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What do u do on vacations w family?

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snha
snha Posts: 388 Member
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Any tips for staying true to low carbs? It’s tough. I did bring my own snack bags for the tree day vacay. But hard otherwise, Do u have any other suggestions?

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  • canadjineh
    canadjineh Posts: 5,396 Member
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    Are you going out to restaurants to eat, or are you doing a pot-luck sort of approach on your visit? You can google the menus of restaurants in the area and find something low carb, or you can bring devilled eggs 12 ways (https://lifemadesweeter.com/deviled-eggs/), or meatballs in a sauce, or nuts (if no allergies) for snacks, make chicharron nachos, faux-tato salad (cauliflower - sneaky B) )
  • Emmapatterson1729
    Emmapatterson1729 Posts: 1,296 Member
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    Yep, depends on where you're going and what you're doing.

    Can always find meat at restaurants (steak, chicken, burgers, fish) on a salad or hold the bread. Tuna snack packs (pre-kits that come with tuna and mayo), boiled eggs go good in that mix too or plain.

    Hitting nature, I love meat cooked over an open fire.

    Family...I don't care if I'm rude about not eating other people's foods. I hit the grocery store when staying with family and buy my own food. But...I don't eat pork or processed foods and family practically lives on processed pork.

    Good luck... Willpower and finding good food is always tricky when traveling!!

  • snha
    snha Posts: 388 Member
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    Thank you. I think it's willpower like @Emmapatterson1729 said. I've been good in the last couple of days. Three more :)
  • tcunbeliever
    tcunbeliever Posts: 8,219 Member
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    I usually am not as strict for vacations, but I don't go totally crazy either...so if someone is cooking a dinner and it's carby, then I might opt for a big lunch that's not carby so that I can just have very little of the carby dinner...but my family usually does eggs/meat for breakfast, and lunch is everyone fend for themselves, and dinner we rotate who cooks...going out to eat is always an option too, if I don't want to eat the planned dinner, or eating leftovers instead...we have a lot of picky people, so for us it's not seen as a big deal to turn down whatever is prepared, but if you don't eat the group meal, then it's on you to cook for yourself, whoever is cooking is free to cook whatever they want, take it or leave it.
  • Dragonwolf
    Dragonwolf Posts: 5,600 Member
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    Lunch meats and cheeses are a good travel food (provided you have a cooler or access to a fridge within a couple of hours).

    Little known facts about restaurants:

    Burger joints won't blink at asking for lettuce-wrapped. Places like 5 Guys or Whataburger will also wrap them well, generally.

    Sub places (Subway, Jersey Mike's, etc) can nearly always make your sandwich into a salad, though some (like Jimmy John's) will do lettuce-wrapped.

    Some pizza places now have cauliflower crusts as an option. Boneless wings are breaded, but bone-in usually aren't. If all else fails, you can eat the toppings.

    Cafes are great, because omelets.

    If you have time to prep and are doing something like camping, cube up meat and vegetables and do kebabs over the fire.
  • canadjineh
    canadjineh Posts: 5,396 Member
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    Just had an interesting email from Dr. Fung's Intensive Dietary Management website on what to pick at restaurants:
    IDM’s Brenda Zorn turns to an expert for more advice on staying low-carb on the road

    For the final installment of my dining out low-carb series, I turned to my friend Sharon Peters. She’s a former fine dining chef and currently an instructor at Texas Wesleyan University. She had so many tips for me, I made a big list! (She is brilliant.) Here are some of her best:

    Vietnamese: Order Pho without noodles and bring a bag of your own shirataki noodles. (Purse noodles. Haha!)
    Chinese: Ask for the Chinese broccoli (gai lan) to be steamed or sautéed in oil and garlic, no sauces please. Also, sautéed pea shoot tips, snow peas or water spinach. The roast pork is ok here, too.
    French: Haricots verts – those skinny little green beans. They are low-carb.
    Indian: Tandoori chicken is good to go. Many Indian sauces are cream-, stock- and yogurt-based. Saag Paneer, creamed spinach with fresh cheese, is low-carb and wonderful.
    BBQ: Brisket, chicken, ribs with a dry rub, no sauce
    Middle eastern: The standard salad with cucumber, parsley, lemon juice, olive oil and tomato cubes is perfect. Grilled meats and kebabs. Babaganoush – smoky eggplant with tahini and olive oil.
    “Mexican” restaurants: Bring “purse chicharrones” for the guacamole, salsa and queso dips. Order fajitas, no tortillas.
    A breakfast place is easy: Eggs, bacon and sausage. Beware pancake batter is not added to the scrambled eggs. Some places do this to add fluffiness.
    Seafood restaurants: Shrimp cocktail, go light with the sauce for dipping. Seafood in general is very low-carb! I enjoyed scallops, lobster, clams, oysters and crab in New London Connecticut at KetoFest.
    Order a charcuterie board. It consists of cured meats and cheeses. They are wonderful.
    Deli’s: Smoked salmon, smoked whitefish, gravlax, cream cheese with lox.
    Lastly, pay a corkage fee and bring your own low-carb wine.

    And finally, from my great friend Tom Seest, who has been navigating dining-out Keto for many years and has lost over 200 pounds on his journey with the ketogenic diet and fasting:

    “Assume they will mess everything up. Taste small samples first. The servers are busy and mistakes happen. Tip well and be polite, even when mistakes happen. The server isn’t always in control of the kitchen. You’re going to need to be patient to lose weight, and every occasion for eating out is an opportunity for you to learn patience with those who don’t understand the great food choices you’re making. There are no calories in kindness, so ladle that heavily at every opportunity.”

    Enjoy your food. Enjoy your celebrations. Happy Feasting!
  • ladysaiyan87
    ladysaiyan87 Posts: 90 Member
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    There are some Amazing tips on here!!! Thanks everyone!!😊😊
  • lnov530
    lnov530 Posts: 53 Member
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    I have had success eating out by ordering from the appetizer menu. We were at a brew pub and everything was sandwiches and burgers. While I could have gone for a bunless burger, the appetizer menu had a smoked whitefish dip. I just asked them to sub celery sticks for the bread dippers it is usually served with. That was one of the best meals I had on my vacation. Chicken wings are a good option too but don’t get the boneless. Those are always breaded.

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