McHunting and McGathering

My last post was about cheating. I made my case for cheating and how cheating can even be used as a tool to keep you on track. Let's look at another side of the issue. What should you do when you don't want to cheat, but you're away from home and food choices are looking pretty bad?

While nothing is as good as controlling the food going into your mouth by cooking for yourself, here are some tips for staying paleo while on the move. I'll try and rank these based on general paleo guidelines. My scores are completely subjective, based on no real system, completely debatable, and are out of 5.

1) Don't eat. Intermittent fasting 5/5

Pros - It's free, it's easy, and requires no planning

Cons - Fasting can lead to increased cortisol levels and if you're planning on working out later, that can have a negative effect on your goals and hormone levels

2) Chipotle Salad - 4/5

Pros - The beef is of a higher quality (good, but not all grass fed,) than most beef sources, add guacamole to get your omega 3's and 6's in balance

Cons- You have to customize your order without beans, cheese, or sour cream, you end up with beef, guacamole, and pico on a bed of lettuce

3) Jimmy John's Unwich - 3/5

Pros - No processed grains, will deliver

Cons - The sauces can be made with vegetable or soybean oils, cheese is dairy, meats aren't grassfed

4) Find a grocery store 3/5

Pros - Great selection, full control over what you eat

Cons - Your meal will probably be bland (raw veggies and lunch meat), most prepared food at a grocery store is as bad as most fast food and tastes worse

5) Subway salad 3/5

Pros - Good selection of vegetables

Cons - I get pissed off when a foot long sub costs less than my salad that has half of the meat, the quality of the meat is questionable (those aren't what chicken breasts look like), and since you shouldn't have most of the dressings, the meal is a little bland

6) Hardee's Low-carb Thickburger - 2/5

Pros - It's not a Big Mac

Cons - Ketchup, mayo, and cheese all need to be omitted, the quality of the meat is suspect, they're really messy, it takes a couple to feel satisfied

7) Panda Express 2 proteins with stir fried veggies- 1/5

Pros - Variety of proteins

Cons - A lot of proteins are breaded and fried, the quality of the protein is questionable, the sauces usually have a lot of sugar, MSG/salt content, cooking oils are vegetable based

I have only scratched the surface of the possibilities of this topic. This is a post that could really benefit from community involvement. I'd love to hear what paleo options you've found away from home. In fact, I'd like to get a permanent list of options going on the site. I'm sure there are plenty of other salad options out there, but have you found any more creative approaches to staying paleo on the go? Please comment or throw out an idea on Twitter! Use the hash tag #paleo2go.