Saturday, May 13, 2006

Road trips

Do you eat in the car?

One of my friends who also is working hard to lose weight recently returned home from a three-week road trip. She says she would have done better had she not snacked so much while she was driving. Even choosing healthy snacks, she says she ate too much, and got too little exercise.

I have the same issue while driving. It's like all the normal, healthy eating rules get thrown out the window. Not so much for a trip to the mall [which, as you'll recall is an hour trip, one-way], but it's happened then, too.

Is it as simple as a vacation mentality? But that wouldn't explain falling off the wagon on the way to the mall. I don't recall trips from my childhood being food fests. In fact, I don't recall eating in the car at all when I was young. Er. I'll have to ask my dad if we had rules about it, or if it just wasn't the custom back in the old days. hehehe

I usually pack a cooler with crudit̩s, grapes and bottled water Рeasy-to-eat and healthful. But I also have stopped and bought a bag of pretzels or popcorn, or, if I'm feeling particularly weak, something sweet. It almost feels like I'm getting away with something, since I rarely have sweets in the house and since I rarely eat anything with sugar in it.

Of course, I'm not getting away with anything – I'm setting myself back a step or two.

The truth is, on a trip of four hours or less I don't need to snack at all if I've eaten before I left the house. And on a longer trip, I should stop for a decent meal and a short rest anyway.

So. New rule! No food in the car. [Coffee and water aren't food, they're necessities!] I have two road trips coming up in which to test this new rule. And I think I'm going to have to reward myself if I actually stick with it. I'll be taking the first trip with the Spousal Equivalent, and we all know how much easier it is to stick with a rule when someone's watching.

The second trip, a solo effort, takes me past a lovely little yarn shop in Knoxville. Hmmmm.

Thanks to PastaQueen for her encouraging words about how weight loss can get slower than 1.25 pounds per week. Something to look forward to!

And thanks to PQ and Mariah for the comments on the tee shirt. My gauge swatch shrank a lot, which would mean major pattern redrafting. I'd rather find a different yarn. Mariah has seen my yarn stash. Think I'll have any trouble finding something else?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nope, you won't have any trouble!!

Tell us more about the yarn shop. Web site?

Debbi said...

I added a link to a Google map in the post, but they don't have a website. The shop is called "Knit 'n Purl," and is easy to get to from the highway. Good selection of yarns, patterns, books *and* needles, and very friendly folks.

Anonymous said...

I did find that chewing gum helped me while driving....a LOT! and I don't usually chew gum at all. Just a thought.

M@rla said...

Um... you were kidding about that 1.25 pounds per week, right? Holy cow, losing that fast is only a dream for me! I hope you will be the exception, but a lot of people find it becomes harder to lose, the further along they go. That's not meant to be discouraging, we just have to find ways to deal if it happens.

I snack too much on long car trips because I'm BORED and want some sort of sensory input. I used to get that way at work, too, I wanted something to relieve the monotony.

Debbi said...

Marla, I started my eDiets plan January 1. My total weight loss divided by the number of weeks I've been following the plan equals 1.25 pounds lost per week. [God I feel geeky!] eDiets predicts I'll lose 2 pounds per week, but I know that won't happen, at my age and with my metaboliism. What I hope is that by losing at this pace my body won't be constantly adjusting to a "new" lower weight, and will just go with the flow.

I know. Wishful thinking.

Anonymous said...

Maybe we should learn to knit and drive like the guy in the "Shipping News" book. Then we wouldn't be tempted to eat. I am so glad my mom is now here so no more 6 hr trips. I guess eating grapes etc is better than smoking ? In colledge I used to calcualte how many calories driving wore off my butt and try and pretend it evenened out with 2 egg mcmuffins. Driving is boring ....