One of my clients is an orphan aid organization, and they are sending me to spend a week onsite with them so I can observe their operation in action, so I will be traveling to Zambia in June. This is a great opportunity for me, and I am excited to go, but my MF diet does raise a few issues. If anyone here has experience or suggestions, I'd love to hear them. I have some specific concerns, but if there are other things I should be thinking about, don't hesitate to share.
My first concern is with the 24-30 hours of air travel time. The first leg will be from Dallas to London, then to Zambia (24 hrs if direct to Zambia, 30 hrs if I end up routed through Johannesburg). I'm not overly concerned with my ability to get a lean & green equivalent on the long flights, but I am concerned about my MF options while en route. I can bring a shaker and make shakes using bottled water provided in flight (or purchased after passing through security), but I really don't like the idea of needing to shake up my meals in an airplane seat, then needing to clean my shaker on the plane. What I really want, is to be able to bring some of the pre-packaged shakes with me. I can pack as much as I think I'll need for the week while there, but I can't take them on the plane because they are over 3 ounces, and they are not prescription.
Has anyone here tried to get a prescription for MF shakes so they would qualify to be taken on a plane? Has anyone divided a pre-made shake into smaller containers so they could be taken on a plane? I haven't found anything online that would indicate the rules are any different for international flights with longer air times than they are for domestic flights, so unless I can get around the 3 ounce limit, I will have a problem taking pre-made shakes. Even dividing them into smaller containers is a problem if they all have to fit into a single zip-lock bag—and what about keeping them cold? So many issues. If I can get them approved with my carry-on, I'm sure I can get them refrigerated once on the plane, and even if I can't, I could pour them into a glass of ice and cool 'em down real quick.
After arriving in Zambia I will have no problem with my MF meals, but a major challenge is expected when it comes to the L&G meals. I will not have the opportunity to run out to a restaurant for my meal. Everyone there (working with my client) stays together and shares a communal meal. I've asked about what they typically eat and was told that they do pizza twice a week, and most other dinners are pasta-based, or otherwise far from lean. For lunch it's PB&J every day. There is a market nearby, but I was advised that they stay away from anything grown locally because the water supply is contaminated and it's in the fruits and vegetables. I can bring food with me, but I can't bring fresh produce, and I'm having trouble figuring out what else I might bring that would substitute for a lean & green. I can't bring anything frozen because of the travel time, and I won't have a microwave, so I'm limited to dried or canned foods (and I would consider dried questionable since I had dried food confiscated by customs when I went to Australia many years ago). I can't think of anything canned that fits within the Lean & Green criteria. I plan to take some PB2 with me, but I'm not entirely sure what I'll put it on.
I know it's a challenge, but if anyone has suggestions that will keep me as close to plan as possible for the 10 days, please do share. I really don't want to gain weight on this trip because it is my goal to lose 100 pounds by the time I leave for an annual conference in July—only two weeks after my Zambian trip. I'm on track to reach my goal on time, but it will be close and I will be so disappointed if this trip contributes to failure.
Oh wow. What a trip! I really don't have a lot of advice for you, but this is what I thought of first.
1. Go to the mymedifast site and ask on their forums or with their nutritionists. I'm sure they have had international travel questions before and someone there may be able to help.
2. Do low carb. Try to keep your carbs under 100g for the 10 days and just don't fret the "green" portion too much. You could go to the low carb section of 3FC and get some ideas for snacks and meals that you could bring with you.
My last suggestion would be to bring lots of shakes for meals, but unless you have access to clean water, that wouldn't work.
I wish you the best. I'm worried about a 15 day road trip I'm taking in August, which won't be nearly as challenging as your trip. If all else fails, track your calories and try and get as much exercise as you can for the 10 days.
This may be a dumb question, as I know nothing about Medifast. What about giving yourself permission to be a little lenient during your trip? I can see you've been working very hard, and you're doing great! But maybe a week trying to stay on MF in a foreign country with limited access to foods may be stressful enough, let alone actually doing your job. Obviously you shouldn't go nuts and eat junk food everyday, but stick to reasonably healthy (and non-contaminated!) food/water that week. Again, I apologize about my ignorance regarding MF. There many a perfectly good explanation why you shouldn't stop your shakes for a week (withdrawals, digestive upsets, etc)
A friend of mine went and lived in Kenya for a month as a missionary. Getting fresh water was no problem, but lots of the people on the trip got sick because they were drinking so much fresh water and not getting enough sodium/electrolytes. Many of them had to be "doctored" with gatorade. She said there was lots of local fare to eat, but she never did figure out what the meat was they had been eating; no one would tell her, lol!
This may be a dumb question, as I know nothing about Medifast. What about giving yourself permission to be a little lenient during your trip? I can see you've been working very hard, and you're doing great! But maybe a week trying to stay on MF in a foreign country with limited access to foods may be stressful enough, let alone actually doing your job.
An excellent point and normally, with such a great reason for doing so, I really wouldn't be too concerned about going off diet for a week. However, the Zambian trip is an unexpected diversion that only came about this week, while I have been working since October to reach my goal of a 100-pound loss by July's conference.
At the annual conference I will be amongst colleagues—many of whom I've known for several years. This is, for most of us, the only time we have the opportunity to see each other and socialize. It means a great deal to me that I am able to share that I've lost 100 pounds. Not "92, and only 8 more to go." I realize that they won't care if I've lost 80 or 94 instead of 100 or more, but it matters to me.
I'm averaging a loss of about 12 pounds per month right now, so reaching my goal of another 25 pounds over the next 9 weeks will be tight, and I really don't want this fabulous opportunity of traveling to Zambia to be the difference between success and failure.
Traveling with MF—Suggestions Needed
I'm sure you'll do great and look fabulous at your conference.
