How Not to “Pack It On” When Getting Away For a Week or a Day
You’ve been doing your 10,000 steps each day, eating healthy, and just moved your belt buckle in two notches. You are feeling good and looking even better! Then your calendar reminds you that you are booked on one of Starr Tours fabulous day or overnight bus trips. No need to panic!
You can still maintain your weight and exercise regimen with a tiny bit of planning:
- Weigh yourself before the tour date. This will be the guide to help you stay on track, especially when you get back home and see that you are the same weight or even less.
- Carry some snacks with you. Those, of course, that will give you energy and fill you up between meals – protein, fiber, and healthy fats. Dried unsweetened fruits, nuts, packaged cheese/crackers don’t take up a lot of packing space. Be sure to make smart choices when choosing snacks at rest areas, too. Many rest areas will have packaged fresh fruits and vegetables for those mid-day munchies.
- Drink plenty of water. While it will definitely hydrate you, it will also put the brakes on hunger. Remember, you may be moving a lot more while on tour which means your body will need more of boost.
- Eat foods that you know aren’t too caloric. It’s probably not a good idea to experiment with large volumes of high fat foods. These foods may also slow you down on tour. Eat light and feel better!
- Pace yourself. Most hotels offer a buffet breakfast. A trick is to walk around the buffet table first. See what looks appealing and then go back in line to make your choices. You are bound to eat less. If you’ve had a substantial breakfast, you may want to eat a salad and/or soup for lunch. When dinner is plated with large portions, it is a good idea to divide the food in half and ask for a “to go” box or share with your dining partner. Even though you are on the road, some hotels have microwaves and/or mini fridges that can safely hold your food perhaps for the next day’s lunch.
- Move it – of course at your own pace! The team at Starr do an excellent job of planning multi-level attractions. Some have opportunities for a lot of walking while others have a minimum amount of walking. When stairs are available and you feel comfortable, take them. Most hotels have small gyms with treadmills, bicycles, and weights. Some hotels offer indoor/outdoor pools and hot tubs. Even if you are not a swimmer just walking in the pool will work wonders for your joints and muscles while burning calories.
As the 2019 bus touring season revs up, I’m lining up my healthy snacks. . . see you on the road!
Christine Durling
Starr Tour Director
As we made our way, I was happy to pull out my reading material for a time, check my emails, and close my eyes—after all, this was a mini get-away for me too! It felt good to be “alone.” CHECK!
Every Veteran’s Day I am reminded of my time in service in the US Army. Most of my friends don’t even know that I served, and some are even shocked when they see a picture of me in my BDUs (Battle Dress Uniform) in full camouflage makeup, holding an M-16 rifle! Going into the military was no surprise to my family though… my father started off his military career in the Marine Corps but only lasted a couple days, then he went into the Navy and was sent to Vietnam in 1968-69 working in radio communications (he met and married my mom over there – she was a translator and also the desk clerk at their quarters!). After Vietnam he trained to become an engineer aboard aircraft carriers and would go out to sea for several months. In 1981 he used the GI Bill to go to school for nursing and branch-transferred into the Army Nurse Corps, then retired in 1992. Since I grew up as a “military brat”, we moved frequently throughout the United States due to my dad’s assignments and training courses – I lived in 10 different places by the time I was thirteen! My dad’s father was a retired Army Quartermaster Officer who served in WWII and the Korean War, my brother was in the Marine Corps Reserves, my husband (whom I met in Army ROTC at Penn State) was an Army Field Artillery Officer, and his father graduated from West Point in 1965 and was sent to fight in the Vietnam War along with many of his classmates.
As you can see, I had a fairly strong military presence in my life, which influenced my decision to serve. I was awarded an ROTC scholarship, so I took 4 years of Army ROTC classes at Penn State, where I learned about military history and tactics, how to march and how to be a soldier, and most importantly I gained leadership skills. At graduation I was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Army Nurse Corps, and I had the honor of having my dad swear me in! I was then sent to the Army Medical Department’s Officer Basic Course in Ft Sam Houston, TX and then served 5 years on active duty, assigned to the hospitals at Ft. Meade, MD and Ft. Lewis, WA. Even after my military career ended, I continued working at Madigan Army Medical Center as a civilian for a couple more years. Although it seems like a lifetime ago when I got out of the Army in 1997, I am always proud to say “I Served.”
I joined to serve my country and to pay for my education. I was very fortunate to have served 20 years without seeing combat. My highlights were being able to travel and live in some amazing places. I spent 6 years in Germany, and one year in Korea. I also served in Oklahoma, California, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. It was a very challenging and fulfilling career.
The tears streaming down my face as I humbly try to pay tribute to my hero are no match to the physical and emotional pain my dad, John W. Pazdan, suffered as a witness to the horrors of WWII. Enlisted in the US Army when he was just 18 years old, he was assigned to the European Theater in 1943. As a member of the 53/54 Replacement Battalion he served as a crew member of a Sherman M4-A1 medium tank and engaged in battle in Belgium at the Battle of the Bulge. During this conflict, his tank was struck and completely destroyed. He was ejected from the tank and lay unconscious for 24 hours in sub-freezing weather. The entire tank crew was killed. After his rescue, he finished out his term of service for ten months in a hospital bed at Rhoads General Hospital in Utica, New York.
His father served in the Army during World War II and was stationed in several places throughout Europe. Most of the letters he wrote back home to my grandmother, his fiancé at the time, were to tell her not to worry about him; alerting her when he was going to be on the move and unable to write and reassuring her of his love, and… sometimes gently scolding her for getting upset anyway after not hearing from him. I wish I had the letters she wrote. While he was stationed overseas, his mother and family kept a close watch on her – escorting her everywhere and making sure she wasn’t left alone too much. They cared about her, but she said mostly they were afraid that she would change her mind before my grandfather got back and find someone else. They were married over 60 years before my grandfather passed in 2008. In addition to those precious letters, I still have some of the items he brought back from WWII including a dress sword, some coins, and several medals he earned. He never talked about his experience.
the Willis Building—the second tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. It is a great read detailing the building of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair while unraveling a sinister killer luring young victims to his hotel.
in 
y attention. I was intrigued by “The 19th Wife” by David Ebershoff. Expelled from the Mormon Church as an outcast after separating from Brigham Young, the Church’s leader, Ann Eliza Young, his 19th wife begins a crusade exposing polygamy in the United States. While visiting Salt Lake City Utah, Starr passengers can stroll Temple Square, the entrance to the Church of the Latter Day Saints—the Mormon Church. “Orphan Train” by Christina Baker Kline takes the reader from Maine to Minnesota on trains carrying thousands of orphaned children from 1854-1929. The premise of such a journey was to have children adopted into loving homes needing help on farms during the Westward Expansion. Unfortunately, many children were adopted into a life of servitude and endured many hardships.