My Top 5 Tips for Sticking To Your Goals When Traveling

I just returned from my trip to Lake Tahoe. I spent 5 days with old college friends catching up, exploring the town, eating delicious food, playing in the snow, and experiencing the game of Roulette for the first time.

No, unfortunately, I didn’t win the jackpot...Yes, I lost all the money I started with 🤦‍♀..BUT, it wasn’t about the money lost, it was about the fun I had with my friends, enjoying each other's company, and making amazing memories 😄

Anyways...

With bikini season right around the corner, I’ve set some body composition and fitness goals for myself and I knew that in order to stay on track with these goals, I needed to be prepared for this trip. So, I made sure that I had some strategies in place that allowed me to enjoy myself while still staying on track with my goals.

I’m going to share these strategies with you in the form of “tips” and I hope you take away a few helpful nuggets of info for your future travels 😄

TIP #1: ALWAYS PACK SNACKS

Whenever I’m traveling, I ALWAYS fill a large ziplock bag with keto-friendly snacks and a few ‘treats.’

I usually end up coming home with more than half the bag untouched...BUT, just knowing I have a variety of choices with me always helps fight off any temptations that might arise.

For this particular trip, I kept a nut butter packet or keto bar with me at all times and when nighttime rolled around and everybody was snacking on chips and cookies, I had my pili nuts, keto snack mix, and dark chocolate ready to go 😋

Here’s what I filled my snack bag with for this trip:

Rather than list out every item, I’ve actually added them all to my website with descriptions for each. You can follow this link to check them out..discount codes included for all 😄

TIP #2: PACK YOUR GYM

Traveling is NOT an excuse to skip out on your exercise routine...especially if you have specific goals you’ve set out to achieve 💪

Yes, it’s totally fine to take a break from your normal workout routine and enjoy other physical activities that you’ve planned during your trip (hiking, bike rides, skiing, swimming, etc.), but with my particular goals, I couldn’t afford to skip 5 days in a row of resistance training.

Because I knew I wasn’t going to have access to a regular gym, I packed my resistance bands and followed the routine from my new Kickstart Program.

This is my favorite “Mobile Gym Kit” and ALL members of my 12-Week Workout Programs get an awesome discount on this kit after signing up 😎

TIP #3: SKIP BREAKFAST, ENJOY BRUNCH OR LUNCH

Whether you’re traveling for vacation, work, or any other reason, it’s a good idea to have a strategy in place that helps you to avoid overeating.

Now, I’m not saying you can’t or shouldn’t indulge every once and a while when you’re on vacation...BUT, if you have specific goals set in place (such as I did while on this trip), you have to find strategies that allow you to enjoy your time with family and friends without getting so off track that all your hard work pre-vacation goes out the window.

My main strategy for keeping my calorie and carb intake in check on this trip was to fast through breakfast and have two main meals each day.

This worked out nicely because I was able to still enjoy the local restaurants with my friends without feeling like I was being restrictive.

I also made sure to pack my favorite collagen powders from Perfect Keto and Further Food to add to my coffee each morning. The small amount of fat from the MCTs and protein from the collagen helped hold me over until my first meal and of course made my coffee taste delicious 😍

TIP #4: ORDER YOUR FOOD WITH INTENTION

When traveling or on vacation, it’s inevitable that you will probably be eating most of your meals at restaurants.

Here’s what I do to stay on track at restaurants:

• I look up the menu ahead of time on Yelp to get an idea of what I’m going to order before even sitting down at the table. This takes away a lot of stress going into the meal and allows me to prepare what substitutions I’m going to make when ordering.
• When it’s time to order, I usually let everyone else go first since I know I’ll probably take the longest. Sometimes it can feel ‘embarrassing’ to ask a lot of questions or make several modifications to your meal when you’re around a large group of people. My best advice with this is to suck it up and realize that you have the right to know exactly how your food is prepared and make the changes necessary to feel good about eating it. If your friends judge you for taking a few extra minutes to chat with the server...then you may want to rethink your friendships 🤨

For this trip, my go-to meals included egg scrambles for brunch/lunch, bunless burgers, salads, and steak with veggies for dinner.

Here’s how I ordered:

Scrambles

I ordered the scrambles ‘as is’ usually with sausage and cheese. I subbed the potatoes and toast for sliced tomatoes or cottage cheese (many places have this option and won’t charge extra if you ask nicely).

*Quick Tip: Some restaurants (usually chains...cough cough IHOP) add pancake batter or extra milk to their egg mixtures in order to save money/make the omelets‘ fluffier.’ To be safe, make sure to ask the server if the eggs used to make the omelets/scrambles are just eggs or if they add anything extra to it.

Bunless Burgers

I ordered a cheeseburger or bacon cheeseburger, no bun, sub french fries with a salad. ALWAYS get the salad dressing on the side so you can control how much is used.

Steak, Salad, and Veggies

We went to an Italian restaurant for dinner the first night and I got a salad to start and a delicious ribeye for my main. It originally came with broccoli/carrots and a side of spaghetti. I asked the server if I could have extra broccoli instead of carrots and no spaghetti. I also enjoyed a glass (or 2 😉) of red wine 🍷

Eating at restaurants doesn’t have to be difficult or stressful. Don’t be afraid to ask as many questions as you need to make the substitutions that fit with your goals.

I go into much greater detail on this subject in my new Simple, Sustainable Keto Program. If you want to check it out, follow this link.

TIP #5: DON’T FORGET TO ENJOY YOURSELF!

At the end of the day, no matter what your goals are, it’s important that you always find a way to enjoy your time with friends and family.

Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments...but being disciplined doesn’t have to mean missing out on the good times.

Always have strategies in place that keep you working towards your goals while still being able to enjoy every moment that life has to offer.

If you’re ever in Lake Tahoe, feel free to email me for restaurant recommendations 😊

Chat soon,

Rachel