O.K., I need to give a shout out here to my dear father, the man who taught me how to pack food for traveling. And what a useful skill this has turned out to be in my life!
Growing up a vegetarian/whole foods/traveling family in the 1980’s meant that we always carried bags, baskets, and coolers of food with us in the car or plane or train. And processed food was unheard of, unless you count Knudsen Spritzers and brown rice cakes.
Now, as an adult, I sometimes feel a little obsessive as I shop, chop, cook, and wrap up food in prep for a trip. But all this prep always pays off. This morning on the train, as everyone around us was eating instant noodles, Tate and I had a delicious breakfast of puffed wheat, yogurt, banana, and a bit of peanuts thrown on top for good measure. Lunch was an awesome cucumber and tomato salad, straight up with just a dash of salt, a bowl of noodle soup that I spruced up by snapping green beans in before adding the hot water so they steamed a bit and topped off with a generous pile of soy nuts for more protein. You should have seen the looks the locals were giving me while I was breaking up green beans for my soup, they literally laughed, pointed, and called over their friends to point and laugh! As far as instant noodles go these ones are great, they are vermicelli made from sweet potatoes and the broth doesn’t have any MSG, hydrogenated oils, or meat powders. It comes with a little freeze-dried veg packet, a broth packet, and a chili oil packet, which I only added about half of because otherwise it gets a layer of oil on the top and that is kinda greasy tasting. I am not really a big fan of noodles and I only ended up eating about half the noodles but the broth, soy nuts, and green beans were delicious!
One thing we learned in South America is that Tupperware is an indispensible travel item. Now that we always carry Tupperware we can easily eat cereal, pack salads, chopped fruit, or leftovers for the buses or trains. Packing food definitely takes a bit of forethought and time but in the end it save me the stress and frustration of being at the mercy of bus station/train station/airport/gas station options (i.e. white bread, fried food, and sugar, especially as a vegetarian!).
I really had to talk myself into exercising today, “come on Faith, you have all day on the train, just 15 minutes is all I am asking of you!” I managed 5 sets of 40 crunches (various types) and 30 seconds of plank, a total of 200 crunches and 2.5 minutes of plank…in my top train bunk! Turns out plank is a very efficient train bed exercise, the rocking of the train makes it even more challenging!
As usual, when I finished my “bed abs” I was feeling good and my body wanted more so I found some space away from the smokers and soup slurpers and did 50 lunges each leg and 50 plie squats. And then promptly returned to the cabin to start drinking beer. Everything in balance, isn’t that what life’s all about?
I love the plank in your bunk bed! So resourceful Faithy!
So glad you started this blog – it keeps me motivated to live an exciting, interesting, and healthy life!
True to form, you 2 are the coolest people I know 🙂
xoxo,
Tracy
Your so sweet!
Thanks for reading!
xoxox
Love the bed plank! And i totally know what you mean about just getting started. I’m on day 15 of June Project and 10 my p90x lean routine. The motivation to get started is the hardest part. Once my body gets moving, I’m ready to go.
The opposite is true with eating. I’ll eat and eat and eat until I am TOO full. But, if I can stop myself on time, eat slow, drink water…I find that I am satisfied so much faster than I think.
Thanks for the posting! We need travelers like you to give us tips on healthy living for nomads around the globe!
Hi Faith. I have just found your blog through looking at another blog on an Australian website Calorie King. I am an Aussie living abroad in Sweden and love to travel and eat…but bit weak on the fitness side. I have read half your blog now and its quite additive.l Your travel exercise ideas are awesome and I wont forget the Tupperware advice. I have just started writing about my experiences with weigh management and I will use your great advice to be a much fitter traveller. Thanks for the great read…I’m sure I’ll finish the whole lot and keep an eye on it for more 🙂
Cheers from Sweden
Thank you so much for this great feedback! I really appreciate knowing what appeals to you about gracefulfitness and that you found it in Sweden, isn’t the internet a glorious thing? I hope you keep reading and keep being inspired to incorporate exercise into your travels.