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By Lynn Difley
It's ten thirty in the morning
and you've been cruise controlling down the highway for hours. A
small town is coming up. You turn to your wife and say, "I
could use a break somewhere around here, What say we stop off and
get a little something to rev up our juices and raise our blood
sugar".
"Good idea, I don't know
when we'll find a place to have lunch and we could just stop off
for a quick snack and jump right back on the road." she agrees.
An hour later, one slice of
apple pie with ice cream and a large chocolate covered doughnut
with several cups of hot coffee later, probably having consumed
about twice your daily allowance of calories and three times the
amount of fat you should consume in a week, you struggle your way
back into the cab.
It doesn't take long until
you’re both suffering the effects of this eating binge, feeling
bloated and fatigued. " I don't know why I had so many cups
of coffee. Now "I've got to pull over for a rest stop, and
my stomach is in a knot, I think I need some Pepto Bismol"
Sound familiar? In spite of
your good intentions to eat well and get exercise, when you're on
the road in your RV do you find yourself drawn into fast food places,
eating more than you planned and feeling miserable afterwards? Well,
let's rewind the tape and go for another option.
Let's say you're driving along
the road, sometime midmorning, after a couple of hours on the road.
You come to a small town and say, "Hey, let's park here in
this big open parking lot and take a walk around town, stretch our
legs and take a break."
"Yeah, good idea,"
says the wife, "I'll grab us a couple of apples and put on
my walking shoes. I could use some exercise."
So you walk around town, looking
at the well-tended tidy little gardens and admiring the architecture
of the older buildings found out here in the middle of nowhere,
watch children playing in the schoolyard, smell the fresh mown grass
and listen to the blackbirds shrill, crunching on your juicy apples
as you check the place out. It's a small town only takes about half
an hour to cover the whole place. Now you get back in your rig ready
to resume the trip.
"Oh that's much better
now I am ready to take a turn driving. Isn't this beautiful countryside?"
Back on the road again, John
and Elaine are refreshed by the walk, and their appetites are satisfied
by the sweet apples they crunched as they explored. Total caloric
damage-- 75 calories each and on the plus side, fruits are a good
source of fiber. Apples, in particular contain a soluble fiber pectin
that helps lower blood cholesterol levels. The walk stretched and
relaxed the tension of sitting and driving and energized them for
the next leg of their trip. Not a bad deal when you consider how
much good they did by changing the scenario slightly
When you are traveling, keep
in mind your daily priorities. If eating and exercising to maintain
good health are important to you, there are lots of ways to include
them in your trips.
Stock your refrigerator with
fresh fruits and vegetables and use them for frequent snacks. Keeping
your stomach satisfied with these fiber rich, vitamin filled foods
helps you to resist the temptation of foods that are fattening and
unhealthy. The energy gained from a snack of fruit also keeps the
blood sugar high and mental processes alert, so you don't feel drowsy
afterwards. A little bit of exercise, a 20 minute walk, or some
stretches and short stroll do wonders to work out the kinks in your
back and legs and restore mental alertness. Not only do you feel
better afterwards, but you have done two healthy things for your
body, eaten one of the recommended 5 servings of fruits and vegetables
and exercised. Aren't you proud of yourself?
Other good food choices when
on the road include fat free crackers, pretzels, rice cakes, or
popcorn (no oil). When you have a craving for something crunchy
try some healthier crispy food even celery or carrot sticks help
provide jaw satisfaction and these snacks are much better for you
than fat laden potato chips.
What if you have a strong
desire for smooth and creamy foods, and an apple just won't do?
Don't head for the Dairy Queen hot fudge sundae, or a slice of banana
cream pie, indulge in a half cup of nonfat frozen yogurt. It comes
in a variety of flavors and deliciously satisfies the urge for creamy
as well as adding to your daily intake of calcium, which strengthens
bones.
One of the best choices for
snacking is raw vegetables, they fill you up rather than out, and
provide a wealth of vitamins, minerals and fiber. Vegetables have
very few calories and no fat. Try broccoli florets, carrot strips,
celery sticks, cherry tomatoes, cucumber slices, green onions, red
and green pepper slices, mushrooms, radish roses, snow peas or zucchini.
Any or all of these are excellent low calorie snack foods if you
wish, mix up a low cal dip to accompany them. Check out your supermarket,
in the produce section they have lots of precut vegetable medleys,
saving you time and effort in the chopping. Keep a few packets in
your frig for these very snack attack urges.
In the afternoon when energy
flags and cravings surface, if the weather is stop have a tall cool
glass of club soda, with a dash of lemon to taste and take a leisurely
stroll under some shady trees, or maybe a stretch or two. If the
weather is cool, experiment with some of the new herbal tea combinations,
they are delicious and contain no calories or caffeine. Taking a
brisk walk along a roadside trail or local park will perk you up
in no time, and add to the calorie-burning quota for the day.
If dinner hour is fast approaching, but the campground is still
a ways off, fix yourself a nonalcoholic cocktail, tomato or fruit
juice, whatever flavor you like and have a handful of sunflower
or pumpkin seeds, which will recharge your batteries. Get out and
take a stroll around the roadside stop area, pause to admire the
sunset. Reach up, stretch out, and loosen the kinks in your back
and legs before you finish the day's journey.
So now we have a daily dairy
of positive choices you can make for your health. As you adventure
your way around this wonderful country of ours, footloose and fancy
free with your home on wheels providing for your every comfort,
remember your health.
You can choose to take care
of your health throughout the day as you travel this wonderful country.
Remember you are the one taking control of your life and health
by following healthy nutritional and fitness practices. Your health
and the health of your partner depend on what you eat and what you
do with your body: make it wise choices and be proud of your fitness
-oriented life.
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