This past week, my whole family rented a beach house in Ocean City, NJ. I wouldn’t necessarily call it a vacation when all activities revolved around kids, but it was worth it seeing their happy faces!

Beach, boardwalk, sunsets, and food. Like any proper vacation, majority of our time was spent asking, “What does everyone want for dinner?”

Ocean City, NJ is a food lovers dream. A 2 1/2 mile long boardwalk on the beach with food stalls lining every square inch! From the typical fair food of deep fried Oreos, funnel cakes, and cotton candy, to the unique finds like banana whip and something called crabfries, there was a food option for everyone.

We all have different food strategies when we are on vacation. Some people eat super “good” leading up to their trip and allow themselves to go crazy and binge out on their vacation. Others restrict on their vacation, especially if it’s a beach destination where they are in a swimsuit frequently, preferring to keep it “light.” And the rare last bucket of people who eat balanced and mindfully on vacation.

What does that even look like to eat balanced and mindfully? I set out this vacation to find out.

In the past, I always fell into the restriction category when traveling. I was so obsessed with staying swimsuit ready, that I would frequently skip breakfast to keep my stomach flat for the beach. Was it worth it? No. I always ended up hangry and felt like I was missing out on all of the fun.

I would still in recent years try to keep it “light” and stick to foods that I know well versus being more adventurous with my choices when traveling. This time, I decided to eat what I wanted. Let’s break down how it went.

Majority of our days were spent at the beach, so we did a lot of beach picnics with sandwiches. I opted for almond flour wraps, turkey breast, veggies, and chips most days. Instead of skipping breakfast like I used to do on beach days, I ate a typical breakfast I would have at home like oatmeal with protein powder or paleo waffles.

Evenings we’d go to the boardwalk for dinner. If it were up to me, I would choose cute cafes and farm stand fresh options, but when kids rule the house, HA, pizza, hot dogs, and sushi wins.

I normally don’t eat a lot of pizza at home, but I had pizza two nights on the trip. I opted to add chicken for extra protein and spinach for extra veg to make pizza into a more balanced meal. Some nights, I skipped boardwalk dinners and would pack my own wrap or something quick to munch on while the kids had their dinner. Have you ever tried eating out with kids? It typically turns into chaos, so we didn’t do many sit-down formal dining options.

Most nights, instead of having a bowl of yogurt like I typically do at home, I opted to try treats on the boardwalk like vegan soft serve ice cream, banana whip, chocolate chip cookies, and frozen coffee (I don’t even know if this was real coffee, but it tasted delicious!).

Every food choice I made on the trip was done mindfully. If I was hungry, I ate. If I felt like something sweet on a weekday, I had it. There were no rules, restrictions, or limitations. Just enjoyment of being with family, making memories, and having fun with my food choices.

I believe this is what balance looks like. It means having nourishing food choices at the ready, like wraps, fruits, veg, and snacks. But also, not being afraid to get out of my comfort zone to try new things.

I didn’t diet, restrict, or change anything leading up to the trip. I didn’t worry about if my stomach looked flat in my swimsuit, but instead I opted to listen to my body, and have fun!

My hope in sharing my vacation food journey with you is to see that life is too short to stress over food. We live in a land of abundance and so there is no need to overindulge every single meal. Did I have a large ice cream a few nights? Sure I did! Did I ask myself each time if I wanted to eat until I was full or eat until I was just comfortable? Yes I did!

Life is just a series of choices, and we will either be happy or sad about the choices that we make. With food, I want to always be happy and feel good about it, knowing that I am doing my best to nourish my body from the inside out.

And knowing that ice cream can fit into that nourishment of spirit, soul, and body :)