Microwave Meals

While I’m on these two week audits, I do my absolute best to keep up with my normal routines.  Not only does it help me maintain my regular sleep patterns and energy levels (and fend off stomach aches!), but it also makes settling back in at home much easier afterwards.  It would be so easy to stay snuggled up in my comfy, king-sized hotel bed for longer than normal in the mornings, but if I did that, it would make getting to the gym at 5am much more difficult when I got back home. 

You’ve already seen how I brought my food and all kinds of other items to help me maintain my regular lifestyle while I’m on the road, but in addition to that, I’ve committed to still getting in my morning workouts as much as possible.  If that means going to bed earlier (which it already has), then so be it!

On Monday morning, I didn’t have to be to the warehouse until a little bit later than I normally have to be at work, so I got to sleep in until 6:30, which was a definite bonus.  There was someone on the (only) treadmill in the hotel gym when I wanted to warm up, so I made the best of it and ran up and down the stairwell a few times to get my blood flowing.  Then, I tackled this shoulder + tricep workout with the weights and makeshift bench in my room.  The space was kind of cramped and I didn’t have as much weight variety as I’m used to, but it still worked! 

After that was done, I ran downstairs and hopped on the treadmill in the fitness room for some jogging.  Six times, I ran for four minutes and walked for one, warming up and cooling down with five minutes of walking on either end – a total of 40 minutes.  After that, I was still feeling like I had a good bit of energy for some reason, so I ended with a few more shoulder exercises, like shrugs and inverted pushups. 

This lovely face is what greeted me upon my return to my room… Not a bad way to start a Monday morning!

Despite the fact that I’m living out of a mini fridge with only a microwave to work with, my meals haven’t really looked all that different from normal so far either.  I’m working on perfecting my cooking-veggies-in-the-microwave skills, and my first test was my breakfast.  I put some chopped green peppers and spinach in a bowl with just a splash of water, covered it with a towel, and microwaved it for two minutes.  Then, I added three eggs (which I mixed in a separate cup beforehand) and microwaved it all for another two minutes.  Four minutes later, I had a pretty tasty egg scramble to go!

I snacked on some carrots later in the day…

And when my coworkers decided to head out for lunch, I elected to stay behind and have the meal I brought with me instead.  My coworkers are all really great in that they try super hard to find restaurants that will fit in with my style of eating, but I really do prefer eating my own food most of the time.  That, and the time I save from going out for lunch can be spent studying for my upcoming NASM exam, so it’s really a win-win for me!

I microwaved the peppers on Sunday night (the same way I did the green peppers and spinach) and added them to a tupperware with some pre-cooked chicken, chili powder, crushed red pepper, and cilantro.  Once I heated it up at work and sided it with some almonds, it was a really delicious, wholesome meal!

I had an apple + cinnamon for a mid-afternoon snack…

And then later for dinner, I heated up one of the stuffed peppers I brought with me… another successful microwaved meal!

I have to admit though, despite all the tasty things I ate yesterday, the best item of all actually didn’t come out of the microwave.  Instead, it came from the hotel lobby…

Curse you, hotel cookies!!  (I also had another bowl full of strawberries + dark chocolate chips before I went to bed.  That combo is just so good!)

Questions:

What helps you stay on track while traveling?

Do you ever cook anything in the microwave? Any tips?