Vacation...

[mirandajaelle07]

In about 2 weeks my fiance and I are heading down to Daytona for the Daytona 500...We are both doing atkins and are both sticking to it and doing well... My question is, does anyone have any suggestions of snacks or restaraunts that are low carb friendly so we don't have to fall off the wagon... Also, any ideas for things to pack on race day?

[Elizellen]

Re: Vacation...

Firstly I would start to move to OWL now to allow yourself a little more leeway on your veggies

AS I have no idea what kind of food outlets will be there all I can suggest is to make sure you have your list of allowed foods with you as well as a carb count list to help you work out your OWL 5 net carb additions.

And remember that in restaurants you are going to be the one paying for the food so it does not matter if you ask for alterations like 'no fries but extra broccolli' or 'no sauce please' or you ask the staff to suggest food on the menu with no starches or added sugar

[mission to lose]

Re: Vacation...

Daytona is a pretty "with it" town, so they should have a lot of eateries that are common all over the US.

So As far as low carb friendly places to eat, If it were me, I would check out local national chains you can eat low carb friendly in your OWN area, and see if they have a location in Daytona, and plan your meals that way.

There really aren't any "low carb friendly" spots anyway, just what you choose to eat once you are in any restaurant.

Just try to avoid places that only serve one type of food that may make it too difficult to find variety to choose from, such as Chinese. Pick places with wide variety type menu choices.

Last time we were there, we found there to be several privately owned "steak house" types of places that had early bird dinners at a slight discount, (mostly catering to the seniors that lived there as retirees). But the steaks were good. Sorry, I don't remember any of their names, but it was nice to see them among all the national chains.

Have fun!!!

[Kntrylady]

Re: Vacation...

First question would be, can you bring a cooler? If so, your options are unlimited. (H/b eggs, baked chicken, cheese sticks, tuna salad, cut up veggies, etc., all homemade of course)

I just got back from a 12 day vacation, and I found as long as I didn't use the "Atkins" or "diet" word, and said "allergy" or "sensitivities to", restaurants are very accommodating. I'm not normally a liar, but I've told them that my "diabetes" (which I was considered pre-diabetic at one point) was unstable, so could I have _____ instead of ____? For the most part it is all in the presentation. They will even go ask the chef how things are fixed if they think it's "health related" (they don't want customers getting sick while at their place). I was at iHop, and when I was drooling over a crepe, they volunteered to make it with whipped eggs only (no pancake flour added) to meet my "dietary restrictions". I even managed to lose a pound while I was gone

Just be aware that some of the stuff will have more salt than you are used to, and it may take a couple of days to get it out of your system.

Good luck and have fun.

[guekjian]

Re: Vacation...

That is excellent advice Kntrylady and as I am leaving for Florida on the 7th of February, I will be using your tricks. Only problem is my parents live there so I had to warn my mom that I was not eating her food (rice with everything, starchy sauces, you know, island food) and my mother in law (who we are staying with) that I was on a program and could not be miss alcohol party girl...Gonna be tough, but at least restaurants are going to be easy (compared to family)!!!