So I’m recording this now as I am coming off of a seven night vacation. Alone with my husband. I know I’m such a lucky girl then included navigating airports. Two flights. Daily meals out every day we went out and we didn’t eat every meal out, but every day we did have a meal out. And then when we returned home, the next day, we hosted a summer barbecue at our house for family.  

And the whole time I was not in a restrictive mindset and I had a lot of fun and I came home and maintained my weight. Like almost exactly to the ounce. No, I’m not into weighing that much, but I just wanted to prove to you that you can do all of this. And live your lives and maintain your weight. 

And that’s really what I want to teach women. I want to teach women how to get to a healthy weight and how to maintain it for the rest of their lives, living in a way that they want having a lot of fun. 

So even though I was eating food, that was significantly different than how I normally eat. It was still able to maintain my weight. And so I want to give you. All of my top tips for you so that you can replicate these and use it for your summer vacation or winter vacation or European vacation. It doesn’t matter. I know that you can do this. 

So in this podcast, I will address multiple ways of traveling airlines, road trips, and restaurants. Okay. So let’s begin. The very first thing that you need to do before you go is to just mind dump on a piece of paper. And you will just mind them all the things that you are worried about with regard to your food or feeling pressure, or really anything that’s on your brain, that’s causing you stress. 

And this is what I recommend for people who are having any sort of special event going on a trip, having company. Or just something in your life that’s causing you stress. Just get out a piece of paper and list all the things that are bothering you. 

And then one by one, go back through and just say how you’re going to handle it. How are you going to handle it? And what you will find is that there’s really only a few things that are really bothering you. And what you will also find is that you already know how to handle it. 

But the cool part is, is that once you get it out on a piece of paper, your stress level will be reduced significantly because you will prove to your brain that you already know how to handle this stuff.  

Cool. And so usually what stands in the way of us maintaining our way on vacation are a couple of things. And those are the things I want to address now. The first one is boredom. So that often happens when we are traveling, traveling by car, sitting on an airplane.  

So I want you to just anticipate when you expect to be bored. And the top two times are probably on the way to a vacation in a car, on an airplane. And just decide, how am I going to handle being bored? How am I going to stay busy? What am I going to bring? You could even Google how things to do in a car, things to do on an airplane. How do you want to handle boredom that isn’t eating?  

I always go on an airplane. With a ton of stuff to do. I love flying. I love flying because it’s an opportunity to sit down and you can’t do anything else. So I bring books. I like to organize. I am just a paper and pen kind of girl. And I have the set of like 16 different colored gel pens. And I am in heaven on an airplane. I don’t even watch TV or anything. It’s crazy. I just love my paper. I can just touch it all day. But what are you going to do?  

Are you going to find a new app to download? Are you going to watch a show? Are you going to download Netflix onto your phones so that you can watch it? Are you going to go get an adult coloring book? What about an activity book? You know, those big thick activity books that we used to do. What’s going to keep you active? What’s exciting for you? 

And you might not know the answer, but you can start asking around. Okay. So pretty much just decide. What are the top four or five things that ways that you can spend your time to overcome boredom? What I want to warn you have, when you’re bored hand to mouth food, Becomes very appealing. 

And that just pretty much means anything in the package that you eat with your hands, hand to mouth foods. Think chips, nuts. You could leverage the use of hand to mouth and think of lower calorie foods like vegetables, they even make these crinkle cut carrots that are kind of like chips. So you just decide how you want to handle that?  

When we’re talking about hand to mouth foods, one thing to be really cautious of. With regard to maintaining your weight are salted nuts because they are so cortically dense and it’s very easy to eat a lot of them. So if you are going to have nuts, I really recommend that you portion them out. So you know, how many nuts that you feel good about eating? I don’t think that we have to restrict in any way. It’s just to make sure that you are aware of what you are eating. 

Okay, so that’s boredom. Now, another thing that gets in the way of us maintaining a rate on vacation is eating out. And I find that eating out or at restaurants falls into two buckets. And so we’re going to handle these two buckets differently. The one bucket is we’re just eating at a restaurant for food. We’re just consuming the food. The second bucket is, this is for pleasure. It’s part of the experience. 

Let’s talk about the first bucket, which is, we’re just stopping to get some food, it’s probably on the way traveling somewhere. It’s not even at your destination and it’s probably food that you can eat at any time. 

And so for those meals that you’re eating at fast food restaurants, maybe from a gas station or a convenience store or at a regular chain restaurant. I just suggest that you create two to three go-to meals. That you enjoy and feel good about eating and that way, when you get to those places, there’s no mind drama. You don’t have to make a choice. You just go with one of your go-to meals that you’ve planned ahead of time.  

Now the other bucket of restaurant meals, for the experience. And this is the thing that when it’s you and your family and you’re in Florida, when you live in Chicago, like me, And there’s fresh fish or there’s other foods that you don’t normally eat. And you’re so excited because they’re so yummy and you get to spend this wonderful time with your family. How do you handle that?  

I am one of those people that when I go on vacation, I order what I want. Because I don’t mind eating anything. There’s no food that I eat that I feel guilty about. What makes me not feel good about a meal is not the food that I eat. It’s the way that I eat it. And so I would encourage you to follow a couple food rules. And to love your reasons for whatever you eat. 

Okay. So the couple of food rules is in our community. We have two food rules, number one, that you eat food that you love and that you feel good about. So, like I said, I always feel good about food that I eat. There’s no food that I could order that I don’t feel good about, but it’s the manner in which I eat it and the manner in which I eat it that makes me feel really good is I follow our three habits. 

It is I chew my food 20 or more times. I empty my hands between bites. And then I also don’t put food in my mouth until my mouth is empty. The meals when I was away with my husband recently that I left not feeling great about. In reflecting on, gosh, why didn’t I feel good about that meal? We’re meals that I ate quickly.  

Now I don’t often eat with my husband, but I’ll tell you that guy eats fast. And I think he chooses each bite like three times. And I can find myself rushing. And so I had a talk with myself early in our vacation. When I recognized that I was rushing, that I was eating too fast, which left me feeling overstuffed. 

And I only got over stuff because I ate too quickly. As I just made a deal with myself that I would eat slowly. And they did, and it took a lot of effort. You guys. I had to count, one. Two. Three. I had to be very intentional. It was almost like I was practicing these skills again. But I felt so good about how I ate. 

Now my husband who eats quickly, there were a couple meals that he was asking for the check and had already paid the check. And I was still eating. And I just didn’t let it get to me. I know he loves me. I know he’s got ants in his pants. I didn’t make it mean that he was disrespectful. I had made my choices that made me feel good about me. And he had his.  

And so you might find yourself in that situation. But you can tell how calm I’m talking about it. Can I felt so good about my food. I could come back from my vacation. And haven’t maintained my weight and have a lot of fun. So I just want you to take care of yourself. I order what I want and I followed those three food habits.  

Now let’s talk about a few other things. I want to talk to you about looking at your day. So when you go on vacation, there’s typically times when you’re eating more, normally you maybe breakfast kind of looks like it does at home or lunch or a portion of the day. 

Usually not the whole day is like totally different. And so I would encourage you to just maintain those times that are similar to what you’re familiar with. And that you like, unless it’s exciting for you and you want to try something different. Whatever you eat. I just want you to love your reasons. 

So for example, if you’re looking ahead at your day and you’re like, whoa, this is a big pool day. This is a big beach day. And we’re going to be at the beach and we’ve got beach foods that are different than normal. Then you just get to decide how you handle that. And I want you to just love your reasons. 

And what I mean by that is if you’re at the beach and there’s Doritos, then I want you to be eating the Doritos because you love eating Doritos, at the beach. Not because you’re bored. Not because you don’t know what else to do. Not because everybody else is eating Doritos and you’re going to feel left out. Not because this is the only time I get Doritos. I just want you to be aware of the talk that you’re having with yourself.

So if you want to have Doritos, that’s cool. And then, so maybe when you go out to eat that night, if you do, maybe you don’t expand your boundaries as much. You still order what you want, but again, you’re recognizing that you wanted to have more of the foods that you expand your boundaries with during the day. 

And maybe at night. You don’t expand your boundaries. You can, you can order whatever you want. I’m just encouraging you to look at it as a balance. And to just absolutely love your reasons. Just be aware of your thoughts that are going through your head. Look at your day, be mindful of what makes you feel good. 

So let’s say for example, you have a day where you wake up in the morning and you guys go out to, I hop and you get this massive stack of waffles that you haven’t had. Follow your three food habits. You eat slowly, put your hands down between bites.  

Empty your mouth before the next bite. And you probably won’t scarf it all down. You’ll eat a reasonable amount, right. And then you guys go and to the beach and you’re eating Doritos and hot dogs. Again, you’re eating slowly. We’re not eating out of boredom. We’re enjoying the foods. You’re eating your favorites. 

Maybe you don’t really like Doritos, but what you really like her MnMs how many m&ms will you feel good about? Probably not the whole share back. You just decide ahead of time. And then maybe you go out to dinner. Again, you’re eating slowly. Putting your hands down between bites. Emptying your mouth. When you are so present. You can enjoy the food. And not be overstuffed. You can enjoy the food that you like.  

I just want to reiterate loving your reasons. Eat the food that you love. And love your reasons in loving your reasons means I’m eating this because I choose to and I am enjoying it. I’m not eating it because I’m bored. I’m not eating it because other people are eating it. I’m not eating it just because it’s here. 

I’m not eating it because I’ll feel left out. If I don’t have it, I’m not eating it because I never get it. I mean, because this is something that I enjoy. Order an appetizer because you want it not because you’re feeling pressured. To order it. Continue to just check in with yourself, stay connected to you and what you want and what will make you feel good.  

I hope I’ve driven home the point. That this is such an act of self-care to enjoy your vacation. To expand your boundaries of food. But to anchor in that place. Of being slow, intentional. And savoring it.  

So, let me talk to you a little bit about traveling. Getting to your destination. In your car, if you’re doing any car trips. The biggest obstacle will likely be boredom. And so be sure to solve for that ahead of time. It will also be stopping at gas stations, and then having those impulse purchases. So just decide ahead of time, what you feel good about purchasing. At these stops. 

Making those go-to meals or those go to a snacks. And I want to talk to you about airports. You guys there’s so much freedom. In bringing food as you fly. It’s really only a matter of thinking ahead. Some of my favorite foods that I like to bring on airplanes. Our beef jerky. I think you know that I do low carbs. So I do pork grinds. 

You can also bring nuts. I really suggest that if you do bring nuts as a source of protein. Portion them out. You can bring hummus and veggies, hummus and pretzels. I love to bring hard-boiled eggs. You can bring sandwiches, you can bring yogurt, you can bring granola, you can bring cereal, you can bring any food. That you would pack in your car.  

Any food that you can bring, you cannot bring liquids. I think you all know that. I am going to put a link to the TSA. Food guidelines in this show notes, because I want to show you that you have so much control. I hear people say I get to the airport and I just don’t know. No. It only takes planning ahead. You have so much freedom and I know you can do this.  

And if you want to be surrounded by. Other Catholic women who are losing weight this summer and having a ton of fun on their family vacations. And during summer barbecues, I want you to join us at weight loss with the holy spirit.  

And have simple tools to be able to navigate. Summer vacations, summer barbecues. Birthdays. Cruises. Graduation parties. I promise you, I will help you lose weight this summer. Come join us. WeightlossWithTheHolySpirit.com. 

All right, everybody have a blessed day.