Month 2 update...and the risks and results of diet decisions while traveling...and something I haven't seen in over 25 years!

After 2 months of this way of eating (WOE), I am on the road to Moline, IL for another week of travel. I am training at Rock Island Arsenal which is in the middle of the Mississippi River, between Moline IL, and Davenport, IA. Moline is the world headquarters of John Deere, and since I have spent many, many, many, many hours of my boyhood/teen years on John Deere tractors, combines, etc., this is like Disney for me.

My day began at 3:15 a.m. and I had 3 flights enroute to Moline IL. I'm very conscious and cautious of potential digestive issues while flying, so I rarely eat while enroute. I also have been fairly consistent over the past few weeks with not eating breakfast and doing intermittent fasting, (16hr fast/8hr eating period) so going all day without eating has been fine, provided I keep my evening meal macros in line with this WOE (70% fat, 20% protein, no more than 10% carbs). This seems to keep my blood sugar very stable and allows me to have good energy all day, despite the fact that I am going 16-18 hrs without food. I just worked an extremely rigorous, physically demanding kettle corn event (Appomattox Railroad Festival) on the intermittent fasting schedule and it went very well. I had great energy all day and no hunger. Now, back to my travel day from Oct. 12.

After leaving the airport, I went directly to the John Deere Pavilion in downtown Moline. I only had a couple of hours, but this is a great opportunity to see the impact that John Deere has had on the entire world of agriculture. Sadly, I only had a couple of hours to spend here.

By 5:00pm CT, (6pm Eastern) I was very hungry and for some reason this Chinese Buffet was really calling my name. I went inside knowing I was in dangerous territory. Tons of fried foods and heavy, sweet sauces. . I would say that I let my flesh lead the way in this decision. I could have gone to a steakhouse and stuck to my WOE, but instead, I entered the world of culinary temptations, and the result was pretty much what you would expect. I avoided the rice, the noodles, and some of the fried foods...but there wasn't much in the way of healthy food to be found here. A skinny ribeye was cooked for me, but it was poor quality,  and only about 3 oz.

To summarize, I ended my unhealthy meal with a big scoop of cookies/cream ice cream, and immediately realized why I should not eat in this type of restaurant. There is simply no benefit in putting oneself into that type of environment, and deluding yourself into thinking you will be able to get quality choices. The healthy choices are few and far between, and you are surrounded by the temptations from your previous WOE. You are setting yourself up for certain failure. If you fully intend to eat unhealthy food, and want to cheat, then at least accept it and dive in with a full awareness that this is NOT going to be a healthy meal. I somehow convinced myself I could eat healthy at this restaurant, and I was wrong.

I ended my evening at Walmart where I picked up some Kerrygold butter, some heavy cream, some unrefined coconut oil and peanut butter. This allows me to create my nightly treat, Peanut Butter Pudding, (my own creation) which has successfully kept me from my old ice cream/snacking habits in the evening. My "treat" is 2 tablespoons of peanut butter, 1 tbsp of coconut oil, a little heavy cream, all melted together. Very rich, very satisfying, and quite sweet with only a small amount of sugars from the peanut butter. While not optimal for weight loss, it is rich, fatty and satisfying...and just a few tablespoons makes you feel like you have had dessert.

Tomorrow is a new day, I see Outback in my future for dinner tomorrow night. My options are limited to restaurants this week as I am not staying in a suite that has a kitchen. While the suites with full kitchens are always my preference, they simply are not always available in every location, and so this week I will be using restaurants for my food. This is a challenge, as 3-years of restaurant eating while traveling quickly packed on 30+ pounds. For those like me who are math-challenged...that equals about 10 lbs per year.

Now, after all this talk of failure, a bit of good news in closing. For the first time since my late teens, early 20's, I actually stepped on the scale this week and saw 2-2-9!!!  I weigh 229.2 lbs. and am well on my way to my goal weight of 215 lbs. Even though my weight loss has slowed, it is still creeping downward, and I have not suffered from any hunger, nor any deprivation from the foods that I naturally love to eat.