June 21-26: Seven weeks, two days to eight weeks

My husband and I are currently on a whirlwind road trip that took us from our Maryland home up to Toronto. On the way up, we stopped to see some of my family and some family friends before finally reaching Toronto.

The first day of the road trip went right according to plan. The one difference was going out to eat, but of course I had leftovers.

The second day of the road trip took us past some family, who put a lot of thought into what they served us for lunch (I had tuna salad). For dinner I had the leftovers from the night before.

The third day we went to the Baseball Hall of Fame which included a lunch out. Our gracious guests grilled up some burgers and hot dogs and I had half of each.

The fourth day was about 6 hours of driving. First we went to Niagara Falls, where I had a lunch that did not sit well with me. Upon arriving in Toronto, we went out to dinner and bought one meal to split between the two of us, and I think my stomach was already not doing too well since lunch so I spent about an hour vomiting during the first night we were finally at our destination.

The fifth day (and day one in Toronto) went great. My husband had a class all day so I spent the day wandering around the city myself. I made sure to pack a water bottle and a protein bar, and that sustained me through the day. For dinner, we went out with some of his classmates and I had some of the appetizers (oven baked nacho chips with vegan toppings), but by the time dinner came I had to put it all away to take home.

The sixth day was day two in Toronto. I spent time in the city again today and packed my protein bar and water again.

This was the first big trip we took since the bypass. I had spent a few days in Wildwood but the added complication of whole days in the car made this trip more difficult. This is what I've learned:

• Don't test the waters with food while away. Have what you know works
• Make time to sit down and drink water
• Order one entree to feed two people. The leftovers we had floating around got tough to manage on the road
• Start the day with a protein shake even if there is a free breakfast at the hotel. On day five I had probably one egg and a single bite of sausage from the hotel breakfast and was stuffed (and unable to drink for 30 minutes). This was only 10g of protein at most. on day six I had a protein shake and things went better
• "Failing to prepare is preparing to fail" has basically become the mantra of how we travel.

As for workouts during this time, I got 15K and 10K steps in Toronto but besides that I was mentally and physically exhausted from driving. I can't wait to get back to the gym on Friday and get back into my routine.