Traveling without food/snacks is a huge mistake: I learned my lesson!

Last week I traveled to Washington D.C. for the Physicians for a National Health Program and American Public Health Association. I loved both conferences and I gained so much knowledge from both of them!

I was in D.C. from Thursday 10/27 to Wednesday, 11/2. Since the very first day I got to D.C. I let go of my normal diet. The first day -- I ate breakfast (protein pancake) at 5:15am (PST time) but I practically didn't have much food the rest of the day, as I didn't pack snacks to eat in the 5 hour flight...(bad idea!)

When I arrived to D.C. it was 5:30pm (EST time) and I was starving! I took the bus and then the Metro to get to my hotel, but I had a hard time finding it! I had the wrong address so I took a cab to the right location. I finally checked into my room at 7:35pm and once inside, I drank 2 glasses of water to tame my hunger a little. I planed to take a cab to meet my friends at Chinatown, but when I closed my room door and headed out to the elevator, I realized I had a HUGE headache and my guts were growling uncontrollably. My body was certainly not happy. I was dizzy from a long flight, with a headache, dehydrated and hungry. Not a good combo! I was not pretty :-/

I could not take it any longer. I felt like I was going to die -- we'll maybe not that bad, but certainly I was a mess. So instead of calling a cab, I was excited to notice that next to my hotel room there was Harris Teeter and I ran there...

  At the cold food and sandwich bar there were NO vegetarian options! I was like "WTF?" but because I was almost passing out from not eating for hours, I almost picked up shrimp sushi -- but I stopped myself. In a panic voice I called Bret back in L.A. and I was like "Babe! I can't find any vegetarian options! What do I do?!?!?!" Bret always knows how to calm me down and suggested I go to the frozen aisle, pick up a dinner and take to my room.


I headed to the frozen dinner section, looked for veggie options and there was nothing...I was worried :-(

There were no healthy options, much less vegetarian...I was so sad, but I kept on looking, until I finally recognized a vegan-organic-healthy name: Amy's! http://www.amys.com/ I made the time to read the labels behind the meal boxes and chose the healthiest one. I also picked up some frozen veggies. I was not going to have a day without eating vegetables. And ran to the cashier to pay for it!

That evening, I text-ed my friend Chris and I told him I was staying in instead. I heat up my food and enjoyed every bite while I watched (one of my favorite movies) Inglorious Basterds on Showtime. My Amy's enchiladas and frozen veggies were the best and healthiest food option I had. I am so glad Amy's is there in cases of emergencies! I learned a huge lesson that day. Always plan ahead. Pack snack and do not be left without food. If the worse thing happens, go to a grocery store that carries Amy's -- and make sure you have a microwave to heat your food :-)

Love,

Bea