We recently made the long trek to Estes Park, Colorado, with our 5 kiddos. Just the thought of packing us all up and not forgetting anything was a little daunting, but even scarier was the thought of all the fast food and snacks that might hinder my progress and end up in my kids’ bellies. I knew that I would not be able to be perfect (it is a vacation after all), but I wanted to do the best that I could to not gain weight and to feed my family well.
So I entered the Don’t-Go-Crazy-on-Vacation challenge armed with a notebook, a pen, and my computer. I started planning about 3 weeks ahead of our scheduled departure. I knew that we would have a kitchen in our cabin in Colorado, so I planned out our meals for each night and gradually filled 2 copy paper boxes with dried goods. I also stocked what I could for breakfast, lunch, and snacks (100 calorie packs for me-thank you). Then I made a list of all the fresh or refrigerated items that we would need and planned a stop in Colorado to purchase that before we headed to our cabin.
I felt like I had our cabin meals under control, but what about the fast food? For our first meal on the road, we packed a picnic lunch, which we ended up eating in a downpour in Hannibal, Missouri, but that was a fast food meal diverted.
Next, I knew that we would stop in Grand Island, Nebraska, to celebrate our 2nd son’s 10th birthday, and he picked his favorite –Fazoli’s. So before we left, I visited their website and checked calorie counts. I didn’t decide what I wanted right then and there, but I did have a general idea. I ended up getting a nice salad with low cal dressing and passed on the breadsticks (except for a bite!). The meals on the return-side of our trip were not planned and more random, so I didn’t do as well (sometimes you just want a burger), but overall, I kept it under control and didn’t have too much guilt.
So I think what worked best for me and my family was to control the situation. We planned ahead, we made as many of our own meals as we could, we investigated fast food menus, and we allowed for fun treats along the way. We not only ate fairly balanced meals, but we also saved some money along the way. Saved some calories, saved some cash, and had mostly happy campers!
