As most of you know, a significant portion of my job requires travel. I love that my job allows me to see new places and visit new people, but let me tell you; business travel can wreak havoc on your system. From gym accessibility, late night dinners, and poor sleep, many travelers find it difficult to “find their groove,” when they are on the road.  When I first started traveling, I felt the challenges hard. I’d go to a hotel to find they had no gym or drive into a town with literally no restaurant. When we’d go to dinner, I’d scramble to figure out what I would eat or order to drink. I meet so many folks who just want some dang balance.  What I realize is that most of my followers are not competitors. You may count macros, or may not, but that shouldn’t stop you from making healthy choices. Here are a few of my go-to travel favorites:

Breakfast in a hotel: 

Concierge Lounge: If you’re fancy and have status, they usually have free breakfast in the “lounge” area. Step away from the pastry table. Opt for a cup of oatmeal and some eggs or an english muffin and eggs.

Room Service: If you are in a hotel and need to order room service, feel free to order off the menu (they love this), but I always go for an English muffin, two cups of egg whites, and a side of fruit. The max cost will be about 13.00, but be careful for gratuity and delivery “surcharge.”

For a Quick Bite: 

If you can, please try not to default to fast food like Taco Bell and McDonalds. If you have to, try to get a grilled chicken sandwich, but ew.

Jimmy Johns Unwich: Beach Club, light avocado, no mayo, light cheese. BUT THE BREAD IS DELICIOUS! Did you know that they also have a thing where they scoop the bread out? You get the taste of bread without the guts. You usually have to call and ask them to “Scoop the bread.” It will add some more carbs but if it’s worth it splurge. They also have one of the fanciest nutrition calcs I’ve seen.

Panera: Greek Chicken Salad with Double Chicken. Dressing on the side. Watch the fat in this bad boy. Also the “modern” greek has nearly 32 grams of fat. That’s my daily intake yo. Kill the Quinoa and extra nuts.

Most chains are pretty easy to navigate. Just google the menu online and make an easy choice.

Dinners Out:  

Remember what I say: Lean protein+clean carb=Winning

Sushi: Spicy Tuna or Salmon Roll. Always. As described by Livestrong.com,” The tuna, rice and vegetables contribute to the carb and protein content of the spicy tuna hand roll. One hand roll contains 9 to 18 grams of carbs, 1 to 2 grams of fiber and 6 to 15 grams of protein. The carbs provide your body with energy, while the protein helps repair body tissue and preserve lean body mass. Fiber is a type of carbohydrate your body cannot digest, and getting more in your diet alleviates constipation and may reduce your risk of heart disease. Up the fiber in your hand roll by replacing the white rice with brown rice.” Stay away from anything that has cream cheese or says things like “crunchy,” or “tempura.”

Seafood: Stick with lean fish like tilapia and veggies. This is an easy one.

Steakhouse: Opt for a small filet and baked potato. Opt for the smallest filet possible (no bigger than 8oz) and swap out potatoes for veggies if you are watching carbs. If you’re post leg day, splurge for the potato with minimal topping. If you’re going to “go hard” on this meal, be sure to scale back earlier meals because this is high in fat.

Mexican: To be honest, usually I mexi-can’t because I freaking love chips so much and I don’t know. how.to.stop. But if you are so inclined, opt for a corn tortilla and chicken tacos. Fairly lean, but watch the toppings like cheese and beans.

Italian: Again. With the bread. Why. Italian is a tough one because it is so so carby. If you can, go for a salad, but if you must with the pasta, stay away from heavy alfredo or fried items like Chicken Parmesan. If they have butternut squash ravioli, Instagram that sh*t and tell me where to get it.

Drinking:

If you are a competitor, you know what I will say. Fun is not allowed. But most of you aren’t and are going to drink anyway. I’m going to switch to business mode for a minute to let you know that in any professional setting, you need to be careful with alcohol. Work drinking has caused many a job loss, and I don’t advise doing it to excess.  I know that peer pressure plays a role in this, but people will talk for a few minutes if you don’t drink with them, but if you are the drunk jerk at the Christmas Party, you will be the stuff of legends. Be careful. Especially if you are a manager of people. Ok, off the soapbox. If you are going to drink, stick to a clear alcohol with water or soda or red wine. No more than two-three over a few hour span.

 

So there you have it, some quick and easy, no-fail tricks for your business travel needs! What are your best strategies? Drop em below!

 

 

 

 

 

I want to tell you all something very honest. I almost didn’t post these.  A few weeks ago I was asked by the lovely David Carolyn to participate in a photo shoot with some adoptable dogs to benefit my favorite charity, Gateway Pet Guardians. I was super excited to do it, but to be honest, I struggled with the fact that I was in off season. I’m eating more food, trying to gain muscle to build on my progress from last year. I spend a lot of time preaching that you can’t be show lean all of the time, but I also seem to not be able to embrace the idea. I’m a fraud.  The second I gain, I immediately fall back on “Oh my god, dial it back, you’re out of control!” Am I really? No.  I’m still working out 6 days a week, enjoying the occasional cheat meal. I was hit with a hard truth by my friend who said, “Some girls don’t understand that in order to get leaner, you need to gain muscle, and sometimes, that means you have to look fluffy.” Oh lawd. Say it ain’t so. Competing is serious, and putting yourself out there to be judged for you body is super hard.

I want you to understand the hardest lesson I’m learning, and well, we’re learning it together: There are peaks and valleys in fitness. You can’t be show lean all the time. The important thing is to focus on progressing, little by little, every day.  Quite honestly, right now I’m enjoying life. I’m still a size 0. No one is dying. I don’t have abs right now and it makes me sad, but what also makes me happy is being able to drink some wine. (which I didn’t do before show) Priorities.

Now back to the point:  I’m never going to turn down a chance to get a makeover and play with Gateway dogs. FO FREE (sort of, I paid for my hair and makeup).  These two dogs that showed up are amazing. Their names are Melanie and Little Debbie. Little Debbie and I are soul mates. I’m sure of it. She also represents my love for snacks.

You might be asking yourself why I chose to do this shoot. Well, because I am a firm believer that if you are given a platform, you must use it for good.  No matter how I feel, there are millions of dogs that will spend life on the street this holiday season, and their problems are much bigger than my gainz. Gateway is a very wonderful organization that does a ton for the St. Louis community, from free spay and neuter clinics, to education, to fostering and adoption. If you have funds or supplies to donate this holiday season, please consider them. Also, David is an amazing photographer and is extremely diverse. He’s a good person and donates his time to do this. If you have photography needs, buy them from good people like David.

I hope this blog helps you this holiday season, understand that everything is a balance. Eat the food. Lift Heavy. Adopt all the dogs. Prosper.

Love-

C

 

 

A few weeks ago, I was at a business meeting and I ordered a grilled chicken wrap with fries. It was a cheat meal, but I was also about to go lift heavy AF as well. “YOU are eating THAT,” he proclaimed. Hell to the yeah. I eat IIFYM, which means if it fits my macros (a certain number of carbs, fats, and protein) I can eat it. Granted, when I’m competing macros can get pretty low, so I turn more “bro diet,” but during my offseason, I like to swap ingredients to make delicious creations. A great IIFYM strategy is to make all of your protein at the beginning of the week so that you have it readily available. I wasn’t traveling this week, so Sunday I decided to make pulled pork. Believe it or not, pork tenderloin is pretty damn lean, and also amazing. Here’s what I did:

1.5 lbs pork tenderloin

1 jar of gluten free BBQ sauce (found at schnucks: watch SUGAR and FAT content on these bad boys)

Line a slow cooker with a liner (or don’t but I’m not cleaning that thing). Add pork and sauce and cook on low for 8-10 hours. Pull apart. That wasn’t so hard was it?

Now you’ve got a protein for all week! Here’s a few delicious recipes (some more macro friendly than others) that won’t break the bank.

 

Pulled Pork Tacos

4 oz. pork tenderloin

La Tiara Taco Shells (you can find these at most grocery stores AND these babies only have 4G OF CARBS. WHAT THE WHAT?!)

Lettuce

1 oz Fat Free Cheddar Cheese

1. Cook taco shells for 10 minutes at 200F. Add toppings. Done

Next up is my favorite recipe I’ve made so far:

Pulled Pork Nachos

Let me be clear here, these bad boys are better for a cleaner cheat, but regular nachos half close to triple the fat content.

1 bag Rice and Bean Adzuki chips (can be found in organic aisle)

4 oz pork tenderloin

.25 cup of 2% cheddar cheese

Throw on a plate and cook in the microwave Napoleon Dynamite style. YESSSS.

 

The next one is actually pretty clean:

This is actually an interpretation of one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. If you’re ever in Dallas, stop by the Pecan Lodge in Deep Ellum and get The Hot Mess. It’s a sweet potato loaded with the best pulled pork you’ve ever eaten.  Obviously with brown sugar and other dressings, it’s loaded with calories, so I’ll try to keep it clean 🙂

This place is everything

The Not-So-Hot Mess 

4 oz pulled pork

4 oz sweet potato

1. Cook sweet potato in oven or microwave as you prefer
2. Fill with pulled pork
3. Top as you like

Protein: 25.7

Carbs: 23.6

Fat: 6.1

Obviously there are a ton of other things you can do with your pulled pork, but these are a few creative options when you are feeling like you want to splurge. Add it on a wrap, add it on a bun, or heck, just slap it on some lettuce!

 

The most important lesson here is to know your macros. If you want to learn more about macro’s, check out this class by my trainer Tracy.

Got any other creative ideas? Drop them below!