Monday: Day in Eats

Apparently, my main topic lately is eating. To be honest, when I'm home and the Roommate is also here, eating is the main entertainment of the day. There are few things I love more than food. This is nothing new and definitely isn't a new Belgian hobby. I just happened to start living with a guy who might match my fervor for food. He'd actually disagree: I read blogs and articles about food. I talk about food. I dream about food. He simply really likes to make and eat good food.

After the past few weeks of super heavy eating, I'm trying to dial it back a little. So here is a glimpse at my eats now that we are into the new year.

Breakfast: To know me is to know that I love eggs. Any way, any meal, all day. I'm one of those people who see them as the perfect food and I typically eat a few eggs for breakfast most days. I'm also a fermenter. For this photo, I added homemade pickled red onions and fermented red peppers. The only exception to my egg eating is when I'm insanely busy, at a race hotel that doesn't have eggs (or already added milk or cheese) or I'm just too lazy.

Lunch: Some days, I have a mid morning snack, some days no. For lunch, I typically need something fast. Even though I work at home when I'm not at a race, I don't really take a lunch break. So I look for something I can throw in a pan and return to 5-10 minutes later. Today, it was leftover chili with homemade gluten-free, dairy-free cornbread. The bread was a bit too dry but the chili was fantastic.

Post-Lunch: A glass of water kefir. This is my super crunchy granola hippy side showing through. I make my own water kefir. This is flavored with raisins and vanilla and taste just like cream soda. Healthy and insanely tasty.

Afternoon Snack: Half a perfectly ripe avocado with salt and pepper.

Dinner prep: Making dinner together is one of the roommate and I's favorite past times. We have a super small kitchen but we've figured out how to work well together without stepping on toes.

Dinner: This is my new favorite meal. We actually started with the plan to make a taco salad and it morphed into Romaine Lettuce Tacos. Filled with baked chicken, corn, beans, roasted tomatoes, loads of cilantro, avocados and a sauce with soy yogurt, vinegar, and more cilantro. I felt like I could eat to my heart's desire and it was all so healthy and tasty.

Food, Food, Food: China Edition

For my Beijing trip, I was only there for less than 70 hours, so I wasn't quite as concerned as my Japan trip-- foodwise. I didn't pack nearly as much emergency foods. I knew that I would mainly be eating in restaurants, so I figured I'd have control over my gluten, dairy, peanut and banana intake. I also figured that while in China, I needed to just go with the flow. To my surprise, it was quite easy to stick to my diet and the food was always very tasty.

On the first night, I had an early dinner at the hotel's main restaurant, which had both Asian and western options. I started with the egg white soup with shrimp and scallops. For the main, I had a Thai beef salad. Whenever I'm super jet lagged, I tend to have a much smaller appetite and soup and salad was the perfect light option.

Every morning, I had the exact same breakfast: congee with pickled vegetables, fresh fruit, two hard boiled eggs whites and a coffee with soy milk. This is actually what I try to eat every morning when I'm on the road, both personally, at a race or for meetings. 

I was actually pretty pleased to stay with my normal foods. The hotel had a massive breakfast buffet and 95% of it was foods that I was super confused by and couldn't understand how you could eat for breakfast. Lots of fried, rich and heavy foods. And things I couldn't identify. That's why once I found the congee, fruit and hard boiled eggs, I stuck with it every morning.

On Monday night, I ate with my athletes at their hotel (about five minutes away from my hotel). We were all just too tired to put in any effort to find somewhere else to eat. Their hotel restaurant had a massive menu. We kept picking things but the waiter would tell us it wasn't available. This went on for awhile until we all basically ended up with vague resemblances of what we wanted. I got a beef and vegetable dish and ordered what I thought were grilled green beans on the side. Instead, they were hot peppers. I don't shy away from spicy foods, despite my Crohn's, and these peppers turned into an eating competition. I definitely lost but still managed to get down quite a few. I think my mouth is still burning.

On the final night, I ate at my hotel's Asian restaurant. It was pretty large and wide open. I was lame and arrived at about 6:15pm; I was the only person there. They had me sit front and center in the middle of the restaurant. Let's just say I was left feeling a little exposed and awkward.

I fell in love with this crab/lobster picker that came with my place setting. So adorable! 

For dinner, I ordered a mushroom soup in a super basic broth. It was light and fresh. Then for my main, I had the seasonal hairy crab with asparagus and more mushrooms. I grew up in the mid-Atlanta US region, so crabs hold a close place to my heart. It was a fun experience but this little guy didn't have much meat. Definitely more work than filling! But the big plate of asparagus and mushrooms made up for that and I headed to bed satisfied.

After traveling to both China and Japan in the past two weeks, I would say that I preferred all the fresh fish in Japan over what I ate in Beijing. But I was impressed with the food I had in Beijing. I had heard such mixed reviews about dining in China. I'm sure it is very different in the rural areas, but Beijing was a win. I enjoyed trying all the new foods and I was glad that I could stick with my eat habits, both mainly gluten and dairy free along with loads of fresh fruit and veggies.

Food, Food, Food: Japan Edition

Usually, I don’t have much control over when, where or what I eat when I’m at a race, but Japan is slightly different. I think everyone knows how lucky we are to be in Japan, so there is a little more leniency to go explore and enjoy the local fare instead of always eating hotel buffets. My personal aim was to eat raw fish as frequently as possible.

I wasn’t great with staying gluten-free but I also wasn’t terrible. There was only one night where I actually didn’t care at all. I had worked late doing many, many, many interviews and by the time I could go eat, only two other coworkers hadn’t eaten. It was Friday night and we wandered around for quite awhile trying to find somewhere that was open, had seats and would take credit cards.

We eventually settled on what I would describe as a Japanese pub; it was the type of place you take your shoes off and then sit on the floor around a bar. We let the bartender/waitress pick what we ate and it was quite the experience. All the other diners adored us, despite the fact none of us could communicate with each other. It gave us that true ‘local’ experience that I always look for in my travels.

Utsunomiya is known for its gyoza, which I had never tried and it definitely didn’t disappoint. We also had edamame, soba noodles and a salmon and rice dish.

I was glad I had packed all my snacks, especially on the two race days. The road race is in the middle of a forest and there are literally no options except for the sandwiches the race provides. I stuck with a can of tuna fish and my muffins. I also used the coconut milk and teff every morning; our hotel breakfast was not quite to my taste.

One of the most memorable dishes I ate was actually at the Tokyo train station. I googled breakfast places while on the train and found Tsukiji Sushisay Honten. When I got there, I had three choices, two ochazukes and one sashimi. I just randomly pointed to one of the ochazukes. It was such a perfect meal of chopped up salmon belly that you poured savory tea broth on. Mix in some rice and little rice crackers and it was truly one of the best things I’ve ever tasted. A few tamago slices and ginger and I was set for my day of travel.

Traveling to Asia: Gluten and Dairy free

One of the favorite reasons why I love the Japan Cup is the absolutely delicious food; I adore sushi. But in years past, I wasn't gluten or dairy free, which vastly changes things. I leave for Japan tomorrow and now I have to avoid soy sauce and can't enjoy all those tasty soba noodles. I've done a little research and it seems eating gluten free is nearly impossible in Japan, so I've packed loads of snacks to get me through the long flights and then several days on the ground in Japan. (I also made some homemade muffins and 'granola' bars which aren't included below.)

Not quite all of the above made it into my suitcase because well....I don't want it to weigh nine million pounds. I only took a few of the small olive oil and vinegar squeezes and only enough coconut milk powder and teff for a few days. I also split all of this into two pouches, one for my long day of flying and the rest checked into my suitcase. Here is the total haul: 

• Justin Almond Butter
• MiniOliva
• Coconut Milk Powder
• Lentil, rice and sesame mix
• Mexican Tuna Salad (I promise I won't eat this one on the airplane!)
• Teff (similar to oatmeal except I can't eat oats)
• Corn waffles with salt
• Organic, gluten-free gummy bears
• Tamari (gluten free soy sauce)
• Lots of bars
  • Raw Bite bar
  • Wild Thing bars
  • Nakd Toffee Treats
  • Life Bar
  • Beet Boost

I have an emergency pack that I keep in my backpack at all times, so not just for flights but also for race days. This includes:

• Aloha Chocolate Protein powder (dairy free)
• Variety of teas, both with and without caffeine
• EmergenC
• Scharffen Bergen Mocha Bar
• RooBar
• CleverSnack
• Clif Shot and glucose tabs

When I'm dealing with extreme time zone changes and long flights, I really try to stay hydrated. The first thing in the morning, I ingest copious amounts of caffeine. Then at night, I try to get in as much sleepy time teas with chamomile or valerian root. I also just enjoy options.

I head to the airport early tomorrow morning. I'm hoping I've packed the perfect amount of foods...enough to get me through but not too much that I'm bringing any back. Now off to the next adventure!

Six Months Gluten, Dairy, Peanut and Banana Free.

As of today, I have been gluten, dairy, peanut and banana free for six months. When I first started this, it was daunting. My doctor recommended that I eliminate these foods from my diet for a full year to see what it would do for the inflammation in my blood and how I felt overall. About a week into this diet, I stated there was no way I could do a full year and I reduced it down to six months.

As a brief backstory, as a baby, I was allergic to milk. I'm actually not sure I ever got over this because milk and I have never been good friends and I've tried to avoid it most of my life. I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease when I was in high school. I had a positive biopsy for celiacs disease in my early 20s. I actually followed that diet for nearly a year back then but didn't notice a real difference. Since my 20s though, I have followed a fairly organic, all natural diet. It is VERY apparent to me when I eat preservatives, fried or fatty foods and just crap in general. My crohn's flares and my body doesn't feel good.

Since around this time last year, my body started really feeling off and I had noticeable physical changes including a lot of pain in my feet (read more about that here). By December, my head was feeling super foggy and I had no energy. While part of me thought, "Oh, this is what 35 feels like," another part of me believed something wasn't right. I have blood work done every three to six months and for ages, it has been off. Not super off, but also not right. One of my doctors in Belgium asked if I had had allergy blood work done. Not since childhood, so we pulled more blood and got the above results.

The gluten didn't surprise me thanks to the celiacs and the milk didn't surprise me because I feel awful after I eat it. The banana and peanuts super surprised me. Most of the grains are on the lower scale of inflammation but basically every meal I ate these foods. It wasn't enough to cause major problems, but I believe it was enough to keep things off. I had blood work done at three months into this diet and it was still slightly off but improving. I recently had blood work done at six months and it was basically completely normal. I also feel much better; that sense of brain fog as gone away. My feet haven't improved at all....

When I said I could only do this for six months, it was while it was hard. I missed foods, I thought about all the things I couldn't have. At one point, I think around May, I started noticing how different I felt and could see physical changes in my body, so I embraced this diet. I realized it isn't that hard. I simply eat real food, real fruits, real vegetables and real meats. I rarely try to come up with GF/DF substitutes because they are rarely good and I don't actually need them. I can find sustenance and enjoyment in real foods. 

So as of six months in, I don't see myself going off this diet anytime soon. It might actually be a lifestyle, not a diet. I feel so, so, so much better eating this way. I try not to be one of those people who makes a big deal out of it. I make it as easy on me and everyone else as possible. I travel a lot, often in countries where I don't speak the language, so I simply aim for the best. If I get it wrong, it'll be okay. I also always carry my own snacks. And occasionally, like while at Oktoberfest, I can choose to go off the diet. I can count five times that I've knowingly gone off the diet and yes, I felt bad afterwards, but they were all worth it. 

Quick Jaunt to Munich and Oktoberfest

Last week, I headed to Munich, Germany for two nights for work meetings. Because what would my life be without a few flights sprinkled throughout the week?! I haven't been to Munich in probably 15 years and didn't pay much attention to the fact Oktoberfest was set to begin while we were there. A quick early morning wake-up, tram to the train station, train to the airport and then two flights got me to Munich.

It took basically all day (this is my own fault because I only want to fly SkyTeam, which always means a connection through Amsterdam), so a quick shower and I was in a cab to dinner. It was a big work dinner at a pretty traditional German place where nearly everything was breaded and fried. At that point in the evening, I was still making good decisions and went with the steak tartar with a side salad (and some fries). It was great catching up with people I hadn't seen in months.

With all the famous Munich beer houses right around the corner, about a dozen of us decided we needed to hit the Oktoberfest night life. I walked into Hofbrau and agreed with a coworked that we would only have a glass of wine. Before I could say anything, a round of these were delivered to the table:

I had that moment where I knew drinking one would be a bad idea for so many reasons, but then the side of me that loves an adventure spoke up and won. I cheered and drank with the group and loved every moment of it. I knew the experience and memory would be worth it....until I had my cab ride back to the airport. Forty-five minutes later, I was crawling into bed at nearly 2am with a full day of meetings staring me down. 

I think I look pretty decent for only a few hours of sleep. The next day was spent in meetings from 8am until 5:30pm. It wasn't too bad and in hindsight, I'd do it all over again. I skipped going out that evening, basically because I needed sleep and I couldn't fathom another Oktoberfest night. Apparently, I'm getting too old...and the whole gluten-free thing is a huge downer at a beer festival.

Instead, I went to the hotel restaurant and caught up on work and emails while eating alone. I assume other people who travel frequently feel this way, but I have absolutely no issues with eating alone. I typically take a book or my laptop and still enjoy. I had been in meetings all day and traveled the whole previous day, so I was behind on work. I would rather get caught up over a glass of wine and a steak with salad and go to bed knowing everything was taken care of than having a sense of anxiety and unfinished business.

The next day, I flew back home (of course via Amsterdam) and managed to get home early enough to enjoy a lovely evening out in Gent dining al fresco. Soon the Belgian rain will start and these warm days will be a distant memory.

Spending Time in the US

There is something so easy about going back to the US. Everywhere takes credit cards, everyone speaks English, hotel rooms are sizeable, ice is readily available. The list goes on and on but these things typically appeal to me only in small quantities. After months on the road, when I go back to the States for a few days or weeks, it is always so nice. I don't worry about stress and headaches nearly as much as I do on other trips. I simply know everything will work; that's just how it goes in the US.

I headed directly from the Tour of Denmark over to the States for the Tour of Utah. Initially, I thought it was for less than a week (a whole other blog post to come on that....) and that felt too short. I knew I would be fighting jet lag the entire time but felt lucky to do any of it.  This is a race I absolutely adore.

Even my job is different in America. Everyone is friendlier. Funny enough, even the exact same people who I race with in Europe are nicer when they hit US soil. I haven't figured out why but it really does make a difference in my job. I enjoy the pleasantries that are exchanged in the parking lots, press rooms, hotel buffets and out on course. People ask each other about their days and there are parking lot beers enjoyed between teams.

Another highlight is the food. Race food - especially when we are in California, Utah or Colorado - is incredible. These are states that embrace eating local. At races, typically teams, riders and staff eat together in a big hotel conference room, buffet style. This means A LOT of overcooked chicken, pasta and rice. It gets redundant at best. When we go to these US races, the food quality goes up several notches. There will be black beans and salsa, kale and even the occasional apple pie. 

I have a slew of food issues all related to health issues. I  try to minimize the attention my health issues play on my life. It is something I have to deal with, so I do, and then I move on with life. They definitely don't define me, but they do make eating while traveling pretty dynamic. Currently, I'm eating gluten-free, dairy-free, peanut-free and banana-free all based on inflammation in my blood work (I was diagnosed with celiacs off an intestinal biopsy nearly 15 years ago but I decided to ignore it.) I've been eating this way for almost six months and my blood work shows it is helping. Finding foods that fit my diet while on the road, especially outside of the US, is extremely challenging. The US seems to be the land of food disorders because I feel like I can find gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free everything. And I love it. My obsession this race was lettuce wrapped sandwiches from Jimmy Johns and I have no shame in admitting it.