How To Maintain Healthy Eating Habits While Traveling

Since I’ve just returned home from some time on the road, I am going to share some tips on how to maintain healthy eating habits while traveling.

Plan Ahead — As with your everyday, at-home eating, the more you plan ahead, the more likely you are to make healthier choices when it comes to food. Sometimes when traveling, planning can be more difficult, but here are some situations which you may be able to control if you take some time before your next work trip or personal journey:

Snacks — Pack your own healthier snacks instead of being in a hunger-bind and grabbing the easiest and most likely unhealthy “treat” at your hotel, gas station, or airport. You probably already know that at some point on your traveling excursion that you are going to need a mid-morning, afternoon, and/or evening snack so plan ahead and bring your own treats from home to avoid the pitfall of on-the-spot, poor decision-making.

Here are some ideas of healthier, portable snack options:

– raw veggies (cut up celery, carrots, and jicama sticks)
– any fruit (apples transport well)
– nuts (almonds, walnuts, cashews, pistachios, macadamia)
– seeds (pumpkin, hemp)
– homemade trail mix (recipe to follow) — be creative and try your own version!
– homemade jerky (salmon, beef, turkey, or your favorite protein) — there are also some natural jerky companies out there but beware of additives, of course.
– protein/natural food bars — as a disclaimer, I highly caution against relying on these as your only snack source or even using them as meal-replacements.  Please make every effort to eat real, whole foods-containing meals and do not depend on these bars. Many of these bar companies tout these as all natural, healthy snacks, but a lot of these are loaded with highly processed protein isolates (poor quality protein) and other processed ingredients which should be avoided as much as possible.  That being said, there are a few acceptable bars out there that I’d give my thumbs up to (still consume in moderation, however):  Lara Bars (mostly made out of nuts, fruits, and seeds) — remember the shorter the ingredient list, usually the better, Kit’s Organic Fruit & Nut Bar (a newer one that I discovered recently very similar to Lara Bar, but made by Clif Bar), and CORE Warrior Meal.  Feel free to email me if you want to get my opinion on any others that you may be considering.

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If it’s simply a road-trip, you could definitely bring not only these aforementioned snack options, but maybe even some pre-packed meals put on ice in your cooler as well as plenty of water! Also depending on how much you want to plan and avoid restaurants when traveling, you may even pack a few meals to keep in a refrigerator at your hotel. Call the hotel ahead of time to see if your room comes with a fridge and if not, ask to be moved to a room that does have one.

Some other things I like to pack when traveling include:

– tea (when in hotels or staying at a friend’s place, I like to have some of my favorite teas handy like Chamomile for nighttime relaxation, Tulsi/Holy Basil for stress, and Green tea when I prefer a less-caffeinated alternative to coffee).
– probiotics — though this isn’t food or a necessity, I never travel without these “friendly bacteria” in supplement form which support healthy digestion and immunity (many people tend to border on constipation when traveling due to eating poorly, stress, and not drinking enough water — probiotics can help alleviate this common concern). Email me for specific brand recommendations or be patient enough and I’ll eventually make a separate near-future post about these someday.

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Restaurants — If you are going to be dining out while traveling, plan ahead and do some research on your options in the area you are visiting. Go online, look at various menus and figure out prior to arriving if there are foods that meet your needs and nutritional restrictions. Plan to avoid those places which sabotage your health goals and instead opt for those which have options that you can work around or with.

Also you may want to consider researching where your nearest grocery store is located in proximity to your lodging. If you decide to go this route, you could stock up on any of the foods I’ve already mentioned instead of packing and lugging them around. If you’re thinking to yourself right now, “but I’m on vacation…this is my time to not care about food intake and I deserve to be bad”…well that is your prerogative; I’m just here to let you know that there are options for healthier eating choices. You can still go to your local grocer and buy some picnic-style food and perhaps even wine if that’s your thing and still have an indulgent, fun time picnicking at a beach or park while on vacation while sparing yourself not only money, but probably a handful of who-knows-what that went into your meal at a restaurant. The point I’m trying to prove is that it doesn’t have to totally take the fun out of your vacation if that’s what you’re thinking planning ahead does.

Other Considerations…
Gym/Exercise — the same rules apply for researching your work-out/exercise options. Plan ahead! If you know your hotel has a gym, pack your work out attire. If there is no gym in your hotel, you can still exercise in your room if time permits or better yet, get outside and make a natural setting your gym. You can also research a local gym, yoga/pilates studio or YMCA to see if they will accept walk-ins/visitors if you do prefer an indoor setting. There are always plenty of options to keep your body moving while away from home. Plan ahead and tell yourself you’re going to do it and commit to it and it shall get done!

So the take-home message of my post is with a little bit of planning ahead, it is possible to still stay on track with your health goals while traveling. I’m not saying that restaurant food is always healthy, but if you do a little bit of prep work and weed out the bad joints and stick with the better ones, your body will thank you. Packing your snacks to munch on while others are grabbing the Doritos or Red Bull during that work meeting will also give you that mental edge you may need to last throughout that 3-day conference. And incorporating some type of exercise regime that releases endorphins and relieves stress while traveling can’t be a bad thing either.

Remember to be happy and avoid stress as much as possible…if all of this planning ahead is making you stressed out, that is no good either! Have fun with it!

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If How To Maintain Healthy Eating Habits While Traveling was helpful, please share this post with a friend so that they too may learn something from reading it.

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