Let's face it. Being a grok or grokette in a modern world isn't always easy. Many of us are restrained 8 hours or more each day by a desk job. While our ancestors spent those 8 hours hunting and gathering, and thus being active, our modern lifestyle and modern conveniences often do us more harm than good. It seems that time often works against us.
Personally, I've found myself struggling a great deal over the past month. I spent 16 days travelling abroad, and then came back to the states only to travel for an additional two weeks. Now I'm in the throes of relocating for work, so I'm spending more hours than I would like in a car travelling from Ohio to Maryland and back again. Staying committed to a Primal lifestyle, especially when surrounded by convenient, tempting, non-Primal foods is not an easy task.
Prior to leaving the country, I tried to plan as much as possible. I sought advice from fellow groks and grokettes in various online communities and was repeatedly told that Grokkin' on the go is easy. I was told to IF lots when travelling since I wouldn't be expending much energy anyway. I was told to just order Primal foods at restaurants. I was told to build mini-workouts in whenever I could. All great ideas, but in the real world, they weren't working.
Staying Primal while travelling abroad is damn near impossible, as far as I'm concerned. I wanted to try the local cuisine and not be restrained to only Primal-approved foods. Where was the advice on how to handle that? When I was travelling in the States, I spent much time with my BF's family who all but shove delicious non-Primal food in your face in order to make you feel welcomed. Where's the advice on how to handle that situation? IFing is not the solution to every problem. And advice like "just eat Primal foods" doesn't work when your BF's mom makes you a fabulous home-cooked meal of non-Primal foods.
So I decided it was time to give some real-world advice. And here it is:
Do the best that you can.
You don't always have to be perfectly Primal. It's okay to eat sugar and grains once in a while. The Primal gods will not smite you, I promise.
Still, it doesn't hurt to plan. Based on my experiences over the past month of travelling, I've decided to formulate a Grokkin' on the Go survival guide. Part 1, which I will post tomorrow, will focus on Grokkin' on the Go during road trips. Part 2 will focus on Grokkin' on the Go while travelling abroad, or even vacationing for an extended period of time.
The reason why I'm not posting either of those guides tonight is because I want to make it abundantly clear that you need to give yourself a little leeway sometimes. The first week I was abroad, I refused to eat anything non-Primal, and I was making myself crazy in the process. I was depriving myself of a great cultural experience because I didn't want to go off-plan. Eventually, my will-power broke down and instead of enjoying the local cuisine reasonably, I was binging on everything in sight. If you deprive yourself, you'll set yourself up for failure.
So you know what? If you're travelling to Italy, you had better damn well have some pasta while you're there. And if you're going to visit your grandma and she offers you a fresh-basked cookie, you had damn well better eat it.
Primal is not a religion. It's a lifestyle. And there needs to be wiggle-room in any lifestyle. So when I post these guides over the next couple of days, remember just that. They're guides. They're not rules. What's important is that once your vacation comes to an end, you recommit yourself to the Primal lifestyle. Don't let a vacation turn into a month-long excuse to eat crappy foods, like I did. Treat yourself, but don't sabotage yourself.
At the end of the day, it's all about making choices that make you happy. And sometimes, the choice that makes you happy just might not be the Primal one.
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