Healthy Chelsea

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My 34-hour cross-country road trip with a 4-month old! | What I ate, ordered, and binged |

I just arrived home from a huge road trip that my husband and 4-month old took to be with family for Thanksgiving week.

Our folks live 14 hours away by car…which is a 17-hour car trip with a baby…which requires 2 days of driving…

Which means that, out of a 10-day vacation, we spent 4 days on the road!

All of that to say, we did a lot of podcast bingeing on our journey.

And by podcast bingeing, we listened to multiple episodes of ONLY ONE podcast:

  • 3 Books with Neil Pasricha

In each episode, Neil interviews an inspiring person and discusses the three most formative books in their life.

If you’re looking for a bingeworthy podcast, I HIGHLY recommend this one.

The episodes are recorded in a “two ear” format so that you feel like you’re right there with Neil and his guest, sitting between the two, part of their conversation.

Here are the episodes we listened to:

  • Seth Godin (my favorite interview!)

  • Gretchen Rubin

  • Malcolm Gladwell (my least favorite interview…)

  • Tim Urban

  • Jonathan Fields

  • Chip Wilson

  • Ryan Holiday

Suffice it to say, our 34 hours on the road were filled with lots of deep conversation as we listened to these episodes and created a list of books that we promptly added to our Amazon cart.

These are the books we’re ordering:

·        The Gift by Lewis Hyde

·        The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander

·        The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

·        Why We Get Fat and What to Do About It by Gary Taubes

·        The Blind Side by Michael Lewis

·        A Little History of the World by E.H. Gombrich

Being the foodie and nutrition coach that I am, I couldn’t go on a roadtrip without preparing a HUGE bag of food for the road to keep us fueled and energized.

When I’m traveling, I CANNOT and WILL NOT be without my own food 😂

When I’m thinking about what food to pack, it has to meet these criteria:

  • Easy

  • Non-perishable

  • Not messy

  • Balanced

  • Filling

  • Satisfy sweet cravings

  • Satisfy salty cravings

I’m sharing the food I packed in hopes that you’ll find a few ideas that you can use for your travels or on-the-go eating 😊

Here’s what was in my bag:

Of the four days we were on the road, three of the mornings we stopped at Starbucks for coffee and breakfast.

Here’s what I ordered:

Two of the mornings, I got the “Impossible Breakfast Sandwich.”

My husband thought that it was a healthy option, because the sausage patty is plant-based.

But in terms of nutritional value, there’s not a lot there.  

It’s processed.

It’s got a lot of added salt.

It’s plant-based without plants…

But it fed the soul, so that’s what matters 😉

The final Starbucks morning, I ordered the “Egg White and Roasted Red Pepper Egg Bites” and Oatmeal with blueberries.

In terms of nutritional value, this breakfast was much more balanced in terms of lean protein, veggies, and fiber.

But was it as delicious?

The egg bites were phenomenal.

The oatmeal was disappointing and I would advise against it.

It turns out that the “blueberries” were actually not fresh blueberries, but were dried blueberries with added sugar.  Weird. And the oatmeal had no flavor and was super thick. 

Instead, for future travels, I would pack my own oatmeal cups (my favorite is this one by the brand GFB, which I’ve taken on planes before), and order hot water to add to the oatmeal.

For drinks at Starbucks:

·        Two of the mornings I ordered a Grande Pike Place coffee with no cream and no sugar

·        For the third morning at Starbucks, Matthew surprised me with a sugar-free vanilla latte.  Delightful!

For lunches:

·        Three of the four days, we had out peanut butter and honey sandwiches

·        For the random lunch we had when we were out of peanut butter and honey sandwiches, we stopped at Wendy’s

It was my first fast food stop in over a decade!

But what the heck, French fries, chicken tenders, and a chocolate frosty it is!

The small frosty I ordered was too rich to finish.

And the chicken tenders were just ok (I wouldn’t order them again).

But HELLO FRENCH FRIES!

They were piping hot and salty and oh so delicious.

I get it 😉

When I think about traveling, I want to feel good and energized.

That’s why I prepare and pack so many snacks and sandwiches with me.

But on occasion, it’s also fine to stop and treat yourself.

It’s called *balance.*

Which I go into nitty gritty detail on what BALANCE really means in this blog post, “Balance and How to Enjoy a Sustainable Way of Eating”>>

So there you have it!

Everything I ate, ordered, and binged on our 34-hour car trip!

I hope it inspires and delights 😊

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