a lot of Wins nutrition wise on that trip and a few Ls
the biggest L was probably taking ready to drink shakes with me in the luggage … i took a total of 8 of Core Power Elite bottles and though they arrived safely and were delicious the luggage took some beating and in retrospect the extra 10 pounds of weight from those bottles certainly exacerbated the damage and it wasn’t worth saving maybe 2 or 3 bucks if i bought the same bottles locally at 7-Eleven rather than on Amazon …
what happened was when the Uber came i put the checked bag on the porch and went to turn off lights etc. not realizing the porch is slightly sloped and it rolled and tumbled down the stairs sustaining heavy cosmetic damage which if it was any worse would have been more than cosmetic …
the other thing that happened is Tampa airport has a little train that runs from terminals to car rental place and it is so fucking jerky that holding on to the three heavy rollers was almost impossible. it was also packed and there was a woman next to me that refused to move and i did my best not to have my luggage bumping into her but it was impossible - she didn’t complain though.
but anyway those two experiences proved to me that lighter is better. i was allowed up to 70 lbs per checked bag and my actual bags were only about 32 and 35 pounds respectively so the FILTHY KIKE in me was like “mate you’re wasting your LBS allowance - take some bottles” … WRONG ! ! ! if i was doing it again i would not have taken any protein shake bottles and rather traveled with lighter bags, regardless of how much weight was allowed
reality is that stair tumble stressed the bag to the limit - it almost completely shaved off ( abrasion on concrete ) the piping around the zipper for example - any more and the zipper probably would have been done.
meanwhile holding on to the bags on that little air train stressed ME to the limit. imagine having close to 100 lbs of luggage ( between the three bags ) that rolls around essentially frictionless while the train is absolutely tearing it around corners that are only maybe like 100 feet in radius and i have only two hands and with them i must hold on to railing and also to three bags ! i barely made it ! never again ! LOL
second L was trying to buy anything at the supermarket. i literally was able to buy NOTHING - not even water !
Florida is a 3rd world country and Publix there didn’t even have water i could drink except in like 12 pack of liter bottles but i only needed a gallon.
i then went to “Sprouts Farmers Market” which was even worse - right after i got there and i was already in a bad mood from Publix a little girl about 6 years old that looked like an angel jumped in the path of my cart and i also saw her father behind her with a look of fear on his face - i instantly knew the last thing i need is adventures with little girls so i sharply turned my cart and clipped some faggoty stand made ouf of Unicorn fats and Pixie Dust ( as you would expect in a Liberal “Famers Market” store ) and that sent merchandise flying all over the floor …
of course i didn’t apologize or bother to pick anything back up because those faggots shouldn’t put flimsy make shift stands right in the middle of my path but they saw it differently and kicked me out of the store before i was there for even a minute …
i am never coming back to that shithole.
after that i wanted to go to Whole Foods but it was already closing and still a few miles away and i wasn’t going to make it.
i ultimately had to buy water from 7-Eleven …
now for the Wins …
the biggest win was actually the breakfast at the hotel - which i didn’t expect.
the other hotels i stayed at before didn’t serve anything i could eat for breakfast except bananas, which of course aren’t really food. i did eat the bananas in the other hotels because they were free but it is really just dessert - it isn’t a meal.
the previous hotel had “Plant Based Sausage” which of course i wouldn’t touch … but Residence Inn at Tampa Wesley Chapel had “Turkey Sausage” or something like that … it was basically like small burger patties.
once i discovered those i would just take 6 to 8 of these, plus 1 or 2 oranges and that would be my breakfast - fresh fruit with meat patties and nothing else. i would use the oranges to increase my appetite and then eat as many patties as i could and they would keep me full until i came back to the hotel in the evening.
i actually took the food to my room to eat so technically i could have taken a day’s worth of patties and put them in the fridge and then reheat them in microwave for dinner but that would have been cheating. i decided to be honest and only take as many as i would eat in one sitting since it was “complimentary breakfast” not “complimentary full day’s worth of food”
even so i single-handedly ate like 1/4 of all the patties they had and it was a hotel with over 100 rooms.
one downside to these patties is on last day the recipe changed and suddenly they were very fatty with little protein. they were still good for satiety but not so great for nutrition and i had to supplement them with my whey shakes even after finishing an entire plate of them.
Vitamin Shoppe and 7-Eleven saved the day as always - i used Vitamin Shoppe to buy 12-packs of ready to drink protein shakes, specifically Orgain
but be careful - you could accidentally buy Vegan version - you want the WHEY one. there is Chocolate and Vanilla flavors of each. so get the right one.
i didn’t look at the price - Vitamin Shoppe will match Amazon price but not 3rd party sell price - but i didn’t care about price at that point - the damage my bags took from the weight of protein shakes was way worse than any kind of difference between Amazon and Vitamin Shoppe price so next time without a doubt i am NOT taking protein shakes with me and just buying them locally instead.
i will maybe take like two bottles with me ( instead of 8 that i actually took ) so that when i get to hotel i can down those two bottles before heading out to Vitamin Shoppe or 7-Eleven to buy more.
the downside to Vitamin shoppe is they don’t sell gallon water and also they close at night - but luckily 7-Eleven doesn’t have those issues.
between Vitamin Shoppe and 7-Eleven and the food i brought with me all my needs were met.
i ultimately had no use for either supermarkets or restaurants !
now as for foods i took with me that were great.
1 - dried figs
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08MDKF98D/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1
these are crazy ! you buy one bag but it contains 6 bags and each of the 6 contains 5 in it for a total of 30 bags that have about 5 dried figs in each !
this is great because you can eat 5 figs at once and you never need to worry about refrigerating because you only need to refrigerate opened bags but you finish the bag right after opening.
these were a GAME CHANGER absolutely awesome !
yes they are sweet and almost as delicious as jam - but jam has fiber removed and sugar added while these are completely intact so it’s almost as good as eating fresh fruit but at fraction of the weight.
2 - Macadamia nuts !
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CW4T18S1?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title
the struggle was finding nuts that are delicious but don’t have too much sugar and salt added and aren’t roasted in soybean or peanut oil …
after some trial and error i found the Macadamia nuts above - these are spot on. they feel like clean eating but of course they are very high in calories but also very filling …
these will replace Pistachios as my go-to nut on trips because Pistachios i noticed tend to increase appetite ( they seem to have some kind of cannabinoid munchies effect ) …
3 - Fiber One Chewy Bars - Oats and Chocolate
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007WTUKGQ?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title
another game changer - absolutely awesome. they worked great.
i previously warned about gas from fiber but i think it was more an issue with another bar that i was trying that was also Fiber One but totally different …
that said YOU WANT TO TEST ALL THESE FOODS BEFORE THE TRIP so that there are no surprises.
these are just what worked for me - they may not work for you.
4 - Beef Jerky
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014ABUQVC?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title
another game changer. excellent nutrition, ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS and very light weight.
only downside is they are a bit hard to chew. if you have issues with loose teeth or something like that definitely test them before the trip.
5 - Beef Sticks
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00649MYJG?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1
these offer a different trade-off from Beef Jerky in that they are very soft but also very fatty, whereas the Jerky has much more protein and much less fat but is pretty hard.
the other downside to these sticks is they are harder to open since they are vacuum sealed or something - i used scissors to open them. i haven’t tried opening them without scissors so again, this is something you may need to test.
taste wise both Beef Jerky and Beef Sticks are equally delicious - it’s just that one is hard and one is fatty.
Beef Sticks are slightly more spicy and sour overall because they rely more on acidity to prevent bacteria whereas Jerky relies more on dehydration.
Both are great products.
i am kind of neutral about Quest Hero bars after the trip:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B092CRNT6M?almBrandId=QW1hem9uIEZyZXNo&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_wwgs_yo_dp&fpw=alm&th=1
as Galen explained the “fiber” in these is really just sugar by another name.
the good thing is they are light weight and don’t spoil but they literally feel more sugary to me than Dried Figs … they just don’t feel like clean food to me.
though they were not an “L” i would not use them again. i would rather just buy more Orgain and / or Core Power shakes at Vitamin Shoppe and / or 7-Eleven and eat some figs and beef jerky etc. than this CANDY that Quest pretends isn’t sugar bombs …
Granola Bars were total trash - once i tried Fiber One i didn’t take them with me at all …
they are too brittle and abrasive. they grind down your teeth, hurt your gums and explode and send shrapnel all over the room …
and when you consider that Fiber One Chewy Oat Bars exist and don’t have ANY of these downsides plus also much richer taste - it’s game over.
i considered throwing them out but if you soak them in protein shake they are edible - so i will finish them but never buy again.
well that’s about it Frens. i now have the winning formula that can be deployed on any trip.
take with you:
beef jerky and beef sticks
macadamia nuts and dried figs
fiber one chewy oat bars
buy on location:
ready to drink protein shakes and spring water
complimentary breakfast at hotel:
sausage / patties, oranges, bananas and of course Coffee !
oh yeah i was also served chicken salad on the plane but honestly i probably would have survived without it since it’s only a 3 hour flight anyway …
on the way to Tampa the meal was AMAZING but on the way back they screwed up my order and it was a disappointing meal but better than nothing i guess …
when you fly United First from New Jersey to Florida about two days before the flight they send you an e-mail asking to pick a meal for your flight. i picked chicken salad both times ( called Cobb Salad ) and on the way to Tampa actually got it and it was VERY good, but on the way back i got some nonsense that was edible but i didn’t even have any idea what i was eating ( except it had some tomatoes in it ).
the main reason i flew 1st Class is i was afraid somebody would step on my backpack that had my new laptop in it … i was scared to put the backpack in overhead bin and also scared to leave it under the seat in cramped economy cabin …
in 1st class there is a lot more space under seats but more importantly the people flying 1st class are a lot more civilized - you won’t be sitting next to some Gorilla Nigger or Obese Karen that will stomp your laptop and then say “deal with it bitch”
that said the crazy dude next to me was doing some kind of financial reports and he had both a laptop and tablet out at the same time and he was reading data off the tablet ( using keyboard stand ) and typing on the laptop - then when the food came he put the tablet on the arm rest between us and i ended up forgetting it was there and putting my elbow on his tablet LOL
it didn’t break though and he didn’t complain about it …
i also ignored the rules and never put my laptop backpack under front seat at all - i just kept it between my legs the whole time which wasn’t allowed - but nobody said anything even though they saw it many times - this is something i probably wouldn’t have gotten away with in Economy …
so yeah i was just worried about my laptop.
in the past i flew economy and had laptop in my carry on but one time on a transfer i was asked to check the carry on and it was very scary for me - wondering if some gorilla luggage handler is throwing my carry on from 10 foot height with laptop inside …
because there is 2X more space in 1st class and also because of priority Group 1 boarding you are more or less guaranteed space and don’t have to worry about your laptop getting mauled …
i probably could have figured out a way to secure the laptop flying Economy but i was in a bit of a rush and i already had a great laptop backpack that fit my laptop perfectly, but was a bit on the chonky side for a personal item, so my logic was with wider seats and greater row pitch i will be less likely to run into trouble in 1st than economy …
Sounds healthy. Are you getting back in shape?
no way. totally out of shape. and to make matters worse my pool is closed for annual maintenance so i already missed two swim sessions.
i am not really looking to get back in shape either - ever.
i just want to maintain functional fitness and muscle mass to the extent age / health allows.
and not to gain so much weight that it would completely fuck my metabolism by giving me full blown diabetes etc.
my current priorities are:
1 - pull up all the weeds from my lawn and plant grass seed over the dead spots so the lawn isn’t totally fucked when i am selling the house ( i am working on this every day )
2 - somehow fucking decide already where to move and do it ( this unfortunately cannot be brute forced because the more you force it the worse the decision will be )
