So today is the start of my week long vacation! I am in the car right… 3 hours down, 6 to go until my brother and I arrive at our dads house in Georgia! We will organize and pack all of our scuba gear tomorrow and drive to Florida to get on the scuba boat. On Monday we will be in charge of all of our meals and then Tuesday morning starts the really hard portion of eating clean on vacation. We will be staying on the scuba boat Monday eveningthrough Friday afternoon with all of our meals prepared and served on the boat. There is no refrigerator but I do have access to a microwave and a huge chest full of ice (to keep the fish and lobster we catch cold). I basically have zero control over what I eat unless I bring it with me.
With that being said, I went to target and bought a cooler, and borrowed a cooler from Steph to pack food. Next, I went to Martin’s and the local food co-op to stock up and bring a lot of my food with me! Here is my grocery list:
I spent the night washing all the fruits and veggies, cutting them, and putting them in ziplock baggies. I made my No-Bake Energy Pumpkin Balls and hard boiled about a dozen eggs. Then I made individual portions of oatmeal with ground flax seed and wheat germ in ziplock bags so all I need is a bowl and some hot water! The last thing I had to do was make sure I had enough freezer packs and utensils for eating, along with extra napkins and ziplock bags! My cooler is ready to go and my confidence is building in myself.I am not very worried about eating on the road because I can control what time I eat and I have my cooler easily accessible but I am terrified of the food on the dive boat!! This is my 4th or 5th summer doing this trip and I always step off that boat with a nice layer of belly fat and feeling awful about myself. Dessert is served every night, and there is a giant pretzel barrel full of candy sitting in the main cabin where everyone hangs out just staring me down… Most nights I would look around at the Reese’s, Twix, Snickers and Milky way wrappers surrounding me and regret each time I put my hand in a that damn barrel but the next day sneak a Twix on my way through the cabin. It’s vacation, right? I can eat whatever I want! Ugh. Between all 5 dives each day food is set out for us to eat… Normally, we get a fruit platter after the first dive and and lunch after the second of 3rd dive. The other snacks consist of mozzarella sticks with marinara sauce, buffalo wings, bagel bites, fried things that just taste delicious, pudding cups and just a long list of things I just couldn’t stay away from even though I knew they were terrible for me!! Dinners are typically things like spaghetti and meatballs, smothered pork chops, chicken cordon blue, lasagna, and just a lot of things I shouldn’t even think about consuming! The last hard part about the dive boat is that if you aren’t in the water diving, it is hard to get away from the food! Everyone is eating all the time! What I have found is that it is easier for me to resist the food if I can’t see it so I will go sit up at the bow of the boat and read or talk with someone. As long as I can ignore the smells coming from the kitchen, and don’t sit in the cabin near the candy barrel watching whatever movie is on, I should be good! Let the adventure begin…
If you are interested, you can read my food log to see what kinds of things I ate on the road and on the dive boat. Feel free to skip ahead though.
Baked beans with ground beef in it. (These I shouldn’t have eaten looking back on it- they were really good… I just hope I don’t pay for it in the morning!
*skipped the buns, bread, potato chips, cookies and pie!!*
Day 4
5:30am– Meal 1
1/2 banana
7:00am– Meal 2
eggs
3 sausage patties
A few slices of bacon
DIVE #1- no fish for me :/ dad got a red
9:00am– Meal 3
5 strawberries
DIVE # 2 – no fish for me :/ Eric got a red, dad got a hog
11:15am– Meal 4
2 egg whites, 1 full egg
2c Bell Peppers
1/2c Salsa
DIVE # 3
Shot my first hog- and had to fight off a 5ft and a 8-9ft reef shark.
*avoided the bacon lettuce tomato sandwich, fried mozzarella balls and chocolate pudding cups that were served throughout the day*
Dive # 4
Shot another hog and had a nurse shark swim with us for a few minutes then watched it try to steal Kevin’s fish, he stabbed it with his spear!!
5:00pm– Meal 4
5 Pumpkin Balls
1 Chicken Sausage
Dive # 5
Shot two hogs! No sharks!
7:00pm-Meal 5
1/2c Blueberries
3 Pumpkin Balls
1c Grapes
*skipped making brownie ice cream sundaes… That was super hard so I ate fruit and pumpkin balls for my dessert :/
Day 5
7:00am– Meal 1
1 scoop of Eggs
A few slices of Bacon
3 sausage links
Dive # 1
I got two lobsters and a hog!
Dive # 2
I got two lobsters and a hog!
*skipped the greek yogurts*
12:30pm- Meal 2
Grilled Chicken Breast
Tomato onion lettuce
Dive # 3
I got one lobster!
*skipped the Mexican fried churro things*
3:00pm- Meal 3
1c Grapes
2 Pumpkin Balls
Dive # 4
I got a red and a hog!
*skipped the cheese and crackers*
Dive # 5
Just a hog 🙁
5:00-Meal 4
2 chicken sausage links
7:00pm- Meal 5
1 Pork chop
1c Green beans
Salad minus the croutons with Italian dressing
*skipped the mashed potatoes and the apple crisp with ice cream*
Who wants fresh lobster? Can we say low carb, high protein, and awesome omega 3s?!
Day 6
7:00am- Meal 1
2 eggs
3 sausage links
A few pieces bacon
Banana
*skipped french toast!!!*
Dive # 1
Dad- ocean tally, 3 lobster
Eric- 3 lobster
Me- 2 lobster, 2 hogs, red (but we had to throw it back because it was to small…)
12:30pm- Meal 2
Pork
Baked beans with ground beef in it
Dive # 2
I got 3 lobsters
3:00pm– Meal 3
2 Chicken Sausage links
Dive # 4
I didnt get anything… Way to end the dive trip! 🙁
6:00pm- Meal 5
Salad with grilled chicken and some grapes
*skipped the spaghetti and garlic bread and the cheesecake!!*
Day 7
7:15am- Meal 1
1cup strawberries
1/2c blueberries
Dive # 1- Tower dive! –I got 19 cowries!! The Goliath groupers were all over the place! They are so scary! There was also a spotted eel guarding 3 cowries! I let those go!!
10:00am- Meal 2
Scoop of eggs
3 Sausage links
*skipped biscuits with sausage gravy!!*
1:00pm- Meal 3 (last meal on the boat!)
Salad with Italian dressing and diced ham
4 meatballs
*skipped the meatball subs with cheese! And potato chips!*
4:00pm- we arrived back in fort Meyers and after packing up the car dad and Eric cleaned and filleted all the fish! I was in charge of cleaning all the lobsters and bagging them! I got terribly sunburned in the process! Since we were so busy I totally forgot to eat!
7:00pm- meal 4 @ a restaurant in Fort Meyers, FL
Gouper filet with steamed broccoli and a salad
Then I ate a protein bar in the car because I was still hungry :/ I missed my 4:00 meal!
5:00am, I don’t know if I would call this meal 5 or meal 1 haha! We got home at 4:00am and since I had fallen asleep in the car a bit I couldn’t fall asleep when we got home but I was starving so I ate a protein bar!
Day 8
11:00am- Meal 1
2 eggs
4 slices turkey bacon
1/2c mixed blueberries and kiwi
Protein bar because I was still hungry 30 minutes later!
2:00pm- Meal 2
Ham and turkey that I bought at the food co op with no added junk! I wrapped it in big romain lettuce pieces with mustard and tomatoes- everyone else was having wraps with cheese which I skipped!
7:00pm- Meal 3 @ a Mexican restaurant!
Steak and chicken fajitas
I had some lettuce and guacamole with it and did eat the beans that came with it which I shouldn’t have done!! When I ordered, I did ask him to not bring the tortillas so I wouldn’t be tempted and I out the chip basket at the other end of the table so I wouldn’t eat any!
9:00pm- First real cheat 🙁
I was driving the first shift and Eric wanted to drive till midnight so I got a Starbucks double shot mocha so I could stay awake, which I did till we found a hotel just after midnight in South Carolina! I wish I didn’t have to get that, but with my sleep schedule all messed up I needed something extra to stay awake and I hate coffee!
Reflections
So I have made it back to Harrisonburg and I am beyond proud of myself! I didn’t cheat once throughout my whole vacation (besides my Starbucks double shot thing to help me stay awake to drive!). After eating really clean while traveling from Harrisonburg, VA to Macon, Georgia and then from Georgia to Fort Meyers, FL I had so much momentum built up that was making me so confident that I could really eat clean on the dive boat! One big challenge I had was keeping my food cold. I would fill up zip-lock bags with ice but that ice would melt within 24 hours and then it leaked all over my food! I did have to throw away some food that had a bunch of water in it, but once I got down to only one cooler of food I double bagged the ice and that kept it from leaking for the most part!
Why Did It Work?
There were two things that really helped me to keep eating clean:
1. Keeping a food log and knowing that I wanted to be successful for all of you who are reading this! (It would have been unfortunate to have a sad ending to my article about eating clean while on vacation.)
2. Waking up each morning and feeling so confident in my bikini!!! I pretty much stayed in it all day long, and I could visibly see and feel the benefits of eating clean!
When you wear a bathing suit all day, you’re pretty much aware of how you look. Great tool for staying trim.
I was thinking about rewarding myself for eating so clean throughout my vacation so I stopped at Lululemon Atletica, my favorite workout apparel store, and bought myself a cute orange sports bra to show off my hard work! This weekend I am going to the outer banks with my boyfriend’s family and if I eat super strict again, I am going to buy a new pair or speed shorts!!
I did it! I lost three pounds on my vacation!
Are you struggling against weight gain this summer? Or maybe you have a story similar to Reagan’s? Let us know A) Your questions, and B) Your Success Stories! We want to help, and we also want more tips from those who have them!
Stay tuned for Reagan’s second vacation update…she’s off to the Outer Banks right now! Will she do it again?
Possibly even more exciting…Reagan’s boyfriend is starting a 30-day Paleo Diet Plan upon returning from the beach next week. He’s a vegetarian about to switch over to a bacon-loving Paleo tribe!! Reagan is going to keep us posted on this big move so stay tuned and sign up for our email updates so you don’t miss out!
