on Dr. B’s diet for 5 weeks now and think I am doing well with it. My blood work next week will tell. Yesterday while at a wedding I felt very angry and deprived for the first time and wanted to quit right them, however I complained loudly in my head and got through the day. My reward was a bg of 8o when I got home. The worst part was sitting and watching another diabetic at my table eating all and whatever he wanted without any concern. I did however tell him what I was doing and he said he would check out the book.

Now I am facing another huge challenge and I need help. I will be traveling for 4 days to a youth conference with my church teen group. I will be at the mercy of whatever fast food places they decide to stop at and there is’nt ant refrigeration at the hotels we are booked in. The main meals will be provided by the host church and I cant go off campus to get my own food.(because I wont have transportation). What can I eat that I can carry with my and needs no refrigeration. HELP! Im so aftraid I will fall off the program with temptation. I NEED Ideas!!! What would you take?

Even if there aren’t refigerators in the rooms, motels still have refigerators where they’ll store things for guests. For road trips, I have insulated carriers with cold packs. The hotel will refreeze your cold packs for you. I also use their ice buckets to keep things cool. Boring, but I travel with nuts, cheese, sliced meat, peanut butter & cut up raw vegetables (cucumbers, radishes, scallions, steamed asparagus,steamed broccoli, celery). If it’s fast food or no food, I get broiled chicken or hamburgers with no bun & no ketchup.

Hope you can let the host church know you can’t eat certain foods. Those kinds of meals are so carb heavy. I usually try to eat something before I go to parties & social events so I’m not hungry & tempted.

It’s only four days & you can do it!

Yes thats true. I just had this discussion with my husband and I realized that preparation is going to be key. I think I will boil some eggs for my breakfast and dice some cheese. If I can figure out how to keep the veggies fresh and cold and with me all day, then that will suit me fine. I guess I could do salads at Mc D’s if I need to. Thanks for mentioning the ketchup. i wouldn’t have thought to say no to that.

I LOVE that chocolate. I found that the second week exploring the labels at the store. Good Idea to take it with me.I dont know about the almond cookies, where can I get the recipe? I will be traveling with an carb loading diabetic and would like to share and encourage him with a tasty treat.

Insulated lunch carriers (or a small cooler) & ice packs work great. I use them all the time. You can also use ziploc bags with ice from the hotel.

Welcome to the group Patty. One fast food option that has been great for me is the kfc double down. They have a grilled version with 2g of carb and the original with 11g. I then drive to a wendys where I can get a small side salad or bring a can of green beans to work for a little veg. I agree with Alan that you should be getting over the worst of the cravings which should help. I also love tuna and while in mexico for a week where virtually all the food sold is loaded or wrapped in carbs i ate a lot of tuna packed in oil. Easy to transport and i would have it with some almonds or walnuts–we were out on a boat one day and this allowed no refrigeration and you can bring a small ziplock of spices like curry for the tuna. One other thing i brought along where some hard boiled eggs.

Patty,

It’s 28 carbs for the entire recipe with 14 grams of fiber. If you subtract fiber, that’s 14 carbs for the whole thing. I add more vanilla. I keep tweaking this recipe since I sent it to Judith. Maple extract gives a different flavor or any extract you like. I’ve turned them into lemon poppy seed cookies with natural lemon extract. Endless variations. Judith’s chocolate makes them very yummy.

Using granular Splenda adds carbs,so count that in. Like Judith, I use zero carb stevia powder or a combo of liquid Splenda (Fiberfit) & stevia.

Me, too. Even if I use other flavoring, I still add vanilla also. Maple with chopped walnuts or whole flaxseeds for crunch. I’ve been experimenting with subbing coconut flour for some of the almond flour to make them lighter, but haven’t gotten it right yet. Coconut flour soaks up liquid like a sponge & there’s a definite coconut flavor.

I’ll try egg white. Coconut milk might do the trick! Great ideas–thanks! There’s a product called coconut cream that’s supposed to be delicious, but it’s really expensive. I saw it on the site where I ordered coconut flour.

When i’m somewhere that the menu is not under my control, I just pick out what I CAN eat. At a recent meeting, I just ate fillings from sandwiches and the lettuce and tomato garnishes. I know Dr. B isn’t keen on tomatoes, but they don’t seem to affect me. I also drank only water.
Hana

One other fast food option I probably exploit a little too often is the McD Sausage Egg McMuffin–I usually buy one or two (depending on how hard I am exercising) and get rid of the muffins. They used to be a $1 so a great deal, but they are probably loaded with preservatives–but in a bind they make for a nice low carb breakfast.

I really like the tuna idea. and the almond packs will be helpful to. Oh I am so glad I asked. Thanks everyone.

Question, is almond meal and almond flour the same thing and can I get it at a major grocery store or do I need to go to a specialty store? I love the idea of these but may not have time to find the ingredients if they are not in regular stores.

Almond meal is from almonds ground with the skins on. Almond flour is made from blanced almonds (no skin). Almond flour is lighter in color & slightly lighter in texture, but they’re interchangable in recipes.

Some grocery stores carry almond meal in the health food section. Health food stores have it, sometimes refigerated. It’s expensive. I order bulk (cheaper) from Honeyville on-line & freeze it.

Another low carb substitute is golden flaxseed meal. Groceries & health food stores carry it. It makes great muffins & pancakes. I mix golden flaxseed meal with almond flour. Very healthy, lots of fiber & Omega 3 fats.

Thanks Gerri,I’m amazed at how much I still have to learn about low carb. I will try to find these ingredients tomorrow.

So many wonderful low carb recipe sites for yummy satisfying meals.

Oops, that was supposed to be blanched almonds–typo.

I travel often and have to deal with situations where I don’t control the provided food. I’ll usually bring my backpack with my laptop and work material, but also with my backup foods, nuts, dried meats, tuna and other fish. Technically, I could probably survive for a day or so without food from any other source.

But I will inform my hosts of my diet. Sometimes, they will make accomodations, but often I will do just as Hana, I’ll eat the insides of sandwiches with lots of may and mustard. I will eat only certain things off the plate and then ask for seconds. I’ll ask for a second or third salad or bargain with my table mates, giving away my desert for veggies. The most difficult meal is actually breakfast, usually provided breakfasts at meetings are “all” carbs. I’ve been known to just have the butter. I like a good butter.

I posted this in the recipes group but probably doesn’t hurt to put it here as well–here is a collection of 300 pages of low carb recipes i helped put together with some folks from the Bernstein web forum:

http://www.dsolve.com/additional-resources/downloads/doc_download/3…

I still eat lots of tuna, life is all about measured risks. Canned light tuna has the lowest levels and it is recommended that you eat no more than 7 cans a week. Some of the highest levels are in fresh tuna steaks, which probably be limited to once or twice a week.

If you really are freaked about mercury, than eat small fish way down on the food chain like sardines. You can eat literally gallons of sardines without concern. But you may have sardine breath.

Why is there less mercury in canned light tuna?