You can bring a small cooler and take some good snack food with you. A healthy variety of nuts is always a good idea, but in a hurry, you can bring your ProGrade MR powder along with a container to mix it up in. I know you can buy some that have a space at the bottom to hold the powder so you can just fill it with water and mix it whenever you need a quick “fix”. Nothing like getting good protein on those busy days! ;-)
I write this blog to you from the passenger seat of my car, as my wonderful wife drives and my little booger sleeps in the back seat.
We’ll be on the road for the next 4 hours, and then “out of town” for the next 2 weeks…bringing us to the topic of today’s post: eating on the road.
And I’ll be completely honest here—eating healthy while traveling can be a real challenge at times.
Just think back to the last time you had a business trip or were required to be away from home for a few days-what did your diet look like?
If you’re like most, the term “healthy” isn’t anywhere in sight.
Fortunately, though, eating healthy while on the road doesn’t have to be an impossible task, and with a little foresight, it can actually become quite painless.
It all comes down to planning.
With a plan in place, if you know you’ll be in a situation where access to healthy food may be scarce, you already know how you are going to handle that situation (instead of winging it once you’re there, which almost always ultimately leads to poor food choices).
Before your next trip, look into the various situations you will be in, and devise a plan of action. Here are a few tips for some of the situations you are likely to encounter:
- Travel: If taking the train, pack a healthy meal to enjoy on your trip. If flying, check with the airline in advance to see if they offer any healthy options on board, or you can pack something easily portable such as a sandwich, fruit, etc.
- Long Days: Sometimes you’ll have back to back to back meetings with very little time to eat. If you know this will be the case, plan your course of action in advance. The solution may be to just ensure that you have a local place to enjoy a healthy lunch or to even bring a few healthy snacks along as you go through your busy day. For these types of situations, I love Prograde Protein (all natural, stevia sweetened protein powder) and their ultra convenient fruit flavored protein packets, Prograde Fusion (pour directly into a bottle of water and shake…couldn’t be easier).
- Downtime: Even on the busiest trips, there will be some downtime in which what you eat is up to you. Before you leave, check out the restaurants in the area (many websites have online menus) and pick a few places that you’d like to eat. Additionally, scope out the area for any grocery stores close to your hotel where you can do a little shopping for your stay; just be sure your room is equipped with a refrigerator beforehand.
- Back-up Planning: Things don’t always go as planned, so it’s best to always have “safe” back-up, alternative choices on hand. Throw a couple healthy snack bars (I recommend Prograde Cravers – the best tasting, all-natural organic bar you’ll ever taste), Prograde Fusion packets, or pieces of fruit in your bag just in case you get held up longer than expected.
As the saying goes, fail to plan, and you might as well plan to fail. So, instead, plan to succeed and take a few minutes to incorporate the above tips into your holiday travel plans.
Find this post helpful? Have any additional tips you can share with our members? What are some ways that help you stick to your diet while on the road?
Post your reply in the comments section!
Talk to you there,
Joel
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I a staying at my parents house this week and with it being a filipino household, it is hard to eat anything healthier than white rice and canned veggies. We drove up here with some things from our fridge packed in our cooler and in it was my organic salads and baby carrots. My parents took us to Sams tonight and they told us to get whatever we wanted. We took advantage of this by getting bulk items of salads, almonds, fresh veggies so it would not be just for us but to share with everyone. Hopefully this would help for us to to get our healthy intake on grub and for my family to get some too.
@Dick – I often eat at that fast food French restaurant (Le Jacque en Z Box) or Micky D’s. I order the $1 cheeseburgers because they’re the fastest cheapest source with the most protein… but NEVER have “fries with that” OR soda. And I try to bring along an avocado to tip the fat content to more healthful fats, and I toss out half of the (nutritionally worthless) bun, too!
I do this all the time, but then sometimes cave in to a little dessert. Will definitely be watching that these hols. Dessert on cheat days only eh?
I’m loving the CYWT program Joel. If I only have a small amt of weight/fat to lose (approx. 6lbs), should I do the 3,2,1 Core phase or the standard?
Thanks in advance…….Mich.
I love it! Hilarious! I am actually invited to a Christmas wine reception on Thursday and been trying to come up with excuses for not drinking! Thank you!
Hi Maria. I’m on first week of core plan as well…..I lost 4kgs in week one, have put on 1 kg and haven’t moved. I don’t eat anything other than what I am supposed to and am doing the 18 minute workouts 3 times a week. So feeling a little frustrated. I’m not a personal trainer, nor particularly active normally, so feel that what I’m doing should be producing results!
I know 4kgs was a huge loss in week 1 but a little bit of downward movement subsequently would be nice…feeling a bit low about it!
@maria –
How about when you’re travelling in China for business? Foods in China are all great tasting, but very high in carbs or oil. Worse, is that it is very difficult to say no to the food they offer you when saying “yes” is a matter of respect to them. Very important. Another big thing is the alcohol. You have to drink loads of 50% proof Mao Tai to prove you’re a “man”, and worthy of respect.
Anyone has experience doing business over there and getting out of the eating and drinking?
When I was travelling around in the States before, I was on a strict detox diet – which meant no meat, fish, dairy, salt, sugar, tea, coffee, alcohol, processed foods – you got it, quite restrictive. It was just something I had been doing for a while to cleanse my system and to get rid of unwanted fat – it worked and I wasn’t going to stop it for the sake of my 5 week trip through the Eastern States. Anyways, I was travelling on a motorcycle so one of my side panniers was full of clothes and the other essentially of foods: I had packets of different kinds of nuts, seeds, energy bars and I even bought a cooler bag (that I filled with ice cubes each morning) and a thermos to carry a bottle of essential oils with me (they need to be refridgerated at all times and I was travelling at summer…). I would also pack some avocados and bananas whenever I found them.
Another thing I discovered – to my great delight – was that a lot of the larger truck stops, especially in Arkansas and Tennessee, had a fresh all-you-can-eat type buffet with a great selection of salads and raw veggies (and different kinds of meat too). Once I discovered those, the going was smooth!:-)
These days when I travel I have little packets of nuts with me, avocados, boiled eggs, tins of tuna in spring water or sardines in tomato sauce, full corn rye bread, sometimes olives and cherry tomatoes. Energy bars are too full of sugar but I do occasionally buy some. And lots of water, plain and sparkilng – the only juice I have is vegetable juice if I can find a healthier place along the road (carrot, ginger, beetroot, celery and a piece of apple – YUM!).
Works for me, and even works for my fussy 3 year old!:-)
I wish I could get into the whole protein powder thing. I am a foodie, and enjoy eating good quality, organic food. Basically I would rather eat my food than drink it. I only have so many calories i can consume in a day and i hate to waste some of that quota on nasty protein powder drinks (I have tried many and they all induce the gag factor) My question is…..is it imperative to drink protein powder drinks in order to build muscle?
@maria
You really should look at carb cycling and having more higher carb days to push through your stop as of your in the core phase your body most likely wants a chance from 6 low carb one cheat day
Bernice,
I used to think that. But now I realize rather than asking them to cook me something different is ruder than bringing your own already prepared food. In the end we have to put ourselves first. Sometimes it’s difficult to speak up on our own behalf.
Nice one
Keep em coming Joel
I’m actually travelling right now! Two week tour to Europe, but back to Indonesia tomorrow though. I’ve never managed to be able to keep a healthy diet while travelling, I really appreciate the info Joel, and the impeccable timing as well.
I was smart enough not to read this before I was on the verge of returning home.
Healthy Travel | Body Transformation Insider I was suggested this blog by my cousin. I am not sure whether this post is written by him as nobody else know such detailed about my trouble. You’re amazing! Thanks! your article about Healthy Travel | Body Transformation InsiderBest Regards Shane
For whatever reason, the numbers are all messed up on this blog
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Hey, it’s Joel! So you want to know a little more about me, huh? Well, I’d be happy to oblige :-)
I guess it all started back in 2001 (my freshman year of college) when I was just a “skinny fat” 19-year old kid. At the time, I was spending close to 2 hours a day in the gym (now my workouts last about 30 minutes), and despite my efforts, you’d probably never guess I worked out a day in my life by looking at me...