Vacation time! It’s the first vacation in our amazing year of vacations that we have planned and we’re going down to the beach near Seaside, FL. We’re so ready for a week of sun and relaxation in one of our favorite places. We love going down in the winter when it’s not so crowded and you can take leisurely walks on the beach, grab tea and shop around town, get into any restaurant, and bike ride. HOORAY! The one thing making me anxious about all of these trips now is food. Being vegan, it’s going to be more challenging to eat out so I downloaded the Happy Cow app that helps find vegan restaurants wherever you are. I’m hoping that helps us traveling this year, but luckily on this trip we’ll be able to cook in which will help save money and the fat/salt used in restaurants.

Today I hit the 5 pound mark, so that’s how much I’ve lost in the 4 weeks I’ve been high carb low fat. It’s slow going, but that’s the most sustainable kind of weight loss so I’m happy about it! Also, I haven’t felt deprived for one day so it doesn’t feel like a chore. If you lose a pound a week, that’s still 52 pounds a year! I’m trying to meal plan on vacation so that it doesn’t hinder progress, because I know it’s easy to be on vacation and just let loose and give up your goals because food and drinks are better on vacation. I still want to be able to go out for some meals, but bring things with us to have on hand. Here’s what I have planned so far-

I’m going to bring some staples down and then buy our fresh produce while we’re there.

Breakfasts– I’m going to pack some rice cakes, shredded potatoes, sprouted bread, and then get fruit and jam down there. That way we can make hash browns, toast, rice cakes with jam, and fruit for breakfasts and then figure out if there’s any restaurants that have options to go out. Don’t think the Donut Hole is going to be an option now.

Lunches- I’m going to pack lavash and hummus to make veggie sandwiches, and we can buy sauce and veggies to make lavash pizzas. We’ll also have leftovers, and I already know there’s a vegan food truck if we want to grab something in town and sushi is always an easy option.

Dinners- We love going out for dinner on our beach vacations, because it’s so relaxing to go watch sunset with a drink and then have a great dinner. There’s so many delicious restaurants in the area and we have our favorites we like to go to each time. We’re planning to go out two nights and stay in two nights, and we could always go on the beach to watch sunset before our dinners in. It’s about the experience, right? I’m going to precook rice to pack and a can of beans so that we can make burrito bowls one night, and then a package of brown rice noodles, a bag of frozen stir fry veggies, and make teriyaki sauce to make noodle bowls another night. These are easy, few ingredient recipes that fit in our diet and are easy to plan and pack. When we go out, I’ll be looking for vegan options and ask to go light on the oil.

Snacks– Unfortunately we’re missing the farmer’s market, so we’ll have to get our produce elsewhere. I’m planning on bringing some pretzels and hummus, rice crackers, and corn tortillas to turn into chips and salsa for snacks and always have fruit on hand. I always have dates on hand for a sweet.

Let me know if you have found any great vegan options in that area!