Exercise and Travel is a Great Combination!

Good morning everyone! Life has been a whirlwind for me lately. Recently I decided to meet a girlfriend in Austin for a "boot camp" trip and to pick up my daughter for a spring break visit home. My friend and I decided we were going to take our bicycles and focus heavily on eating right and exercising a lot. If you have not been to Austin, Texas you are missing a great treat. The city is filled with bike trails, lakes, great eateries and nightspots everywhere you turn. This week is the world famous SXSW (South by Southwest) technology and music week but we arrived on Wednesday evening and beat the crowds! We immediately unloaded our bicycles at the local park and rode about 3 miles the first night, not enough to get much exercise before the dark set in. We shared a delicious dinner that evening since neither one of us was really all that hungry. I feel that most meals are worth sharing since at most restaurants they are so large. This not only saves calories, but helps if you are on a limited budget. The next morning we drove over to the beautiful bed and breakfast down the street called The Mansion on Judge's Hill and again shared a delicious protein filled breakfast including a veggie omelet, coffee, a cup of fruit and 2 slices of bacon while skipping the toast altogether. This was the perfect meal and gave us enough fuel to hit the bike trails again! We made it over to Lady Bird Lake which is in the heart of downtown Austin and has a fabulous hike and bike trail system. We rode our bikes for at least 2 hours and really got a workout! Even though my legs felt heavy I felt exhilarated by the riding. The trail is very shady and winds along the banks of the lake formed by the Colorado River. It is hilly in some spots making it a challenging ride for the novice biker. If you go make sure you dress lightly and take plenty of water. I highly recommend this trail as I truly enjoyed the experience. We packed our gear and headed over to Bess Bistro on 6th street. This is a sweet and cozy little basement restaurant that happens to be owned by actress Sandra Bullock. Even though you probably won't see her there you will be treated to a great meal. We had a cobb salad with lots of protein packed grilled chicken and blue cheese. Of course you should always ask for the dressing on the side to avoid loading any salad with needless calories. After our meal our boot camp was winding down, but it was not completely over yet. We headed over to the State Capitol and took the official tour! We walked all over the building with the tour guide giving us a history lesson for at least an hour. I have to say by this point my legs were feeling a bit of a burn! When we walked into the historic capitol building it was warm and overcast, but when we walked out an hour later it was storming and cold! That's the crazy weather in Texas for you! The change in temperature was fine, because our trip was coming to an end the next morning anyway. That evening, we celebrated the start of Spring Break with my daughter and again ate a delicious meal of hot minestrone soup at a local eater called Mandola's. All in all, it was a short 2 day trip packed with lots of activities, exercise and healthy eating. Who says you have to throw your diet out the door when you travel? Stay healthy everyone and have a great week!