Staring another road trip in the face...

Since I started trying to lose weight about a year and a half ago, I've noticed there are times it's really hard to stick to my healthy eating plan.

Holidays are tough. Birthdays are difficult. Weekends...some of them I've managed far better than others. But handling these has gotten easier and easier as I've moved forward.

Business trips, however, continue challenging me.

I don't know what it is...being away from home? A complete disruption of my routine? Is it all the eating out?

Do I kind of associate a work trip with a vacation? (I admit--I am far less judicious about my eating while I'm on vacation. In the past year, I've been fortunate to go to places like Hawaii and Paris. I'm not going to deny myself real mai tais or authentic pain au chocolats in places like those!)

Whatever it is--I start my work trips with the best of intentions. Last week's trip started with dinner at Longhorn...not so bad, I ordered grilled chicken with steamed veggies and rice. Lunch at Chick-Fil-A wasn't so bad either--grilled chicken sandwiches. But by my last night on the road, the idea of another grilled chicken breast made me want to pull my hair out.

So what did I order at our last dinner out?

A cheeseburger.

(Before you bring out your diet tar and feathers, I'll say I gave all my french fries to a coworker, cut the giant burger in half and only ate half of it.)

Overall--this last trip was an improvement over some of my past ones, but as I sit here, knowing that on Tuesday I'll be on the road again, I'm nervous. I don't want to give up one of my workouts with Ms. A. I don't want to want to eat the unhealthy food they have on-site. I don't want to squeeze workouts into whatever free time--if any--I have.

The good news is that this is the last business trip I'll be dealing with until October. And I've switched to a hotel that has a little mini-kitchen so I can at least have some healthy snacks and my own breakfast on hand (instead of the waffles and biscuits they'll be serving downstairs!)

It's not going to be the diet disaster other trips have been, but, I really can't wait until I'm home again and back to my routine--this time for a nice extended period of time.

Seriously--I haven't spent two straight weeks at home in...err, almost two months!