I left L.A. on May 17th, joining friends in Rome, then to London to visit my daughter, Jennifer. After enjoying London and a cycling trip to the Cotswolds, my husband returned to the States (somebody has to work!) while my daughter and I went on our adventure. We traveled to Paris, then to Lyon (where we visited with a dear friend), down to Nice (taking in the entire French Rivera), then to Barcelona, followed by the Port of Soller on Mallorca (cooking class) and lastly, we flew back to London. I went back to the States and flew straight to Miami to visit several dear friends before attending another friend’s wedding.
I am very fortunate to have had the opportunity of traveling non-stop. I love history and the trip was packed with that, along with breathtaking scenery, lovely people and incredibly great food. This trip was both pleasure and business. These past weeks gave me the privilege to test the PNP over 4 weeks of vacationing. My normal routine of cooking, eating and exercising was out the window. The challenge was to stay healthy, not gain weight, avoid major temptation and protect my pancreas.
I accomplished what I set out to do with one exception: I lost 2 pounds!! Yes, it’s true! I left home at 128 and today I am 126! While on vacation!! The body is an incredible machine! You can have the same results!
This summer’s vacation do not have to leave your wallet lighter and your body heavier. Make weight loss an integral part of your vacation plan. Eating out presents challenges. Making pancreatic friendly menu choices can be challenging and of course the retention of salt is an issue because you know how liberal most chefs are with salt!!
Now I don’t want you to think that I didn’t enjoy my dining experiences. On the contrary-I had some of the best meals ever. Did I eat any french fries? You betcha!! Three times! Did I drink wine or have a beer? Of course! But I had an eating plan before I went.
Meal choices were simple: My menu options excluded waffles, white pasta, breads, etc.
Breakfast: Several of our hotels included breakfast. Egg white omelet with veggies or I had an apple with almond butter or a banana or berries with almond butter (Jennifer brought along packets of almond butter)
Lunch/Dinner: mussels with a salad, fresh fish with a salad; dinner: a whole wheat pasta ( many restaurants also serve gluten free) with a pesto or marinara sauce, quinoa with veggies, falafel and a salad or chicken with a side salad.
I have many recipes to share with you from my travels which I will post when I return to LA.
And last but not least, don’t forget activity/movement! When given a choice between an escalator or stairs, I took the stairs. We walked everywhere. We biked, we swam, and because we were on vacation, there was less stress. Adrenaline and cortisol were placed in vacation mode so that they didn’t interfere with weight.
I just want you to know that protecting your health any losing weight does not have to be a hardship. It is easy once you eat to protect your pancreas.
