Eat Healthy While Traveling

Holiday travel is always exciting!  However, it is equally a challenge to try and stay healthy and fit while on vacation.  Whether you are traveling by car, train, plane or boat, we have tips to help you plan ahead to ensure healthy choices are at your fingertips.

In the car:
Packing fun and satisfying snacks can make or break a long car trip.  Using two bags, one to keep things cold and the other for shelf stable items will allow for the most variety.  The cooler bag can contain cheese sticks, Greek yogurt or other natural yogurt tubes, hard-boiled eggs, and pre-cut fruits and veggies.  Also pack ½ sandwiches such as turkey, peanut, almond, or Sunbutter on whole wheat bread.  Bring individual containers of hummus to dip veggies or pack individual Tupperware containers filled with cottage cheese and fruit.  The room temperature bag can carry nuts, freeze dried fruit, homemade trail mix, low sugar cereal, baked chips, applesauce crushers such as GoGo SqueeZ, or whole wheat pretzels.  If you are looking for extra protein, pack tuna pouches from Wild Planet. They contain significantly more heart healthy omega 3 fats and far less mercury than most other tuna brands.  For those that need gluten free items, Crunchmaster makes terrific cinnamon grammy crisps and cheddar cheezy crisps that kids will love. You can also prebake mini-muffins and pack a bunch, freeze the rest for later. Make sure to bring plenty of no or low calorie beverages such as bottled water, cans of seltzer or low fat milk boxes. Use True Lemon, Lime or Orange packets to add flavor without artificial sweeteners. (http://truelemon.com/)

On a plane:
Now that meal service is scarce when flying, try to avoid the greasy food court prior to boarding.  Since the TSA does not allow many items through security, you need to follow the rules and get creative.  Bring an empty metal water bottle with you and fill it once you are through security to stay well hydrated on your flight.  Items like GoPicnic shelf stable meals are allowed through to the gate and they are fantastic shelf stable options with many dietary restrictions in mind.  Several meals are gluten free, Kosher, etc.  Check them out at http://www.gopicnic.com.  You can also pack many of the same items for the flight that we mentioned above: nuts, apples, bananas, dried fruit, cereal, tuna pouches or energy bars (check out our suggestions here).

At your hotel:
That notorious minibar is filled with temptation and very few choices are nutritious.  Save your money and bring your own.  If you cannot pack what you need prior to leaving home, check out a local grocery store if possible, especially for breakfast items.  Request a frig for the room, many hotels already have them as a standard room amenity or offer them free upon request.  A quick trip to the local market will save lots of money, especially for a family, and spare your waistlines too. Purchasing cereal, milk, cheese sticks, fresh fruit and whole grain breads will help you avoid the bacon and pancake breakfast buffets. If you rely on room service, stick to egg white omelets with lots of veggies (skip the cheese), whole grain toast and fruit.  Cottage cheese with fruit is also a great choice.  For lunch, order salads with grilled salmon, chicken, or shrimp with dressing on the side.  Use the fork dip technique and watch all the high calorie salad add-ons like candied nuts, cheese and crispy strips.  Easy dinners include baked or grilled lean proteins sources, baked sweet potato and grilled veggies.  Always ask if you don’t see something you want on the menu.

We wish everyone safe travels, let us know if any of our tips worked for you!!

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