This week was the first week I had to implement Project Food as Fuel on the road. I do not have a car. The hotel room has a microwave and mini fridge and that’s it. The idea of procuring groceries and making meals was out the window from the beginning. This was the first big test of adhering to my new regimen with eating out.

Breakfast is easy. The hotel offers a hot breakfast with cheese omelets, hard-boiled eggs, and some type of breakfast meat and coffee. 

For lunch there are a few options near the office, with the primary focus on salads. One trick I learned is that if the quality of the protein is questionable at a restaurant, select the leanest meat possible. This may seem counterintuitive for a high-fat diet, but it’s a better option in terms of overall nutrition. 

On Tuesday I had my one major craving of the week. There is a courtyard between my office and the cafe where I get salads. The building management held a Mexican-themed free lunch for Cinco de Mayo complete with a Mariachi band. This event in and of itself was not tempting. For one there was a very long line to get food and that was enough of a deterrent for me. The big temptation occurred as I walked along the sidewalk and realized behind a crowd of people was a stand where someone was making fresh churros. Churros are a classic Mexican dessert most closely resembling a donut in a long cylinder shape. I saw them being pulled from the hot oil and dusted with cinnamon and sugar. More importantly, I SMELLED them. Wow, I took a direct hit right there. But I’m happy to say the armor held up and I did not cave in.

On my diet there is no cheat day or cheat meal. One churro would have been enough carbs to kick me out of ketosis. That would just delay me from reaching my goal. And we can’t have that.

For dinner more salads or some protein and veggies. Thankfully, a few of my co-workers are also attempting variations of a Keto diet (I say attempting because they are all three smokers, and so let’s see just how serious they are about their health) so I am not the odd person out.

I will be happy to fly back home today and get back to my routine. So far so good.