Healthy-ish Weekend

Just like everyone and their uncle, this past weekend I spent the 4 day holiday weekend at the lake, which just happens to be my hometown. I spent 4 days avoiding public places in fear of running into people I knew from high school. Good times.

This is a view from my house. 

Pelican Lake in Breezy Point, MN.

For me, trips home always entail unhealthy eating. Luckily, I no longer feel the need for unhealthy snacks for the drive home. It's only a 2 1/2 hour trip, but I used to use the trip as an excuse to buy chips or tornadoes from the gas station.

The unhealthy eating occurs because I have a few favorite local spots that I want to dine at while home. These favorites include pizza with white sauce, hash browns with cheese and onions, and an ice cream parlor. The flavor I got this time was called Pirates Booty, and it tastes like cotton candy, swirled with caramel with little chocolate pieces mixed in. It may not sound awesome, but it's seriously to die for. I want another cone right now.

Since I knew that I was going to be dining out several times throughout my trip, I decided that it was probably a good idea for me to pack healthy snacks for all the other meals. I was extremely proud of myself because my snacks included veggies (peppers, carrots, and pea pods), hummus, veggie burgers, fake jerky, and fruit. No chips, no crackers, and no cookies.

Granted there was beer and vodka also packed with the healthy snacks, but I mixed all my cocktails with sparkling water. And as we all know, I am not cutting cocktails out of my diet!

So even though I enjoyed pizza, ice cream, and beer while on vacation, I broke my unhealthy snacking cycle. Which for me is huge! Remember, weight loss is completely built on taking baby steps until those baby steps are habits. And I sure hope that my healthy vacation snacking becomes a habit!