My husband and I went to band camp last week with our youngest daughter and 160 or so of her closest friends. We handed out Band-Aids, ice packs, and Tums like there was no tomorrow. We dealt with vomit at 6:00 am (and 11:15 pm), the bloodiest noses I've ever seen, and a rifle butt to the eye. It was intense and unpredictable, and here I am several days later still feeling like I could sleep 10 hours a night.
We had a blast, however, and loved seeing how their music progressed throughout the week. At their parent performance on Saturday I got a little teary-eyed, feeling parental towards all 160 of them, and just so darn proud of all the hard work they put into it.
So how does one eat low-carb at band camp, you ask? I gotta admit, it's pretty tough unless you want to bring all your own food. Here's what I did, as well as some things I should have done better.
1. I chose my carbs carefully. At this particular camp they make their own bread, and oh my! It's delicious bread. So I ate the bread. I also ate an occasional cookie (again--delicious!) and the sweet rolls we had for breakfast the first day--wow! What I didn't eat were the extras, like chips, jam, syrupy French toast, popsicles, and most of the snacks at night. I tried to focus on getting in some eggs for breakfast and some veggies at other meals. I found that by the evening meal my stomach was pretty upset with me, so I definitely could have done better.
2. I tried to take a walk after dinner each night. We were usually on call, so that wasn't always possible, but as much as I could, I would get up and walk around.
3. I didn't snack in between meals, because I brought very few snacks with me, and the ones we brought for the kids weren't especially appetizing (besides--they were for the kids--not me). That was a plus, although since I was eating so many carbs during my meals, I found I was ravenous by the time meals came along. If I do it again I will bring more low-carb snacks to eat before meals so I don't feel so hungry when the cookies are staring me in the face!
4. I skipped a couple of meals early in the week, which made me feel better and let my digestive system get back to normal.
5. I drank a lot of water. We were up in the mountains so the elevation really dried us out. I also took some electrolytes each day.
This week I am back to focusing on protein and veggies, keeping it under 20 net carbs a day. I need a reset, so if it sounds a little drastic, well that's what my body needs right now. I'm back to walking and weight-lifting, and sleeping like a baby. It's good to be home, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
And by the way, if I hear "This one time, at band camp..." one more time, I'm going to throw up. So please, just don't.
Have a great week, friends!
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