On The Beach In Hawaii

Aloha! I can still say that, even though I’m back in Cali, right? Good. I had the most incredible vacation with my hubby and family! Tons of sunshine and 85 degrees for the entire week of Thanksgiving? Yes, please! Grassfed beef everywhere! Heaven!! I ate about 483 grassfed burgers. I’m exaggerating, but only a little.

I often hear how much people struggle to stick to a paleo lifestyle while on vacation, or even just dining out, so I wanted to share my tips with all of you. There are usually a couple things that I have to let slide while eating outside of my own home. It’s what keeps my sanity. For reals.

Number one is usually the type of oils used. As much as I wish that every restaurant used coconut oil to cook with, that’s hardly the case. Shoot, I’d even be happy if they used olive oil! Unfortunately it’s typically canola oil or soybean oil, because they’re both super cheap. The other thing that sometimes has to slide is the quality of the meat. I do go out of my way to find grassfed beef, or wild caught fish, but I know this isn’t always possible. My rules while dining out are just to do the best I can, and to never, ever knowingly touch gluten with a 10-foot pole.

Eating this way is how I choose to live my life, so it really makes everything that much easier. I now know what works for my body, and what doesn’t. I eat to feel good and stay healthy!

When I first look at a menu, I always search for some sort of meat, poultry or fish that sounds appealing, and then search for veggies or some other side that would work for me. It’s very rare that I order something off the menu exactly as is, but I’ve never had a problem with a restaurant accommodating my needs. I want to hug the entire restaurant if I do see grassfed beef! My typical order is usually a bunless burger with a salad or veggies, or some other type of salad with chicken or fresh fish, with olive oil and lemon or lime wedges for the dressing.

I did one thing that I never do while eating out. At a restaurant, I ordered sweet potato fries to go with my bunless burger. The server said that they were gluten free, but when they came out, they looked super sketchy.

Please, tell me those fries don’t look sketchy. I scooted them off to the side, ate my burger, and called it a day! I didn’t feel the need to see if the waitress was actually right.

So what else did we do besides eat? Lots of snorkeling with adorable sea turtles, and lots of paddleboarding! I love paddleboarding!

We shopped the local markets and talked to the farmers. I loved their honesty, they would straight up tell me which papayas were genetically modified, and which weren’t. We tried all the local fruit, and loved it!

The avocados were the size of my head and out of this world delicious!

We even met some cute gecko friends!

To sum this vacation up, my hubby and I could move to Hawaii tomorrow, and life would be complete! Mahalo, Hawaii! Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Have you found any tips or tricks that help you to eat well while on vacation?