About a month from now, Jay and I plan to be back in the place where my body-identity journey started -- Phoenix, Arizona. That was where I spent my first night in the ER and the rest of the vacation in our hotel suite, because I could not walk. It's where we had to hire an SUV to take me to the airport for the trip home, because I couldn't ride in our low-slung rental car.
I'm already making plans for the end-of-August journey, and by "plans" I don't just mean perusing guidebooks and buying clothes (including my bikini).
I have to plan how I'm going to eat.
The airport (we're flying out of Milwaukee) is actually the worst place to find healthful food. On or off the plane, what they offer is junk, high in calories and low in nutritional value. That's why the bag that I carry onto the plane, and stow under my seat during takeoffs and landings, will contain snacks in approximately 100-calorie increments. These might include granola-fruit bars, high-fiber crackers, cashews (no peanuts, in case another flyer is allergic to the dust) and chewy granola bars.
Once we get to the hotel -- which will have a fridge and a microwave in the room -- we will keep a supply of foods like oatmeal packets and stable-at-room-temperature microwavable entrees, which come in portions small enough to keep the calorie count reasonable. I've learned from experience to bring along plastic eating utensils (in the checked suitcase, not the carry-on), and if I forget to pack a bowl for the oatmeal, I can reuse one of the microwave meal containers for that purpose. We would likely buy the room-temperature meals, and any beverages we might refrigerate, at a grocery store when we arrive.
My husband has already scouted out the location for a Subway restaurant. We know where McDonald's is from last time we were in Phoenix; that's where Jay bought a lot of the meals (Filet-O-Fish) to bring back to the room for me. But we're not going there this time, unless it's for a $1 any-size diet soda or iced tea.
At a Mexican eatery -- and there are a lot of them in Phoenix -- it'll be a shrimp or chicken fajita for me, without the tortillas.
At the barbecue place on our resort hotel grounds, it'll be beef or chicken (dark meat, unfortunately, but I won't eat the skin), easy on the sauce, with corn on the cob for the side.
If we have to order from a pizza delivery place one night, Jay can have a pizza if he wants, but I'll have the pasta primavera, and tell them to go easy on the cheese.
Fortunately, the hotel where we're staying has a water park that includes swimming lap lanes, and a fitness center on the premises. I'm also a member of Anytime Fitness, and am entitled to access to any location in the world; I'm fairly sure there's a location not far from where we're staying, if I should find that I don't like the stationary bikes at the hotel facility.
This is my life now -- planning ahead how and what I'm going to eat and drink, and strategizing on what type of exercise I do, how long and when.
This will be my life for as long as I want to hang onto my bikini body.
To remind me of how much I value my bikini body, here is an image of what I looked like last time we were in Phoenix:
I'm already making plans for the end-of-August journey, and by "plans" I don't just mean perusing guidebooks and buying clothes (including my bikini).
I have to plan how I'm going to eat.
The airport (we're flying out of Milwaukee) is actually the worst place to find healthful food. On or off the plane, what they offer is junk, high in calories and low in nutritional value. That's why the bag that I carry onto the plane, and stow under my seat during takeoffs and landings, will contain snacks in approximately 100-calorie increments. These might include granola-fruit bars, high-fiber crackers, cashews (no peanuts, in case another flyer is allergic to the dust) and chewy granola bars.
Once we get to the hotel -- which will have a fridge and a microwave in the room -- we will keep a supply of foods like oatmeal packets and stable-at-room-temperature microwavable entrees, which come in portions small enough to keep the calorie count reasonable. I've learned from experience to bring along plastic eating utensils (in the checked suitcase, not the carry-on), and if I forget to pack a bowl for the oatmeal, I can reuse one of the microwave meal containers for that purpose. We would likely buy the room-temperature meals, and any beverages we might refrigerate, at a grocery store when we arrive.
My husband has already scouted out the location for a Subway restaurant. We know where McDonald's is from last time we were in Phoenix; that's where Jay bought a lot of the meals (Filet-O-Fish) to bring back to the room for me. But we're not going there this time, unless it's for a $1 any-size diet soda or iced tea.
At a Mexican eatery -- and there are a lot of them in Phoenix -- it'll be a shrimp or chicken fajita for me, without the tortillas.
At the barbecue place on our resort hotel grounds, it'll be beef or chicken (dark meat, unfortunately, but I won't eat the skin), easy on the sauce, with corn on the cob for the side.
If we have to order from a pizza delivery place one night, Jay can have a pizza if he wants, but I'll have the pasta primavera, and tell them to go easy on the cheese.
Fortunately, the hotel where we're staying has a water park that includes swimming lap lanes, and a fitness center on the premises. I'm also a member of Anytime Fitness, and am entitled to access to any location in the world; I'm fairly sure there's a location not far from where we're staying, if I should find that I don't like the stationary bikes at the hotel facility.
This is my life now -- planning ahead how and what I'm going to eat and drink, and strategizing on what type of exercise I do, how long and when.
This will be my life for as long as I want to hang onto my bikini body.
To remind me of how much I value my bikini body, here is an image of what I looked like last time we were in Phoenix:
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