When plans go wrong

WHEN PLANS GO WRONG




I know i've written a few pages about planning, making adjustments , and scheduling when it comes to meals /training etc. -- yesterday we even dipped a pinky toe into physiology

But today is a real life tale about making the necessary adjustments -- as disaster struck last week

In late February, the insurance company that keeps me busy has an annual conference in the Texas hill country , (about 500 miles away from  central Oklahoma) -

     I've been trying to travel with style (style?)  by pre-packing a big 50 qt cooler full of most of the necessities i need on the road , and since it was going to be a short trip,  enough pre-made meals to take care of the 3 or 4 day trip too


                                                                               Enough stuff that it took a husky gent to load up for me

MMM MMM Good ! 

  I spent an hour or so the night before preparing rubbermaid containers full of pre-cooked chicken, broccoli, fresh homemade soups, - even some scrambled eggs for breakfasts if the breakfast bar turned out to be a disaster --- this along with a small bag of fresh fruit and my big jug of protein powder and i was ready to survive a few days -- just needed to pick up a couple of pre-made lunch salads along the way, like you find in the deli area at a grocery

From a nutritional perspective, what could go wrong?   I just needed a solid place to get in a workout or two if the conference ran long and this little trip wouldnt even be a blip on the radar

Disaster struck when, after all this prep work and planning (really wasnt that much) -- on the day of the trip i got sidetracked and pre-occupied , looked at the watch and realized it was time to go ,  and left

Left all my preps sitting on the top shelf of the refrigerator  ready to load up  -- typical

Wasnt until i was about 90 miles down the road that i realized i was facing a barren nutritional landscape   ----- every other roadside off-ramp contains a tragic kingdom of fast food enterprises

Thankfully, Subways sandwich shops also are a mainstay of the roadside gas station --- I picked up a turkey sandwich and a couple of their chopped salads to stick in the cooler  ----  I dont like the sodium content of Subway's sandwiches- plus i try to stay gluten aware (not gluten free really) - so i wound up throwing away half the bun  -- but in a pinch, that'll work for a while

         The travel stop had 2/1.00 bananas and apples by the register, so i loaded up on these and  the road portion of the trip was taken care of  

        I wont bore you with the details of every crumb i ate on the rest of the trip, but i will add that meal frequency and timing took a backseat to classwork when i got there.  Thats just the way it goes , but its easy to down an apple during break periods


The moral of the story is that sometimes you can lay the groundwork, do your prep work beforehand, and be completely ready for a task,  but  Murphy's Law can still kick in ,  and Mr Murphy does not sleep

          Make a few adjustments , and make the most of it --- its tough out there,  but its no excuse to loosen the belt a notch and head to a Chinese buffet

These fast food people make it too easy to roll through a drive through --
                                             

-  even the Subways like i mentioned earlier , are full of plenty of things that are  not so good  -- meatballs, Italian subs, and chicken marinated in mystery ingredients (salty)  -- and thats in addition to all the bread

     Even if you tip toe through their menu carefully, you are still eating more sodium than you need  if you get a sandwich --- but a few meals like this here and there should not be much of a problem for an otherwise healthy person
        Then when you get to your destination,  locate a corner grocer and round out the rest of your forgotten preps  with some more greens , fruit, and maybe a rotisserie chicken

     



   IF your faced with a group outing --- for instance , my company sponsored a fajita dinner one night ----  try to load up on some fruit or a pre-made salad (or both) an hour or so before you go if you can-
This way, you dont go to the dinner famished , but you can still enjoy a small plate of something or other --

        I will add this though --- while i think the world would be a better place if we all sat around discussing macro nutrient profiles and comparing the idiosyncrasies of the Zercher squat vs regular front squats ,  --

-- most of the world doesnt care  ------ so dont be the type of guy who puffs his little chest out and pontificates about how he cant have any of the expensive catered in dinner because he's on Doug McBride's program (or PAleo , or gluten free , or this or that)

 Nobody cares, and your peers and colleagues now think your a weird duck-- especially when there are workable solutions


(Pics of more weird ducks for your viewing pleasure -- although the bottom 2 may be in disguise )

       

            Trust me , i know --- because i have been that weird duck a time or two before -- showing up at functions and not eating a thing because i didnt trust the preparation methods , or because i had declared myself to be 100% PAleo for the month or whatever

      I can laugh at myself now --- like i've said before, i'm my first customer and #1 Guinea pig for this operation --- but i've already made painful and awkward mistakes so you dont have to


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Thats all i got ------  closing out the day with shots of devil may care ducks wearing capes,  ducks disguised as turtles , and dogs disguised as ducks seems like a good way to end that chapter


But wait -- i would be remiss if i did not mention another pond dwelling animal -- thats the Beaver ---

specifically  Buc-ee Beaver

If any of you get to South Texas and are short on your preps --  Buc-ee's roadside travel plaza is an awe inspiring side trip --- this is a pinnacle of American excess and one of the reasons the terrorists hate us so much ---
        Row upon row of stuff --- some is typical travel plaza bs -- but they have an awesome deli, a huge selection of fruit - plus cheap ice, beverages and gasoline (gas is not so cheap)

 This place is massive , and covers some acreage

                                 I wonder if the employees pray to the Golden Beaver every morning before work?

Big deli section,  buyer beware -- some of this stuff is not great , but some is --  just like i said about Subway

- there is sodium and hidden fat lurking behind every corner , but if your careful and know what you need-- you can get a few good platters of food to stuff your coolers with 

 

     
I dont know if Buc-ees is the largest convenience store in the world, but its definitely the biggest i have ever seen -----  its enough to make you scratch your head and say ... seriously?    LMAO





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---- Doug

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disclaimer:    The information contained here is not intended to replace the medical advice of your physician and is not intended as medical advice.  This newsletter/blog is a sharing of knowledge and information from the research and experience of the staff of Fitclaimspro.com and professional colleagues unless otherwise noted