5 Things I Learned About Doing Keto While Vacationing
Hello Y’all I just got back from an 8 day vacation and here are 5 Things I Learned About Doing Keto While Vacationing:
1. Buffets Offer the Most Choices for Staying On Keto:
So this sounds like a no brainer, I mean buffets were awesome before I started Keto, and they turned about to be a life saver on my recent trip. I want to give kudos to “The Golden Corral!” The Golden Corral was responsibly priced and had an excellent consistent selection of foods to choice from to help me stay true to the ketogenic way of eating. On my vacation I we stayed at the Legoland Beach Resort in Winter Haven Florida. This was a trip with my 8-year-old daughter and was really a lot of fun. However, I do have one major complaint about Legoland in general.
At the beach resort on our first night we ordered off the menu, and I had a chicken breast with broccoli, and butter. That meal was fine, I modified it with ease replacing the sweet potatoes with extra broccoli–no big deal. Breakfast the next morning was “free!” 
and a buffet breakfast, lots of good choices easy to stay Keto. On Day 2 we decided to go over to the Legoland Hotel which is right next to the amusement park, they had a dinner buffet so we thought we would give it a try. I was very disappointed to say the least, in my mind it was over priced to the tune of $38.00 for two (this was for one adult and a child), keep in mind that the Golden Corral was right down the street and we could have gone there for about $22.00. The Brick Restaurants buffet was pricy but I expected that considering the rooms at the hotel run for $400+ per night, of course this comes with a Lego themed room for you and the kids, and Legos everywhere for your kids to play with. If your curious the Legoland Beach Resort was about $320 per night, with this you got your own bungalow with a King Sized Bed, and semi-private room for your kids with its own set of Duplo Blocks, complimentary coffee, and snacks for your room. My issue with the Legoland Brick Restaurants buffet was that it had absolutely nothing that was sugar-free, or low carb for desert. The significance of this was that 2 blocks down the road at. Golden Corral I would have saved a few bucks and also had a selection of low carb, and sugar-free deserts. Now I’m not going to try to act like the sugar-free or low carb desert at GC were all that healthy but at least they acknowledged that everyone doesn’t want to eat sugar, sugar, and more sugar. People have all kinds of health conditions, and I applaud GC for at least giving people a “choice.”
2. You Need to Be Prepared with Your Own Keto Snacks
We flew Delta airlines from Seattle to Orlando Florida, I didn’t have any expectations that Delta would have much in the way of food selections to help me try to stay on my Keto diet. To my surprise they had some type of protein pack (which you had to pay for of course), it had cheese, and I believe protein and some low carb crackers — I didn’t purchase one because they were out of them by the time they reached my seat. However, I took my own snacks and I would suggest if your serious about trying to maintain your Keto Diet while traveling that you consider doing the same.
Here is the list of snacks that I took on the trip:
- Pepperoni
- Cheese Sticks
- Blue Diamond Smokehouse Almonds
- Blue Diamond Wasabi and Soy Sauce (these are my new favorites, although like with any nuts you need to not eat to many)
- Reese Sugar Free mini cups (I swear you can’t tell the difference between this version and the regular – again eat these in moderation).
3. Starbucks has Kerry Gold Butter For Making Bulletproof Coffee
So if you’re doing Keto and take MCT oil as part of your diet and make bulletproof or Keto coffee, I would suggest you get some of the TSA authorized 3 oz containers and take your MCT oil on your trip. I did this and the TSA didn’t even blink, no one questioned what this clear liquid was and it was an easy way to enjoy my Keto Coffee. McDonald’s also added butter to my coffee upon request, or provided butter at no extra charge upon request. The significance behind the Kerry Gold butter is that the Kerry Gold brand is generally a little more expensive than your normal butter so I was pleased to find out that Starbucks carried it. Maybe the next time I need Kerry Gold butter I’ll just hit up my local Starbucks.
4. It Ok to Cheat if You Want Too
So this is a bit controversial but while on vacation I kind of thought about my keto journey, and decided that if I found the perfect desert that I was going to “cheat!” I’m actually sad to say that I never found that perfect desert that my eyes and brain said “you’ve just got to eat this!” It just didn’t happen, and in all honesty I was a bit disappointed, the closes I came was a piece of cheesecake at Legoland but I only took a little taste on the tip of my spoon and decided that it wasn’t really worth it. The only other item was I had was Legoland famous Apple Fries with ice cream and drizzled with caramel. I did allow myself two apple fries with a bit of ice cream and they were pretty good. If you’ve made Keto or low carb a lifestyle a occassional treat will not destroy everything you’ve worked for. All you have to do is eat whatever it is, and move on. Unless, your afraid that one taste is going to totally set you off, or trigger some kind of uncontrollably eating binge. But I guess everyone’s “occasional” is different so don’t bullshit yourself. If you find yourself cheating all of the time just STOP IT!
5. Vacations Don’t Last Forever – Keep Things In Perspective
My vacation lasted 9 days and it was awesome! I was super excited because I actually lost 5 pounds while on vacation. However, 3 of those 5 pounds magically appeared again once I got back home–I’m still trying to figure that out. Vacations are supposed to be relaxing and fun and enjoyable. I realize as I end this post that most people aren’t as radical about their keto diet and lifestyle as I am, and I get that. Hell most of us just want to go on vacation, and really relax and enjoy ourselves which often means indulging in foods we don’t normally eat, and drinking more than we normally do “why?”, because “I’m on vacation and I and you deserve it, and you know what “your right!” So when you go on vacation and if you decide to throw your keto lifestyle to the side, it’s not the end of world and you will survive. However, keep in mind that your vacation is generally just a moment in time, a memory that will quickly fade away when you return to your normal lifestyle. The choice is yours to make, and it always has been yours. The choices you made in the past about food are reflected in your appearance right now. The good choices you’ve made doing, keto are also reflected right now, don’t forget the pride and sense of accomplishment you’ve felt as you began having success with your keto diet–enjoy your vacation, but remember don’t waste everything you’ve worked so hard for.